Anniversary trip Part 3 – the resort

It was a long day. We arrived at the resort for 1:30, had lunch [Happy anniversary to us!],  went for a drive [Ivy Lea], returned to try for our room. No luck.
It's huge: two pools, lots of rooms!


As well as a outdoor pool, there is an indoor one. 

We went walkies...

We walked around a bit more.


We kept trying to get into room. I'm wondering if they are simply refusing to let us in until 4 p.m., as it says on their website? I know that many places are having trouble finding staff. I don't know. We plunked ourselves down on the lawn.

I was ready for a cocktail on the deck, but the bar didn't open until 4 p.m., either. sigh.

Then we sat by the water. A bit of a surprise. My cell phone provider sent me a text warning me of roaming rates. Now, as far as I know, Gananoque is on the Canadian side of the border! I switched her up to airplane mode! Crikey, there is a learning curve for smart phones!

Back to the office, to see if our room was ready. Finally, yes. We'd been here since 1:30! It was only an hour's drive from home.





We were finally in just after 4 p.m.


Now, I am of average height for a woman. I'm 5' 4", last I checked. I have trouble with sinks. You try to lean over to wash your face, and it's tough to reach. I've now lost some weight, but that's a moot point.



A lovely view of the water.


First order of business, a swim in the outdoor pool. The kids were happy and jumping in. I was trying to avoid getting my hair wet! The pool was busy. There were a couple of clumps of long, blonde hair in the side of the pool. Ugh.

Pre-dinner drinks! JB was wearing the shirt he wore when we were married 17 years ago! (I outgrew my dress!) We had our drinks on the pub deck, and watched the boats go by. I was wearing the dress I wore for Jesse & Stacie's wedding.

Shipman's Dining Room

They named the dining room after the original owners of the property. The property consisted
of a grant of a mile of property. The Shipmans, a UEL family, created a farm out of forest.
By 1875, visitors on vacation from the US, 14.5 km across the river were coming for the fishing in the Thousand Islands. With development, the farms turned into vacation spots. Famous names owned the land: Seagrams, Wisers, Vanderbilts, Rubensteins, Bensons and Pullmans were regular summer visitors. (It freezes in winter!) The bootleggers, rum runners and cigarette boats reigned.
With the Great Depression, many properties were either neglected or demolished to avoid taxes.
The Seal family has been running the place since 1963. The original farmhouse was destroyed in a fire, but the rebuild is lovely.

Into the dining room for our dinner at 5:30. It was lovely and quiet.


Dinner was pretty good.


It was fun watching the people and boats. People come for dinner from all around.


There was a big family that arrived for dinner. They all arrived on a boat, with one dude coming on his own on the jetski. He took off early! (I love people watching!)


This family was having a blast fishing off of the dock!


This pair made me curious!
kayaks from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Anniversary trip

Happy anniversary to us! Part 1

Ivy Lea – Anniversary trip part 2

Happy anniversary to us! Part 1

JB had arranged for us to go to a resort for a night. I began preparations. I wanted to vacuum, but Hooper was right there. I figured there might be some fur flying when we are away. JB tried to do it when I was out, but there was a difficulty!

Aug. 22, 2002

I went for a relaxing pedicure to get in the mood for vacation. My foot is still acting up, and the massage was wonderful.


JB phoned the resort we chose, and asked for, a main floor room. They only had one free on the night before our anniversary, which was Thursday. We took it. We would be driving an hour to get there. Check in is 4 p.m., checkout 11 a.m. – not much time there. About $30/ hour?! JB phoned the night before to ask about an early check in. He found we'd been put on the 2nd floor. They said they'd change it. (I've done something to my knee, although my foot is better!)

We were staying overnight at the Glen House resort. 

Off we went. We anticipated rain in Gananoque, and the skies showed some action.


As always, crazy people in a hurry.


The hay is being harvested.


The geese are gathering on the St. Lawrence preparing for  migration.


Sadly, our room wasn't ready. We went off to have lunch at the Smuggler's Cove golf course, just across the highway. This is part of the resort. The view of the St. Lawrence was lovely. It was pretty basic bar food, however.


I forgot to bring my zoom lens, but the videocamera does a nice zoom.


Rock cut for rock girl!


They do not serve lunch at the resort itself Monday to Thursday. There was a bus tour having lunch in the main dining area. This is why we had to go across the road for lunch. They were crazy people. Some sort of group mentality, they didn't have to get out of the way of our car. They were important.
I SO wanted to honk the horn!
Resort parking from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

They told us to come back for 2:30 to see if the room was ready. It was not. We went for a drive along highway 2, beside the water. More on that later!