(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)
I’ve been home from Peru for a couple of weeks now. Last week, my wife and I decided to take advantage of some great weather to go on a local road trip.
The ultimate goal was to end up in Belleville so that I could spend the remainder of a gift certificate. However, we thought it would be a great day to enjoy the shores of Lake Ontario, so we took the very long route: driving to Adolphustown, taking the Glenora Ferry to Prince Edward County, and then finally heading to Belleville via Picton.
Perhaps my perspective has changed after all of the travelling I’ve done this year, but it took hardly any time at all to arrive at the dock for the Glenora Ferry. Best of all, there was very little craziness on the scenic lakefront highway. In fact, it felt like we were back in the 1970s, when I used to go apple-picking around here with my family. Driving in Ontario really does seem to be more sedate than just about anywhere else in the world.
Upon arrival in Glenora, we went to visit The Inn at Lake on the Mountain. One of my long-time soccer teammates runs the restaurant here, so it was fun to catch up on things with him and to enjoy a nice al fresco lunch. The lake itself is one of those eternal mysteries: it’s not really clear how the water gets to the lake, but it is definitely there on the top of the “mountain”. There is also a great view over the ferry route from the mountain.
From Glenora, it is only a few kilometres to Picton. Picton has only a few thousand residents but it still is the largest town in Prince Edward County. Like most of “The County” (everybody knows what county you are talking about), it has transformed from a largely rural/agricultural centre to a more tourist-oriented place. There are new wineries everywhere and it seems to be attracting a lot of Torontonians. However, its roots have not been forgotten: it is easy to find plenty of remnants from before the tourist boom.
I last visited Belleville in April and, well, it hasn’t changed much in the past three months. After decimating the gift certificate, we enjoyed dinner at the Thai House restaurant and headed back to Kingston along the pastoral Highway 2 rather than the multi-lane Highway 401.
Even though it is only about 10 miles west of where we live, we had never really explored the back streets of the village of Odessa. The persistent daylight allowed us to finally do that and to see the historic Babcock Mill (also shown in the photo at the top of this posting) for ourselves. I don’t think the interior is open for visits anymore, but we were still able to wander around the site and ruminate about Odessa’s long-ago golden age. We hope to visit some more local attractions before heading overseas again on August 6.
Having the past few weeks at home has enabled me to do a lot of planning for the remainder of the year. Stay tuned for my next blog entry, where I will be revealing my next destination!