Kingston, Ontario and the Thousand Islands

On July 16^th we arrived in Kingston, Ontario. Kingston is located at the confluence of Lake Ontario, the St. Lawrence River and the Rideau Canal. We enjoyed a trolley tour of the city and learned of the strategic role Kingston played in defending against the feared American invasion following the war of 1812. We toured Fort Henry with its Martello Towers, external fortifications located strategically along the waterfront. The weather kicked up with gale force winds for several days. Despite its reputation as the freshwater sailing capital of Canada even large sailboats were staying tied securely to the dock. Our plans were to depart Kingston for the Thousand Islands and explore this spectacular area on our own. With the winds as they were, we chose to take the tour boat and enjoy the sights as tourists. This island chain in the St. Lawrence River is beautiful with some islands large enough for a single tree and others for large estates. Some of the islands have interesting homes like “Napoleons Hat” This turned out to be an excellent way to tour this incredible area.On Monday the wind died down and we were able to depart for Trenton, the start of the Trent-Severn Waterway.