We left Kingston at about 8:00 AM, late for us, but we didn’t want to rush. It was a beautiful day on the Bay of Quinte, in fact, the most beautiful day we’ve had all summer when underway! We actually remarked to each other that it was the first time we’d had both pilothouse doors open, enjoying the lovely warm breeze, so far this summer. Yes, I guess it has been cooler and wetter than last year.
When we got to Belleville we wanted to pump out before going to our slip, and there was someone else blocking the fuel dock, so we hung out in the bay for about 15 minutes waiting for space. Finally, (it seems like a long time when you’re trying to keep your boat in place!) they radioed us and let us know that there was room for us at the dock. We scooted on in and got pumped out. They’ve got a good one there, too. You learn to appreciate things like that when you live on a boat!
We did a whirlwind cleaning and packing, and in no time at all, Suzan and Mike appeared on the dock. We invited them in for a beer while we finished getting things set to go. It was so great to see them!! Really like seeing long lost friends! And it actually hasn’t been so long since we last saw them in Punta Gorda, but seemed like forever.
They told us that they had the car packed with food, and that we were going directly to their cottage on Lake Jeffrey. Fine with us! Bring it on!!! We drove the hour or so to the cottage, unpacked the car, and had a look around.
Wow! What a great place! It’s a smallish, two bedroom cottage, with a deck, and a little path right to the lake. It’s private and beautifully natural, with the lake peeking through the trees from every window in the cottage. Birds, squirrels, chipmunks, and who-knows-what-else abound.
Here’s a picture, taken from the lake, of the cottage peeking out of the trees. What an amazing and pristine setting! And the lake itself is pristine. The water is crystal clear, and there are only about 20 houses on the whole thing, so it is quiet and peaceful. We really thought we’d found paradise!
We had a picnic supper that night of the wonderful cold cuts and fresh veggies that Suzan and Mike had brought, and just had a perfectly lovely evening!
The next few days are a blur of serene paddleboat rides, reading, cooking wonderful meals, snooping around in the little town of Bancroft, lovely walks in the woods, and, of course, Roy fishing. We had fish and chips (homemade, of course) for lunch one day with the fish Roy had caught! Oh, did I mention chickadees and nuthatches coming to my hand for birdseed? What a fabulous time we had! And all this in less-than-perfect weather! But the company is really the thing, and we all just had such a good and easy time together – it was sublime! Here’s one of the recipes we cooked one night. I can’t remember the Italian name, so I call it
Lake Jeffrey Italian Pork Scallops
1 lb. pork tenderloin, thinly sliced and pounded into scallops
Lightly floured, with pepper
Fried in oil/butter
Set pork aside
Sauce
½ T. olive oil
1T capers
1 anchovy, chopped
¼ cup butter
½ onion, very finely chopped
1 T. flour
1 T. chopped parsley
¼ T. red wine vinegar
¼ T. water
¼ T. balsamic vinegar
Heat oil and 2T. butter; slow cook onion until transluscent; add flour, capers, parsley, vinegar, and water; stir and thicken; add the rest of the butter and the balsamic vinegar. Serve over the pork scallops, and pasta, if desired! Or serve with garlic/oil coated pasta.
It’s a great recipe, and we enjoyed making it together, not to mention eating it!! Roy and I did cleanup duty after each meal, which we felt was the least we could do as thanks for the wonderful time we were having. Here we are doing the “duty”
Here’s a photo of Roy and Mike out fishing
And here’s Roy doing his thing
And here’s the result!
Needless to say, we hated it when we had to go. But it was time, and we headed back to Belleville, where we were expecting Jim and Peg, also from Punta Gorda, to be arriving. Sue and Mike very kindly let us use their car for the remainder of the time we were in Belleville, so we were able to get around town and do whatever shopping we needed to without bothering anyone. Geeze, talk about hospitality!! We left Sue and Mike alone for the night and did some shopping and had dinner on the boat. Then we were treated to our third fireworks display since landing in Canada! What a way to cap off the evening!
The next day was an exciting one in Belleville: the Bellyflop Contest was to take place that afternoon, and right next to our boat!! Imagine having front row seats to such an event! Before that, however, I headed out to the farmers’ market early, and got some great produce. Gosh, I love it when I can get the local fresh stuff! Then Jim and Peg arrived, and we had another fun reunion. Peg and I returned to the farmers’ market so that she could get some stuff, and Jim and Roy went to the hardware store.
Now we get to the good part: the Bellyflop Contest! It was truly amazing. There were actually two separate contests, the Bellyflop and the Cannonball. It was a chilly, overcast day, and I felt for the poor contestants, but they were all good sports. Peg got some good photos, which I will now reveal. I think they speak for themselves:
What a hoot! As you can see, Roy had the best seat in the house, on Mer Sea. I was inside, watching from the pilothouse while eating my lunch. Not the MOST appetizing display I’ve ever witnessed, but it was all in good fun. And, as I said before, the contestants were all really good sports. By the way, the largest person didn’t win: the winner was the first guy I showed you with the multicolored trunks. It just goes to show you that form really does count!
That night, we had a blast at Suzan and Mike’s, where they prepared a scrumptious meal of ribs, corn, potato salad, etc… It was a fun Q dock reunion, and we called several other friends from Q dock, who, it turns out, were also having little mini reunions the same night. Fun! Here’s a photo of us (minus Peg, the photographer) that night:
The lineup is Roy, Mike, Suzan, yours truly, and Jim in the back. We really had fun!
The next day the four Americans headed to the Air Force museum in Trenton. Wow! I wasn’t sure this was something that I’d be too interested in, but it was GREAT. Made even more so, I’m sure, by the fact that the museum director intercepted us on the way in and gave us a private tour of the displays. It was fascinating.
Afterwards, Suzan and Mike picked us up and we all went to the fair, which I think was supposed to be some kind of ethnic celebration. Well, we all agreed that it wasn’t much, but we did have fun walking around together on a beautiful day, we ate some good food, and Suzan won a prize! So all was not lost!
We had a simple pizza supper that night at Suzan and Mike’s, and then we said goodbye. They told us to take the car back to the marina and lock the keys in it, and they’d pick it up the next day. So any last minute errands we needed to do were no problem. What generous hosts they are! And we had so much fun with them – saying goodbye was no fun!
Here’s “the gang” minus Suzan this time, around the dinner table:
These are certainly memories I will cherish.
The next morning, we said goodbye to Jim and Peg, who were headed west to the Trent-Severn Waterway to continue on the Loop, and we headed east to Kingston, to meet up with Randy and Audrey to spend some time in the Thousand Islands. It started out as a beautiful day, and stayed that way until about an hour out of Kingston, when the wind picked up, there were whitecaps on the bay, and we knew we must be getting near Kingston. Fortunately, we got Mer Sea into the slip unscathed (again), and put another piece of the trip behind us and opened the door to the next chapter.