M/V Perfect Fit: Kingston and the British side of the 1812 story.

Kingston, Ontario is a charming city, with museums, arts, shops, pubs, parks, historical sites, hotels, B&Bs, a vibrant waterfront and much more. We took the trolley tour and heard its history. Not surprisingly, the war of 1812s spin is a little different here than across the lake at Oswego. Here Ft. Henry successfully prevented the Americans from taking the city, turning back three American ships hot in pursuit of HMS King George. The townsfolk had been expecting an invasion, panicked at the site of the ships, and fled to the woods. There was never an invasion here, due in part to the substantial British coastal defenses and in part because we declared war on Britain without much of an army. In Oswego, NY, the story is that US ships from Ft Ontario chased the King George back to British territory cementing the reputation of the US Navy.

Kingston is known as the limestone city, and many buildings are made of, well, limestone. Kingston was the first capitol of Canada, and has much history. We would like to come back here for an extended stay. Kingston is at the confluence of the Rideau Canal (to Ottawa), the St Lawrence River (to Montreal and Quebec) and the Thousand Islands. Boating is huge during the summer months, and there is more to do than we have time!

Tomorrow we head to Trenton, Ontario where we will enter the Trent-Severn waterway. It is a 240 mile system of canals, lakes and rivers with 44 locks to lift us to Georgian Bay, the northern part of Lake Huron. From there, we head into the North Channel of Lake Huron to Dee Tour Passage into Michigan.

We have very limited e-mail and internet capability, so texts to our cells is the best way to reach us.

City Hall.

Kingston history. According to our guide, the British Loyalists who came here after the American revolution changed Canada to more of an English culture. Protestant churches went up, and English became the dominant language.