July 31, Day 48 - In Kingston

First thing this morning we went to the Food Basics grocery store to get a few provisions. It was really quite convenient – only a couple of blocks away. After picking up what we needed (actually probably more than what we needed) we headed back to the boat and put everything away. I think we are still in the mindset that we better get plenty of food in case we don’t come across another town for the next 40 days. I haven’t even begun to use what I packed on the boat about 8 weeks ago.

We did a few chores and then headed out for our Thousand Island Tour. Since we weren’t planning on cruising through that area of the country, we decided it would be nice to take the tour and get an idea of what it was like. It was a 3 hour tour and traveled through the Admiralty group of Islands along with some historic sights of Kingston. It was really quite enjoyable to just kick back, have a couple of drinks and let someone else do the driving. We’ll post a few pictures of the sights we saw.

Once we were back ashore we wandered the streets for awhile and ended up at Staples. Gerry has had his eye on a new notebook computer. We have two laptops on board: one for navigation and one we use for e-mails and blogging. The latter one SUCKS …. So he has been doing research on something that might work a little better. Found a couple of possibilities, but decided to think about it for awhile.

After dinner Gerry decided he’d thought about it long enough and we headed to Staples to pick up the new computer. That should keep him occupied for the next several days trying to get everything set up and stuff copied over from the old one, etc. He also spoke with the guy on a sailboat docked next to us who told him about another system to help boost his internet capabilities …. So he is also researching that. We may get all of this connectivity stuff figured out by the time we are though with the loop.

We plan on heading out early in the morning on our way to Trenton to start the Trent-Severn Waterway. We are planning on 2 days to make it to Trenton. The weather is supposed to be nice.


Ft Henry and one of the Martella towers as seen from the water

This, and several of the pictures below are some of the islands known as The Thousand Islands. The St. Lawrence River begins at the Thousands Islands. Actually numbering more than 1,8o0 they cover an area 15 miles wide at the Lake Ontario end and run downstream about 50 miles. Legend has it that thousands of years ago, the Indians living in this part of the country were fighting amongst themselves. The Great Spirit came to them in a dream and told the various tribes that if they could learn to live together, he would make a Paradise for them. They lived in peace for several years in Paradise, but eventually they started fighting amongst themselves again. The Great Spirit was very upset with them and took Paradise away from them in a bear skin bag. As it was ascending into heaven, the bag broke and "pieces of Paradise" fell into the water. These pieces of Paradise became the Thousand Islands.

There are no less than 5 separate islands in this picture

Napoleon's Hat House on an island

Two islands linked by a bridge

There are hundreds of limestone buildings in the city of Kingston. However, I thought this one was unique .... It has a wine theme. The picture isn't all that clear, but there is a wine keg and a wine press towards the top of the building.