Last day in CA -- OH CANADA

 The flights up and back were easy (hurray). We did end up taking two different airlines/one way trips. American Airlines up and Air Canada back. That was cheaper and shorter trips. We love Canada, but have come to the realization flying there just doesn't seem to save you anything (time or money). Return trips will be some combination of flying to close border state and renting a vehicle to drive across or even long roadtrip. 

A great time with my husband of almost 30 years! Love time with my husband and can't wait to travel the rest of the world with you! 

Good Bye Tim Horton and Canada!

Fishing -- Finally Fishing!

 Erik couldn't get a charted fishing excursion to work out, so he did some on the ground research to find the Big Rideau Lake about an hours drive north of Kingston. Really nice lake on near the city of Portland. 

I told Erik I was happy to "chauffeur " while he fished. His goal was to find to get at least one bass. Not an easy task while fishing from a kayak. Erik said I must have been a good fishing guide because he was able to get over 14 fish -- several large small mouth bass, sunfish, and perch. The weather was great, paddling pretty easy, and fishing great. 

Kingston, 1000 Islands, and Gananoque

 We decided to take a 3 hour tour of the 1000 island area. We explored Kingston and Ft Henry in the morning then made it to the tour that afternoon. Hearing the history of the 1000 Island area was pretty amazing. Some interesting trivia: 

1. 1000 Island Dressing was developed by the wife of a 1000 Island inhabitant. Some how it became popular in the area and George Boldt, millionaire owner of the Waldorf Hotel in New York, tasted it and decided to have the recipe in his hotels. 

2. Around 1900 George Boldt began building a European style castle on the New York side of 1000 Islands St Lawerence sea way. Hundreds of workers came in and the castle was almost fully completed. Sadly Boldt's beloved wife passed away before the castle was finished. It is now preserved as a museum. 

3. The New York side of the st Lawerence Sea Way was known as "Millionaire's Row" during the Gilded Age as famous artists, politicians, and etc build homes on the islands as summer homes.

Kingston and the 1000 Islands

The next day we went out to the city of Gananoque situated along the St. Lawerence river. This area is known as the 1000 Islands. There are literally over 1000 islands (most with houses). This community is along the US Canadian border and has been around for some time. This made a really fun Kayaking day as the bays are very protected and wonderful views of beautiful lake houses. We marveled at how these island  houses were situated on islands approximately 2 acres, electrical, and sewer. 

We paddled around exploring the area to get to Half Moon Bay for lunch. 

We walked around Gananoque where I found a cool book store. We also checked out a local boat museum set up in one of the docks.

 

Kingston -- Lake Ontario, the St Lawrence seaway, 1000 Islands

 I chose Kingston for our final visit as it looked promising for both fishing and kayaking. Kingston is on the northeast corner of Lake Ontario and the St Lawerence river. Lots of Canadian history in the area due to its location so close to large rivers and Lake Ontario. Our first visit was Fort Henry. Fort Henry history goes back military fortification during the War of 1812. Currently used as a museum, local high school and college students do reenactments of military life, including tours and shooting the cannon!  

Later we went in search of some possible fishing areas outside of Kingston along what is known as the Rideau Canal.  Several still functioning lochs showing how boats used to travel along these waterways.

 

Niagara Falls day 2

 We decided to take the iconic "Maid of the Mist" boat ride to view both the Horseshoe Falls (Canadian side) and the American Falls. In Niagara you can actually see across to the New York state side. I also didn't know the falls come from Lake Erie dumping into Lake Ontario. The Boat Ride was amazing. We talked with a couple visiting from New York and they suggested we walk across the International Peace Bridge to the New York side.  I had no idea you could do that, so with your passport and 1 Canadian dollar you can make a quick walk across the boarder.  The US side was a National Park with a very park like feel. Smaller facilities, but still beautiful views and great opportunities for pictures. We ended the day at a very cool local restaurant called The Flying Saucer.  Built in the 60s as a themed restaurant, it looks like a flying saucer. Great service, I stuffed myself on poutine.  On to Kingston and Kayaking!

On to Niagara Falls

 We picked up our rental car and made the short drive to Niagara Falls. We stopped at a few places for short hike. We stopped midway at a place called Devil's Punch bowl -- very disappointing. It was an easy uneventful hike... but we had to pay to park (at the equivalent of a state park)... and there was NO BATHROOM. Not a fan Canada. Luckily, we found the equivalent of Canada's fav fast food called Martha Browns -- great chicken sandwich and taters! We got into Niagara Falls and drove down to the Canadian side. We got to do the "Power Station at Night" tour that had the most amazing sounds and light show in what was the original power station for the falls. We then got to walk down this tunnel to see a very cool view of the falls lit up!

Rainbows!

Day 4 St Lawerence Market and High Park

 We had amazing hosts in Max and Zielika. One evening Max came out and we sat around a lovely bottle of wine discussing all things Toronto, Canada, and families in general. Those conversations are some of the most special aspects of Airbnb/VRBO. When you can connect with local people in wherever you are staying, the sense of community and adventure happens!

We ventured to the St. Lawerence Market today. They had a special Farmers Market that morning. I managed to come away with some Maple Syrup lollipops, berry jam, and strawberries. Yummy. 

We did a City Cruises tour of Lake Ontario, lovely way to learn more about the city and the lake. 

Finally we ended the day exploring High Park. Another highlight. Think a somewhat smaller version of Central Park. Beautiful green space to explore. Taking an ice cream break we met the friendliest woodpecker you can imagine. I think Erik could have captured it with his hat.  Before we left we saw the calmest beaver I have ever seen. It swam up to a reedy area on a pond and then begin to have its dinner, not at all bothered by the Texans excitedly taking pictures.  The park was a nice 20 minute walk to where we were staying. We enjoyed some great Thai food and hit the hay! Next day on to Niagara Falls!

Day 3 Museum of Toronto and Casa Loma

 Pancakes, bacon, and coffee (thank you Erik!) and longer street car ride to Museum of Toronto we started our morning. Museum was under some construction but we still enjoyed a great experience. We managed to tag onto a Docent Tour of the Chinese exhibit on the ground floor. WOW. Amazing to contemplate what the development and invention of this ancient culture. 

Lots of cool bones!

Casa Loma was a real surprise. It looks like a castle, because Canadian energy mogul/financier (trains, early hydro electric, etc) named Sir Henry Pellatt wanted it that way. He basically spent as much money as possible at the time importing the most elaborate and beautiful furnishings he could. He had a staircase made in in his native Scotland and shipped over to Canada -- it never made it due to sinking...but seriously didn't Canada have enough trees! Anyway, gorgeous beautiful historic ... castle. It has been used in many movies and tv shows so you might recognize some of the hallways. Also has a somewhat unusual WWII history. Supposedly the basements, etc were used for training the British secret service and making various gear for British spies.  

Oh man this library!

Marveling at the level of indoor plumbing. Better than ours

Top of the castle view