Prince George Hotel Kingston
Pub Bar in the hotel
Us with Cindy & Alex Shue
Confederation Park, Kingston
Clocktower at Trenton, Ontario before starting the Trent Severn
Tied up to lock wall Above lock 6
Upon our arrival in Kingston we were greeted by our good friends Cindy and Alex Shue. They completed the loop a few weeks ago and live close by in the New York area. They are familiar with Kingston, Ontario area since they often come here for outdoor concerts. Alex & Cindy introduced us to the 19th century Prince George Hotel that houses 3 or 4 lively Irish pubs and then we enjoyed a delicious outdoor lunch at the hotel. They also helped us find a grocery store and with their car we were able to stock up on the bulky heavy items. We are so grateful for thier generous hospitality, plus what a fun day rekindling our friendship and discussing "Lopper" experiences of the last nine months together.
We were hoping to investigate Kingston, Ontario on Thursday but it was raining when we got up. Oh well, I guess we won’t melt on our way to the Farmers market and to a great bakery, “Pan Chancho”. When we returned to the boat it cleared off and was sunny so out we go again. I went my own way to find some waterproof pants to wear when we’re locking. I’m tired of having to change wet clothes all the time. Tom did some things on the boat (computer) and we agreed to meet at 12:30 in Confederation Park to listen to one of the bands that play at noon every Tues, Thurs and Sat. No sooner had the band set up when it started a light rain just long enough to get things wet and then it quit and we saw the sun again. The band was able to play one song before we got another downpour which made them pack up. Soon the sun was back. What a strange weather day.
We enjoyed the Prince George Irish pub so much we went back for an outdoor dinner. Food was great, lots of people watching and we noticed they all had ice cream cones. You can bet we found that store. On Thursday nights at dusk, they have a free movie in the square. Momma Mia was playing on a huge screen; take your chairs, and purchase popcorn and pop for sale. Walking back to the boat we passed a young girl in the park playing bagpipes. Kingston keeps things going for entertainment. The population is 117,207.
Today we traveled to Trenton and the start of the Trent Severn by way of the Bay of Quinte (Quin tey).
The Trent–Severn Waterway is a Canadian canal system formerly used for commercial purposes but now exclusively for pleasure boats, connecting Lake Ontario at Trenton to the Georgian Bay portion of Lake Huron at Port Severn. Construction began in 1833 and completed in 1907. By the time it was completed its design had been made obsolete by larger boats: it had been designed for boats too small to be commercially viable. In the years that it was under construction, railways had further developed their networks and improved service, which influenced settlement patterns.
We went through 6 of the 44 locks and 7 miles of the total 240 miles on our journey through the Trent Severn Waterway. This ended up being way too long of a day (12 hours) which makes me cranky! It takes awhile to lock up 20’ and then the gates are opened manually. If a lock master is working alone (often) he cranks one side of the gate open and then walks to the other end of the lock so he can cross at the closed walkway, walks all the way back on the other side to crank open the other side of the gate door. Don’t be in a hurry folks.
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