I had not expected to do a blog entry about Kingston as initially we could only get 1 night in the Confederation Basin marina due to Buskers’ Festival. This forced us to do a whirlwind round of chores in 4 hours—wash the deck and fenders, pumpout at Kingston Yacht Club, fill water tank, do laundry and grocery shopping. We lucked out after all of these exhausting chores with the welcome news that there was a cancellation and we could stay 7/8.
With only 1 day to tour and hotter than hell temperatures, we opted for the air-conditioned Confederation Trolley tour. Kingston is located at the intersection of the St. Lawrence River, Rideau Canal and Lake Ontario which gave it strategic historic naval significance. Today it has a population of 115,000 2 colleges, parks and museums, K-Rock arena, stately brick and limestone homes, a Farmers’ Market behind City Hall and lots of restaurants (recommend Wooden Head) and coffee shops (Chocolate Café). It has the lowest crime rate in the area but has a strange industry—8 penitentiaries, used to have 10 and even has a Penitentiary Museum.
We took the hop-off/hop-on bus option so that we could tour Fort Henry and Bellevue House, home of Canada’s first Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald. Our costumed guide in heavy wool tartan plaid gave us a tour of this venerable fort that never had to fire a shot. Bob is a big fan of C. S. Forester’s Horatio Hornblower series and was dismayed to learn on this tour that officer commissions from ensign to colonel were purchased. Sir John A. is the George Washington of Canada as he united Canada from coast to coast in the 1860’s and he was a bit more colorful. You can take afternoon tea on the lawn but Sir John would consume something more spirited and once told one of his cabinet officers that he would have to sober up as the Macdonald government could not afford 2 drunks!
Here’s Bob on the free ferry over to Wolfe Island. It would be a great place to bring bikes but today it was just too hot. There is even a free tour of Kingston City Hall which is worth taking. Dinner on the patio at Wooden Head gave us a great chance to check out the buskers all one-upping each other in dare devil tricks. Our vote was for Fire Guy who did an outstanding comedy routine while skateboarding and playing with fire.
With only 1 day to tour and hotter than hell temperatures, we opted for the air-conditioned Confederation Trolley tour. Kingston is located at the intersection of the St. Lawrence River, Rideau Canal and Lake Ontario which gave it strategic historic naval significance. Today it has a population of 115,000 2 colleges, parks and museums, K-Rock arena, stately brick and limestone homes, a Farmers’ Market behind City Hall and lots of restaurants (recommend Wooden Head) and coffee shops (Chocolate Café). It has the lowest crime rate in the area but has a strange industry—8 penitentiaries, used to have 10 and even has a Penitentiary Museum.
We took the hop-off/hop-on bus option so that we could tour Fort Henry and Bellevue House, home of Canada’s first Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald. Our costumed guide in heavy wool tartan plaid gave us a tour of this venerable fort that never had to fire a shot. Bob is a big fan of C. S. Forester’s Horatio Hornblower series and was dismayed to learn on this tour that officer commissions from ensign to colonel were purchased. Sir John A. is the George Washington of Canada as he united Canada from coast to coast in the 1860’s and he was a bit more colorful. You can take afternoon tea on the lawn but Sir John would consume something more spirited and once told one of his cabinet officers that he would have to sober up as the Macdonald government could not afford 2 drunks!
Here’s Bob on the free ferry over to Wolfe Island. It would be a great place to bring bikes but today it was just too hot. There is even a free tour of Kingston City Hall which is worth taking. Dinner on the patio at Wooden Head gave us a great chance to check out the buskers all one-upping each other in dare devil tricks. Our vote was for Fire Guy who did an outstanding comedy routine while skateboarding and playing with fire.
