Another Country

Friday we left Clayton and crossed over into Canadian waters and arrived at Confederation Basin which is the Municipal Marina of Kingston.  We are now in another country the third and last of our Loop.  We had at least three dock hands to assist us as we came in.  It always makes me feel more relaxed when there is a least one dock hand to catch a line so you can only imagine how relaxed I was as we docked.  We took the remainder of the afternoon to walk about the town and visit the visitors center.

Our first Canadian Lighthouse

Once we got cell service because we have NEXUS cards we were
able tocall in for customs clearance and put up the Canadian flag.

Kingston had a brief stint as Canads's capital from 1841 -1844 but lost out to Montreal and Toronto and then later to Ottawa in 1857, where the capital has resided since.  Kingston is the home of Canada’s first Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald and was the first meeting of the Parliament of Canada.  Kingston’s proximity to the Rideau Canal made the region a primary military and economic centre in Upper Canada.

Saturday we awoke to quiet a bit of rain for the early part of the morning.  We found a small café for breakfast. Shortly after we finished, John's band on his watch broke. After walking to four different jewelry stores we finally got it fixed. We also stopped at the government run liquor store  called the LCBO and at the grocery store.  After taking our purchases back to the boat we then took a Trolley tour of the area.  Included in our tickets was a very interesting tour of  Fort Henry.  We also toured the Penitentiary Museum.  Kingston has had over 12 penitentiaries within its town and still has a maximum security penitentiary that has over 350 prisoners today.

The City of Kingston from Fort Henry.

                         Shots of Fort Henry it was well engineered and built but never saw any action.

They put on a good show.

A convict's painting.

The wardens house built by convict labor.

There are four of these towers gaurding  the waterways of Kingston.  

 We had dinner outside at Wooden Heads and it was very nice.  Plans are to leave fairly early tomorrow so bed time calls. 

Sunday we left at 7 am, we had  planned on stopping in Picton because it was about 35 miles but as the day progressed we decided to go all the way to Trenton, so traveled about 70 some miles.  It was a good day to travel, not too warm and a little cloudy, and pretty calm.  

KIngston Prison 

We topped off the fuel when we got in  and were at our  slip at about 4:30. Not a bad day at all.  After cleaning the boat up and dinner we went over to say our hello’s to the other Loopers that were also here at Fraser’s Marina.  It was good to see some fellow Loopers that we had not seen for a long while.     Some we had met back on the river's system, some on the ICW and some as recently as Clayton just the other day.  I'm sure we will continue to bump into each other along the way on the TSW.

                      Some shots of the locks from land when we rode our bikes to buy our lock pass.

It won't be long.

We enjoyed docktails before dinner with couples from the boats Karma, Why Knot, and Forget Me Knot and Texas True.  Its always fun to get together with fellow boaters and go over boating stories.  We will start our travels along with Karma on the 44 locks on in the morning.   I sure hope these locks are easier than the Erie Canal.  I did not like the locks on the Erie Canal.  We will let you know.

Hugs to all,

Mary and John