Boat Tour of the Thousand Islands Quiz

Answer: Ontario and New York

My sister and I boarded our tour boat, a sister to the one in the picture, at Gananoque, Ontario on a really lovely late summer morning, along with a lot of others out to enjoy the natural beauty of the area.
The town of Gananoque has a population that grows each summer, as seasonal visitors, sometimes referred to as "Islanders", arrive. It sits on the northern shore of the waterway that is home to the Thousand Islands, not far to the east of Kingston, Ontario. Brockville, Ontario is a bit more to the east again. Towns on the New York side include Sackets Harbor and Watertown.

Answer: St Lawrence River

Part of the St Lawrence Seaway system that allows ships to travel deep into North America, the St Lawrence river flows eastward from Lake Ontario through eastern Ontario and Quebec, until it reaches the Gulf of St Lawrence (and thus the Atlantic Ocean). It forms the border between Canada and the US at the stretch which houses the Thousand Islands.

The statue of St Lawrence, which was sculpted by an artist from Belleville, Ontario, sits on the Canadian shore, near the Ivy Lea Bridge, and is visible only from the river. The taped onboard commentary told us about the saint, and his gruesome death at the hands of the Romans.

Answer: Over 1800

The official tally, we were told, is 1,864, most of them privately owned, and therefore not open to the public. It is possible to get a glimpse of the island lifestyle from the boat's deck, however, including the fact that it would be very necessary to own a boat (and know how to use it) in order to inhabit a house on one of the islands.

Answer: No

The only requirements to be counted as an island are to be above water every day of every year, and to have at least one tree living on the land form. Despite the building and the birds, the lack of a tree relegates the pictured place to the status of rock.

Answer: They were ships wrecked in the area.

Although we only took a generic tour of the area, we were told about some of the many wrecks beneath us as we sailed along the river. I looked hard, but could see no sign of any unfortunate vessel. It is also possible to take a dedicated tour pointing out the various wreck sites.

The A.E. Vickery was a wooden three-masted schooner that sank near the Rock Island Light (pictured) in 1889. Sir Robert Peel, the man, was a prime minister of the United Kingdom. The ship was a mail steamer built in Brockville, Ontario in 1837 and attacked and burned by pirates a year later. The sunken hull sits near the 1000 Islands Bridge, and has become a popular scuba diving site. The steel freighter Roy A. Jodrey struck a shoal and sank in deep water in 1974. The wreck has proved a dangerous one for divers, and has claimed several lives.

Answer: Millionaire's Row

Our tour's commentary pointed out the numerous large, luxurious homes in the vicinity of Alexandria Bay, NY and it is easy to see why the moniker Millionaire's Row was given to the area. Almost all of the houses here have private docks, some have fantastic follies in their gardens, all look like the sort of place a lottery winner might spend their winnings on buying.

Answer: Boldt Castle

Because I didn't have a valid passport with me, as required for Canadians to visit the castle, which is in the US, we didn't take the cruise that stops for passengers to disembark and tour the castle. This is my excuse for the less than stellar photo! I did take some good ones of the follies and gatehouses that dot the island, but they would not give the impression of a castle.

In 1900, George C. Boldt, owner of New York City's Waldorf Astoria Hotel, and (of course) a millionaire, decided he wanted his own castle, like those to be found along the Rhine River in Germany. Construction was abruptly stopped in 1904 when his dear wife died suddenly, and it was not until the 1970s that it was acquired by the Thousand Islands Bridge Authority, refurbished and opened as a tourist attraction.

Of the incorrect choices, Casa Loma is in Toronto, several cities (including Halifax and Quebec City) have citadels, and Ford Manor is a stately manor near my mother's home village in England.

Answer: False

Happily for residents and visitors alike, this statement is untrue. All kinds of complications might arise if this were so. As it is, every island is either completely in Canada or entirely in the United States. The photo shows what might be the shortest international bridge in the world, as the island on the left is in Canada, whilst its neighbour just across the wee bridge is in the USA.

Answer: Highway 401 (Canada) and Interstate 81 (US)

To cross from one country to the other it is necessary to pass over a series of bridges, similar to the one in the photo, with a grand view of the islands below as you do so. Highway 401 is 823 km (511 mi) in length, and traverses the entire width of Ontario, from Windsor in the southwest to the Quebec border in the east, with easy access to the bridges in this area. Interstate 81 runs from the Canadian border at Wellesley Island, NY and passes through six states before terminating in Tennessee.

The incorrect choices are all real highways, but none of the pairs are close to each other, and none of them are in the Thousand Islands region.

Answer: Between 1870 and 1900

It is said that a visit to the area by US President Ulysses Grant in 1872 drew attention to the possibilities of the region as a tourist destination. A rail link was followed by the building of the first guest house, and cruises around the islands in steam launches were the inevitable next step. Companies on both sides of the border were soon operating sightseeing cruises, and the practice has continued over the decades, with steamers being replaced by more modern gasoline powered vessels as time went on. An interesting vessel operating from the Canadian side in the 1950s was a converted Royal Canadian Navy minesweeper! Although operations have been curtailed during the 2020 season for safety reasons during the pandemic, a return to full service was surely possible.

The photo of the paddle wheel vessel was meant to direct your thoughts to "earlier rather than later" when answering the question.