Kingston to Upper Canada Village

Ruth: I loved Kingston and our visit with Gord’s cousin Brittany, her partner Emeric and their new baby Madeline. Kingston certainly has some amazing “Castles.” After Kingston we paralleled the Thousand Islands where high water levels threatened many of the islet homes.

Gordon: The cycle trip from Toronto to Montreal is generally done from west to east to take advantage of the prevailing winds. We did in fact have strong tailwinds for a few days, but in the last couple of days we have been bucking strong headwinds that have lengthened our time on the road and left us more fatigued at the end of the day.

The landscape has been gently rolling, shockingly green and quite pleasant. Many of the towns are attractive, with well maintained 19th century homes. After the Thousand Islands the St. Lawrence River has narrowed to the point that we can clearly see the houses and hear the gunfire on the opposite, American, bank. It is also clear that we are approaching Quebec, as many people are francophones.

We cycled a shorter distance today so that we could spend the afternoon at Upper Canada Village. This is a collection of 19th century buildings assembled to resemble a village in the region in the 1860s. The buildings come from a variety of locations, but many of them were moved to the site in the late 1950s when the development of the St. Lawrence Seaway would have submerged them. Animating the village are a large number of actors in period dress who play the roles of residents and answer questions. There are also a number of tradespeople and skilled artisans who work as blacksmiths, tin smiths, shoemakers, broom makers, bakers and cheese makers. They actually make the various products using the materials and tools of the era. Particularly notable is the water powered sawmill which rips 2 x 12 planks and other dimensional lumber from large logs.