In July my husband and I drove to Ottawa to visit with our oldest son and his family. We had a great time with them! Some of our other kids were able to join us for a few days too, so the trip was wonderful!
Spending time with some of my most favorite people in the world!
Ottawa reminded us a little of Philadelphia. We felt comfortable there…the people are friendly, lots of adorable shops, the parks were gorgeous! …and Parliament Hill was awesome…we watched the changing-of-the-guard one morning.
What a spectacle! …it was breathtaking.
Even our 3 year old grandson watched intently for over a half hour! (the younger one was a little more fussy, except for when the bagpipes and the marching bands played) 
On our way back home from this wonderful visit, my husband and I drove through Thousand Islands…which is the area at the end of the St. Lawrence River going into lake Ontario.
We spent a few days in Gananoque, Ontario and some in Sackets Harbor & Clayton, New York. Beautiful!
One of those days we took a 5 hour boat ride that took us through the islands (there are 1,864 of them!) and we learned that:
- • To be considered an island, it has to stay above water 365 days-a-year and support a living tree. And that,
- • No island is split by the international border. Islands are either completely in the United States or Canada.
It was wonderful! The scenery there is spectacular. And the stories …wow…tales of pirates, bootleggers and the gilded-age rich-and-famous.
My favorite story is the tragedy of the BOLDT Castle. They actually dropped us off for a few hours to explore Heart Island which is where the BOLDT castle was built over 100 years ago! 
We had so much fun and enjoyed the boat ride back; we had a wonderful dinner on the shoreline. And just relaxed! 
Although I am sure that it could get quite cold in the region during the winter months…I still toyed with the idea of retiring there! I just loved it. My husband said that he would prefer a warmer climate to retire in….so, I suppose South Carolina, Florida, or Arizona would be a little more his liking. We might as well just stay put in Pittsburgh…which is kinda in-between somewhere….I love Pittsburgh, too!
All I know is that it was beautiful there.
-Rose
Draw a sailboat:
