Mer Sea

Kingston is a fantastic city! Wednesday was bright, cloudless and sunny. I took a long walk in the morning, then, after lunch, we took the hour “trolley” tour of the city. It is a beautiful city, with lovely old buildings and gorgeous houses with spectacular gardens. Everything you could possibly want, from shopping to services, to museums, library, restaurants, etc., is within easy walking distance of the marina.

 

We’d decided to go to the Wednesday night “Sunset Ceremonies” at Fort Henry, and to take advantage of the $10 barbeque buffet at 5:30 preceding the show. We debated how to get to the fort, as it is a bit far to walk (just would take too long!), and finally decided to take the bikes. Duh! Now why didn’t I think of that sooner? Anyway, we set out at about 5:00, and got to the fort in plenty of time. It actually only took about 15 minutes, but by the time we’d purchased our tickets, etc., we were right on time.

 

The barbeque offered a choice of meat entrée, and there was an all-you-can-eat salad bar and dessert and drink to accompany. The food was surprisingly good. Another advantage of being there early was getting our choice of seats, before the non-barbequing public was admitted. It just worked out perfectly.

 

The show itself was amazing! During dinner a local community band played, and then the “real” show began. The show consisted of college students in period dress acting as either part of the “drums” or the “soldiers.” First the “drums” – the fife, bugle and drum corps – played and paraded in various formations for about 15 or 20 minutes. They were truly spectacular! Next came the “soldiers” who did their own marching around and displaying various strategic formations, never breaking stride, every movement perfectly precise. Those kids did a tremendous job! The final part consisted of a mock battle with the drums and soldiers doing their “thing,” complete with firing cannons, guns (all with blanks, of course) and using bayonets. It was a phenomenal display! The precision and coordination these kids exhibited were outstanding! The evening ended with lowering the “colors” and playing lights out, and then, when all the “actors” had left the arena, a brief fireworks display. What a night!

 

We spent the next day, an extremely windy day, watching boats trying to dock in the tremendous wind (and thanking God we were already on the dock!), getting housekeeping things done, going to the farmer’s market (I love all these farmer’s markets we’re encountering here in Canada!! - great peaches, cherries, wild blueberries, etc!), going to the grocery store, and getting the boat ready for an early departure on Friday morning. Thursday night we went to a “schnitzel haus” for dinner, and had wonderful Viennese food! Then we went to see Pirates of the Caribbean II, which was entertaining. It’s fun every once in a while to be in a city where we can see a movie.

 

Friday morning dawned calm and overcast, but just perfect for a trip on the Bay of Quinte. We had a really nice trip to Belleville, getting a chance to let Mer Sea run a bit more than she’s had a chance to do in a long time. We were pretty much alone on the water, and it was beautiful. We found Belleville with no problem, and got tucked in to our marina – on of the nicest we’ve encountered yet! We were able to have leftovers of our Viennese food for dinner, and early to bed. Really looking forward to Kris and Mark’s visit, and to seeing Suzan and Mike, friends from Burnt Store Marina in Florida!

 

We had a fantastic time during the time that Kristen and Mark were with us! They found us at the dock in Belleville after driving from Toronto, and we toured Mer Sea and went out for fish and chips for a late lunch. We went back to the boat for a while, then drove over to Suzan and Mike’s for dinner and the night. What a hoot!! It was so great to see Suzan and Mike, and to have them and Kris and Mark all with us was fantastic. Mike and Suzan put together a fabulous cedar-plank salmon dinner, complete with home made blueberry pie for dessert, and we laughed and carried on until bedtime.

 

After a relaxing morning we left Suzan and Mike and headed back to Mer Sea for a ride to Picton, where we were to spend the night. We had a perfect day for boating, and had the opportunity to put Mer Sea through her paces with the Master Captain and Mate on board! On the way we encountered another American Tug, Heart Tug, and motored over for a chat. Turns out the boat is brand new, and they’re headed our way (Trent-Severn). We exchanged names and they said they’d wait for us on the Trent. It was a wonderful day on the boat!

 

We got to Picton, and throttled back for the ride into the harbor. As we passed by one of the many docks, someone in a red shirt was waving and shouting to us. Kris and Mark were sure that it had been Mike. Kris said, “I guarantee you, they’ll come walking up in about 10 minutes!” Sure enough, we got ourselves docked and settled, and here came Suzan and Mike, with a friend, Dieter, in tow. We had a jolly time together for an hour or so, and then they went off to do what they were actually there to do, and we went to explore Picton.

 

Picton is a small resort town, with lots of little shops and restaurants. As this was Sunday, many of the little stores were, unfortunately, closed, but we had fun just walking along and looking, anyway. We didn’t find any place that really tempted us for dinner, so decided to make reservations at the Waring House Inn, a fine dining restaurant a cab ride away. What a great place that turned out to be! The grounds housed beautiful gardens that Kristen and I had fun strolling around between ordering our dinner and its arrival. Dinner was delicious, and we had a spunky waitress who added to our fun with her wit and outspokenness. We took a cab back to “downtown” and made plans to meet for breakfast in the morning.

 

The boat ride back to Belleville was a little bumpier than the ride to Picton had been, but it was fun and relaxing all the same. We just had a great time being on the boat with Kris and Mark. When we got back we took advantage of their rental car and got some shopping done, then headed back to Suzan and Mike’s for round two! Another wonderful evening was had by all, and the happy guests retired to their quarters.

 

Tuesday morning we had a quick bite and coffee, then said our goodbyes to Mike and Suzan and headed back to Mer Sea. Wow! The lake had changed since we’d last seen it! The wind was fierce (minimum 25 knots) and the water was white capping. As we said our goodbyes to Kris and Mark, we also discussed whether or not we’d leave for the Trent-Severn after all that day. We decided to wait until 12:00, and make our decision then.

 

Twelve o’clock came and went with no end in sight for the winds, so we signed up for another night at the marina and settled in to do some “at home” stuff. As the day wore on the condition of the water in the marina actually worsened, so that we found ourselves really bouncing around and trying to figure out how to reposition our fenders and redo our lines to keep ourselves off the dock. This fierce wind continued well into the night!

 

The next morning we had to wait until 7:00 to leave, as we needed to pump out and so had to wait for the marina to open. It was a beautiful calm morning, with no trace of the windy fury that had battered us the day before. We got ourselves out and headed to Trenton and the Trent-Severn.

 

On the way into Trenton, we received a call on the radio from Heart Tug, who had been on the lookout for us. They were in Trenton, and not quite ready to leave, but we told them where we planned to spend the night, and they said they’d catch up with us. Good as their word, when we arrived in Campbellford and got tied up, here came Heart Tug out of the lock to tie up behind us! New traveling buddies – oh boy!