Kingston at last.

Thursday, July 23, 2009 Ontario
Today we went from Chaffeys Lock to our final destination of Kingston.
We had a great breakfast at the old Opinicon Hotel. You could order anything and everything you wanted from the menu for $7.25. We had omelets, french toast, oatmeal, fruit, juice, coffee. Judging by the furniture, the hotel looked like it was last updated in the 1950s. Sitting around a table with a cotton tablecloth and napkins felt like civilization to us. The hotel had a little grocery store next door with a “liars bench” outside. The “liar” part of the bench refers to a story we read in one of the boating guide books. It seems that a young couple with a newborn, along with a set of grandparents, went to the Opinicon Hotel. They weighed the newborn on the scale used to weigh fish, and low and behold the newborn weighed 22 pounds! The grandmother fainted. I guess the rest of the baby's relatives understood how a baby could weigh so much on this type of scale.
Then we went through several little lakes with narrow passages between them. Dad keeps wondering how the cruise ship (20feet wide, 120 feet long—fills the locks completely) gets through these little areas. There were 4 locks at Jones Falls (numbers 39-42 in the Parks Canada/Rideau system). We had about an hour wait there because a boat was coming up the locks. There happened to be a lockmaster's house open to the public, and we went to see that. There was a young lady dressed up from the time period (circa 1820) who told us about life there at that time.
Then we went to Upper Brewers locks (43 and 44). a lot of boats stayed there for the night. We went on. Next was lock 45 at Lower Brewers/Washburn. We were tied up at a dock before this lock. Then we motored off from the dock, having been detached from it by Mom and Steph. But things didn't go quite as smoothly as usual. Mom and Steph pushed the boat from the bow and middle, respectively. Usually Mom would not push from the bow, as it bows out, and it's not necessary to push from there, but there was no traffic and things were pretty relaxed, and she got a bit sloppy, and for whatever reason she decided to try this. The bow got too far from the dock for her to pull her dock leg onto the boat. I coiled my rope in the stern, took hold of my boat hook, began to raise my gaze as SPLASH! Surprised by the unexpected sound, I directed my attention towards its source. Mouth drooping into what must have been a comically dumb gaping look, I watched as my mom, fully clothed and dripping, was pulled from the water by three boaters. “Are you ok?!” We all pummeled her with questions, wanting to know if she'd hit her head, if she wanted a towel, if she wanted to sit down, if she was completely and utterly alright. Grinning in response, she resumed her post at the bow, exclaiming, “Back to work!” Laughing with relief, we waved to my mother's rescuers, and continued on into the lock.
Kingston Mills was next. We might have been fine quitting for the day here, but there is NOTHING there, no town, no ice cream, so we hoped it was not too late to be put through these last 4 locks (46-49). Fortunately the lock people put us through. We dropped 45 feet through these 4 locks and came out at the level of Lake Ontario, though we are not quite there yet. We saw a few blue herons and loons as we motored toward Kingston. The loons seemed to talk back to us when we tried to imitate their sound.
We arrived at Kingston Marina at 6:30pm. They closed at 6, but Dad had called ahead and talked with them, and they had a place for us. This is a working marina. They are making two fire boats out of aluminum right now—one for Tampa and one for Dubai.
The marina is on the edge of Kingston, a small city of about 140,000 people. We walked around the city and found it to be very much alive... Many shops and restaurants are here and they even a great outdoor market. We went to see a outdoor movie called Singing in the Rain. Unfortunately rain of the real sort made us return early to the boat.
Sara

Friday, July 24, 2009 Kingston, Ontario
Today we took showers!!! Then we toured Queen's University in Kingston. What a beautiful campus and the tour staff were excellent. The school borders Lake Ontario and is comprised of mostly stately limestone buildings dating from the 19th century. They also have an large new state-of-the-art library and are building a new sport's complex. Stephanie was interested in knowing that they did have a Synchronized skating team. We next explored the city by foot and by bike before dinner back aboard Lucy III. Some of the same boats that we have seen for days have ended up here in Kingston.

Saturday, July 25, 2009: Kingston, Ontario & Montreal, Quebec. Today we returned to Montreal by rental car to retrieve our family car that we had left in Montreal two weeks earlier at Emma Rioux's house. The day was highlighted by lunch with Aunt Dorothy at a very nice diner style restaurant in Montreal and a visit for dessert with Emma Rioux at Beaconsfield. We returned to Kingston in time for a visit to Fort Henry and their “Tattoo” that is best described as a military musical celebration. There were lots of bagpipes, drums and dancers as well as a load fly over by the Royal Canadian Air Force Snowbirds. A special treat was the United states Navy's precision drill team and the bands playing in a rather wet, it was raining heavily, parade square for a dazzling fireworks finale. The rain ended as the show ended. We went downtown with our good friend Marie Bedard for some hot chocolate and carrot cake.

Sunday, July 26, 2009: Kingston, Ontario. Today we returned home with a stop in Syracuse, NY to visit Syracuse University. The Lucy III will remain in Kingston for the week until our return on the 31st.
Marc

Lakes and more Locks.

July 22, 2009: Chaffey's Lock, Ontario, Canada. 9:30 departure from Poonamalie Lock near Smith's Falls. The swimming was good here. Last night Marc, Sara & Steffie jumped in the water to bathe. It was too cold for me, so just my head went in. Sara went in for an early morning swim. Brave girl. This was the first time we ran into any significant mosquitoes. By the time we went to sleep we had killed them all and no more could get in through the well sealed Wendy room and the netting over the hatches. We had a sunny day. Big rainstorm last night and it started out as a thunderstorm. Most of us slept throughout the storm.
Sue

From Poonamalie we went across the Lower Rideau Lake to the Big Rideau Lake. We stopped to refuel at Rideau Ferry Marina, to refill on water, and to empty the infamous holding tank. We then went through the Big Rideau Lake to the Newboro Lock to the Upper Rideau Lake. We went shopping while at Newboro and found a great ice cream shop. The local general store was great: Kilborn's on the Rideau. They had everything from groceries to very nice furniture on two floors. The place was so nice you would want to move in. We next crossed various small lakes until we reached Chaffey's Lock. These lakes are connected by very tight passages. It must be difficult for the overnight cruise boat that is 20 feet by 120 feet to fit. We enjoyed a nice swim with the fish at Chaffey's. The water is very clean in this area. Sue and I went over to the Opinicon Inn nearby and made reservations for breakfast to surprise the girls. Overall this was just a wonderful day.
Marc

South on the Rideau.

July 21, 2009: Today could best be described as a slow day, partly because of all the locks we were forced to pass through and partly due to the weather. It started out as a fairly nice day, with few clouds and a baby blue sky, but turned overcast and remained slightly edgy during the remainder of the day. We departed Burrit's Rapids at 9:00 and sailed throughout the whole day with some friends who are all going South at their own paces. The majority of the boats traveling with us are power boats, but we have encountered a couple of sailboats with enjoyable crew members. Most of the day, Sara, Mom, and I were playing Canasta, Rat-a-tat-cat, and Uno, listening to music, and reading. When arriving at our destination, we had delicious dinner made by mom and then ate brownies. Since we decided that we needed to burn a few calories, we went biking to Smiths Falls, the small neighboring town, population 9000. There wasn't much there, but we all agreed that it was a good workout of about ten miles. Swimming was the most relaxing part of our day, and the water was glacial.
Steffie


July 22, 2009: Chaffey's Lock, Ontario, Canada. 9:30 departure from Poonamalie Lock near Smith's Falls. The swimming was good here. Last night Marc, Sara & Steffie jumped in the water to bathe. It was too cold for me, so just my head went in. Sara went in for an early morning swim. Brave girl. This was the first time we ran into any significant mosquitoes. By the time we went to sleep we had killed them all and no more could get in through the well sealed Wendy room and the netting over the hatches. We had a sunny day. Big rainstorm last night and it started out as a thunderstorm. Most of us slept throughout the storm.

From Poonamalie we went across the Lower Rideau Lake to the Big Rideau Lake. We stopped to refuel at Rideau Ferry Marina, to refill on water, and to empty the infamous holding tank. We then went through the Big Rideau Lake to the Newboro Lock to the Upper Rideau Lake. We went shopping while at Newboro and found a great ice cream shop. The local general store was great: Kilborn's on the Rideau. They had everthing from groceries to very nice furniture on two floors. The place was so nice you would want to move in. We next crossed various small lakes until we reached Chaffey's Lock. These lakes are connected by very tight passages. It must be difficult for the overnight cruise boat that is 30 feet by 120 feet to fit. We enjoyed a nice swim with the fish at Chaffey's. The water is very clean in this area. Sue and I went over to the Opticon Inn nearby and made reservations for breakfast to surprise the girls. Overall this was just a wonderful day.
Sue

More Ottawa and beyond.

July 19, 2009:
Ottawa, exponentially less populated than our hometown of Boston, is a brilliant place. Because of the relatively sparse population, rather than an overwhelming air of claustrophobia, there is an intangible feeling of openness here which facilitates breathing, relaxing, laughing. Life seems healthier here-- people buy their produce not from supermarkets but from local markets where the food is fresh and natural, rather than manufactured and processed. As I sit in the cockpit of the Lucy III where we're docked at Dow's Lake Marina, both young and aged jog, rollerblade, and ride their bikes past me on one of of the millions of bike paths that snake over this fertile Canadian soil. That's another thing; there's so much greenery here, so many beautiful flowers, all arranged in lovely artistic patterns.
Before me a Canadian soldier raises three flags ceremoniously, going through all the motions though I and a passing bicycler are the only ones watching. It's nice to know that some traditions live on into the modern era. I'm glad some realize that past ideas are as important as those newly thought. The bike rider continues down the path. I turn away to admire the rising sun. When I return my gaze to the soldier, he is marching off, having completed his duty. I continue to look though, just to see how long he'll keep up the act. A few paces down the bike path, he pulls his cell from his pocket, relaxes his gait, returning to his own life.

Sara

Ottawa was literally like entering another world. It has a gorgeous waterfront, never ending bike paths, museums of every kind, markets with bakeries, restaurants, hundreds of stands with jewelery, clothes, books, and fresh produce. When President Obama visited the Capital this summer, he bought a maple leaf shaped cookie at a bakery and they have since named it after him. It sells really well and we confirmed that they are indeed good tasting. Everyone was friendly and welcoming. We went on a tour of Parliament and found the architecture to be beautiful. there were thousands of stories and hundreds of years of history written on the walls. We visited the University of Ottawa and Carleton University. Sara and I don't think we will attend either school despite them being in a great location. Neither library, the heart of a school, was inspiring.
Steffie

We headed south and stopped for the night at Burritt's Rapids, short of our intended destination of Merrickville. The Lockmaster indicated that there would be no dock space above this station so we decided on taking our bikes to visit Merrickville after dinner. The ten mile ride was on beautiful country roads to a charming town with many stone buildings and a great ice cream shop. A brief swim was all that we needed to cool off after this trek.

The rain returns.

July 17, 2009: Another day in Ottawa with 80 plus degree temperatures and sunshine. Today we stayed at Hull Marina and went to visit Parliament Hill.

This included watching the “Changing of the Guard”, a musical presentation with soldiers in rather brightly colored red uniforms and back furry hats. Next was some visiting of the local shops and a tour of the Parliament itself. One of the guards suggested a excellent lunch stop at Palermo's restaurant on Sparks streets. The street itself is pedestrian only with many shops, banks, restaurants and government office buildings. We toured the University of Ottawa next. This is a rather large (35 thousand students) modern university campus in the heart of downtown Ottawa. Courses can be taken in French or English here. This is of course a bilingual city.
Marie Bedard, a friend who lives in Gatineau, met us at the boat and then took us on a wonderful auto tour of the area including visiting the Champlain Lookout at sunset in Gatineau Park. Fist was a visit to a Marine supply store and to Canadian Tire for a new electric fuel pump for the boat. We found just what was needed at Canadian Tire including low cost bottled water. Dinner was at a fun jungle style restaurant called “Monkey Joe”s”. We then drove to the Canadian Experimental farm with beautiful flower gardens. We then headed for the hills.

The view of the sun setting over the expanse of farmland and the beautiful Ottawa river was magnificent at Champlain Lookout. Marie also knew just where to stop for ice cream in a small village called Chelsea.

July 18, 2009: The rain returned in spades this morning. This slowed our plans considerably with the girls sleeping in. We arrived in Ottawa on our bikes at about noon. We explored the Byword Market area of town most of the afternoon. Marie joined us for both lunch and dinner. The Byward Market is an area of open outdoor vendors, small shops and many restaurants. President Obama visited here this summer and ate a maple leaf sugar cookie. The bakery has renamed it the Obama cookie and they are selling like crazy (they even taste good). The market goes on for blocks. We were also able to go to the Ottawa Cathedral. They offer Mass in English, French and Bilingual. The Masses on Saturdays are sandwiched between weddings on Saturdays. This is one of the most beautiful churches with very ornate carvings and paintings. Mare then drove us around first to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police stables and the Canadian Air & Space Museum. We did see all of the beautiful black horses in the pasture. Unfortunately we only saw a few airplanes as the museum was closed. We went to a wonderful Vietnamese restaurant in Gatineau for dinner. We all enjoyed the fried bananas and ice cream for dessert.