Kingston for Valentine's Day

On Valentine's Day, Frank and I decided to do a last minute getaway to Kingston - about 2 hours from his place.

Kingston is a great city. It's about halfway between Toronto and Montreal and it's where my son Jeffrey spent four years acquiring his academic and military education. It was while Jeffrey was living there, that we got to know the place and found it enticing to return to even though my son has long flown that coop.


As you can see, it has wonderful architecture. This is their city hall on the left.




This is Memorial Arch at RMC (Royal Military College). I wrote about its tradition back when my boy graduated and received his commission.





The military presence is a familiar sight in Kingston, and it brought back memories of when we'd visit Jeffrey here. Of course, Tim Hortons is a familiar sight in every Canadian town.





I never saw this street before - named for the Tragically Hip who hail from Kingston. It turns out that they were performing in Toronto while we visited their haunts. And I just noticed that Great Big Sea will be performing in Kingston in April. That might be worth a return trip.




Here's a view of one of the city's four Martello towers in the harbour, as seen from our hotel room. You can also see some of the many windmills located at the Wolfe Island Wind Farm in the background.

We knew full well that we would probably have a hard time finding a fine dining establishment that was not fully booked. Despite that, we made several phone calls and with each one, we were told that there were no openings.

On to Plan B.

We purposely chose a hotel which was situated downtown, within walking distance of some of the most interesting eateries. As hunger loomed, we decided to just wander along Princess Street in search of an open restaurant. That place happened to be Kirkpatrick's. An old style pub with classic pub fare. When I mentioned the place to Jeffrey, he informed me that the place is better known as The Toucan. Whatever you call it, it was a cozy atmosphere, decent food and good beer.



The view from our seat at The Toucan.

After dinner, we walked along the downtown streets in search of a place for a fancy dessert. We asked a couple of kids where they suggested we go and they directed us to where yummy sweets awaited us. Once we were seated, Frank and I had a good look around. We were amused to discover that we were probably at least 35 years older than every other person in view. Did I mention that Kingston is a university town?



Presented along with the bill was this long stemmed Valentine rose which eventually made its way into a water-filled beer bottle. But not before I took a few obligatory photos.





Here's my handsome Valentine reflected in the hotel room mirror. You can also see the rose and its reflection.





The next morning, we had a fine breakfast at a place called Aqua Terra. This is a different view of the same Martello tower. You can see our hotel directly across the harbour, on the left.





Shortly afterward, the Wolfe Island Ferry pulled into harbour.





Thanks for sharing some of the Valentine's celebrations with us. ;)

I should have some more photos for you in a few days.

Minden Meandering

The lovely town of Minden is just a couple of hours north and a bit east of where Frank lives, and another hour or so from my place. It's one of the towns where we've been looking to find a home on one of its surrounding lakes.

During the summer and into this autumn, there was a lot of construction going on along the main street, so I stuck to walking routes which kept me away from town.



This is the Gull River. It was about a ten minute stroll from our motel, and while we stayed there, I walked along its shores and beyond for about an hour, twice a day.





There's a walking path alongside each bank, and a couple of bridges along the way allow us the opportunity to cross over to the other side.





Along the walkway, various wood sculptures turn dead trees into art. It's a great way to keep their beautiful spirit alive.





This whimsical design made me smile.





Speaking of whimsy, I found this cool bicycle rack sculpture made of recycled springs, pipes and other metal parts.





Once I was over the bridge, and walking away from town, I discovered this small but charming pioneer village. It seemed to be unattended and yet, most of the buildings were open for exploration.





There was a blacksmith shop, a post office (which was closed) and this quaint little schoolhouse - The S. S. Stanhope No. 9.





I loved all of the beautiful old wood in the little church.




The Peace Garden Labyrinth beckoned me. I walked it a few times (on various strolls) and sat on that tree stump in the middle. You can read about its significance here.





The labyrinth might be a calming place for folks who live on this street.





This was the view from one of the Gull River bridges at the end of one of my evening walks.





And the next night, with a classic Canadian coffee and donut shop in the forefront, this was what we saw while sitting in front of our motel room.

I hope you enjoyed exploring Minden with me. More photos coming up in a few days.