Heritage Waterways: Road Scholar in Ontario

This is part 1 of the travelog.

Our 36th Road Scholar trip was a tremendous success.  The group leader, Paul, was one of the best ever. He was knowledgeable and caring, aware of all of us without being intrusive.  The weather was extraordinary: unseasonably warm  (good thing we packed short-sleeved shirts; we never wore our fleece jackets) and sunny every single day.  The other people in the group were interesting and friendly.  

In 2014 we drove across Ontario to get to our Road Scholar program on Grand Manan Island. We detoured off the highway at Kingston and discovered the Thousand Islands. We didn't have time to explore but we knew we wanted to go back. We were delighted to find out that Road Scholar had a program specifically for that area.  Here is the official description of "Great Lakes and Heritage Waterways: 1000 Islands, Toronto, and Niagara Falls."   The title is misleading because we only went to one great lake (Ontario) and we spent two days in Ottawa which isn't mentioned in the program name.  

Sunday, September 10:  our flight left O'Hare at 6:45 a.m.  That meant we were up at 4:00 for the 4:30 limo.  Fortunately the hotel had a room ready for us when we checked in at 11:00 a.m.  We had lunch at Tim Hortons....when in Canada, eat the local fast food.

We had free time until Road Scholar check in at 4:00 and dinner at 6:00 so I took a walk.

Bilingual

I went to the main branch of the Ottawa Public Library which was busy that afternoon. You can send the librarian on vacation, but . . . 

Monday, September 11:  

House of Commons 

View from the top 

We began with a presentation about the Canadian system of government. (We observed that Canadians are more knowledgeable about U.S. government and politics than we are about theirs.)  After Confederation in 1867 Montreal, Kingston, and Toronto all wanted to be the capital of the new nation. The honor went to a little trading town called Bywater. It was not on Lake Ontario and thus safe from the U.S. It was renamed Ottawa for the Ottawa River. 

We took a coach bus to Parliament Hill and had a tour.  The Peace Tower is 98 meters high (321 feet) and has a huge carillon. 

The Memorial Chamber honors Canadians who have given their lives for their country.  The pages in the Book of Names are turned daily at 11 a.m. with great ceremony. 

We had a tour of the Canadian Museum of History, followed by lunch on the museum's riverside terrace. We had free time to see more of the museum.  

That night: the light show projected on Parliament (just a few blocks from our hotel) was terrific!   Even after dark it was warm enough to just sit on the grass (along with a thousand other people).

website photo, mot mine!

Rideau Hall is the official residence of the Governor General of Canada.  The Governor General is the Queen's representative to the nation.   We had a tour. What did I notice? The perfectly-mitered corners of the fabric-covered ceiling in the Tent Room.   (So-called because in the olden days sporting events (like indoor tennis) were held there. Now it's a banquet hall.)















Tuesday afternoon: free time. Stevens stayed at the hotel. I joined five others who walked across the bridge (from Ottawa to Gatineau, and thus from Ontario to Quebec) to see MosaiCanada 150, a fabulous topiary exhibit celebrating Canada's diversity and history.    WOW!  (And it all comes down at the end of October.)

Anne of Green Gables, Mother Earth, moose, bison, a lobsterman, a Mountie, hockey players, and more.

 We left Ottawa Wednesday morning (9/13).  We saw the Jones Fall Lock Station on the  Rideau Canal. The canal system allowed boats to more traverse between Lake Ontario and Montreal via Bytown, thus bypassing the St. Lawrence River, its rapids, and proximity to the U.S.  The locks were constructed in 1833 and still accommodate pleasure boats. We had lunch at the Hotel Kenney, in service since 1877.

We spent two nights in Kingston, founded on a trading settlement (1673) and renamed for George III in 1787.   It's the home of the Royal Military College (equivalent to West Point) and Queen's University.   A local historian provided commentary for a city tour by coach bus.  Thursday:  the bus took us east along the St. .Lawrence River to the town of Ganonoque.  We went to the excellent local museum to learn about the natural and human history of the Thousand Islands -- actually there are 1,864 of them.  We took a ferry to Boldt Castle on Heart Island.  It's on the U.S. side of the river so we went through customs both going and returning.  The castle was built in 1904 by hotelier George Boldt for his wife. She died shortly before the castle was completed. Heartbroken, he never returned. The castle fell into disrepair and was vandalized (it's easy to reach by boat from either the U.S. or Canada). The Thousand Island Bridge Authority bought it for $1 in 1977 and it's been under restoration ever since.  Tours are on-you-own which is so much better than specific times.  One of the guides told me that they get 4,000 visitors a day in peak season (July).  I estimated there were about 100 people when we were there.  

 Of course I had to take a photo of the hexagon tile floor!

This is the shortest international bridge in the world. The island on the left is in Canada and the island on the right is in the U.S.


End of Part 1!