elevation changes between the Great Lakes
Only two full days in the Niagara area, and the best-weather day will be at the Falls. What to do on the other?
A question came up in the car on our drive from Toronto to St. Catharines, Ontario, where we are staying in the Niagara region: If the Great Lakes Waterway connects the five Great Lakes, allowing navigation from the westernmost lake, Superior, to the easternmost lake, Ontario, and on through the St. Lawrence Seaway to the Atlantic Ocean, how do ships bypass the falls on the Niagara River? The Niagara is the natural connection between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. [Is it just us, or do other people have conversations like this in the car? A friend just shakes her head when I tell her these things and admonishes, “This is what happens when engineers intermarry.”]
ship entering Lock 3
Marcus had read that there is a manmade canal across the Niagara isthmus that was built to handle maritime traffic. I checked the road map. Sure enough: The Welland Canal connects the two lakes.
Why had I never heard of this canal? With its eight locks, it descends the Niagara escarpment from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario—100 meters* overall. It is the greatest elevation change between any two adjacent Great Lakes. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a canal that drops 100 meters over 43 kilometers in length. How is that possible? Guess where we’re going on our extra day?
*Note: We’re in Canada now, so I’m using metric units. If Jimmy Carter had had his way, the US would be using the metric system today, just like our neighbors to the north and almost everyone else everywhere. As it is, we are one of only three countries in the world that insist on using “traditional” units, the other two being Burma and Liberia. Seriously? [Sorry. Rant over.]
front gate of the lock holding back water
back gate closing behind ship
It turns out that the Welland Canal is the town line between St. Catharines and Niagara-on-the-Lake, so we didn’t have to drive far. We arrived at Lock 3 just as a ship was pulling in from the Lake Erie side. And it just barely fit! We stayed to watch the whole process, until the ship was on its way at the lower level to Lock 2 an hour and a half later.
maneuvering out of the lock at the lower level
After checking out the Welland Canal Museum, which is very conveniently located at Lock 3 and very well curated, we drove up the Niagara escarpment to Locks 4, 5, and 6. This is the steepest part of the grade, and the three locks–one right after another–climb the escarpment like watery steps.
Locks 4, 5, and 6 (courtesy of Google Earth)
Kudos to the engineers who built all four of the Welland Canals, from the original canal with its 40 manual locks in 1829 to the current canal utilizing eight hydraulic locks in 1932.
This photo of Belleville is courtesy of TripAdvisor
With so many “rocks” sticking up out of the St. Lawrence River, which qualify as islands?
Interesting factoid: To be considered one of the 1000 Islands, an island must be above water for 365 days of the year and it must support at least one living tree. By these criteria, there are 1864 islands in the 1000 Islands. The smallest is Tom Thumb Island, on the Canadian side of the border. It has one tree and only a few square feet of land that stay above water all year long.
No island is bisected by the border between Canada and the United States, which is why the border through the 1000 Islands region is so jagged.
photo courtesy of Omegatron
Just Room Enough Island, aka Hub Island, is the smallest inhabited island. It’s in the US 1000 Islands. Funny, but the name of the family that owns it is Sizeland.
Riverview B&B
Months ago, when I was planning this trip, I was looking for a place to stay between Lake Placid and Toronto. We wanted to see the Thousand Islands area, but I didn’t know any of the towns along the St. Lawrence River. So I played Airbnb roulette: Pick a town anywhere in the vicinity—Kingston, Ontario, say. If you don’t see anything you like in Kingston, keep zooming out on the map until you find something. That’s how I found the Riverview B&B in Gananoque. Ganawhat? Doesn’t matter. Just put your chips down and spin the wheel.
The Riverview was a bit difficult to find only in that our GPS (some of you may remember the obstinate Rita from previous trips) disavowed any knowledge of Thousand Islands Parkway where the B&B is located. How can that be? It’s a major thoroughfare along the river! With Rita in a huff and not having cell service in Canada, we were on our own. (What did we do before Smart Phones?) Fortunately signage was good, and we were able to find the parkway, which, by the way, is spelled “1000 Islands Parkway.” Hence, Rita’s attitude.
The B&B, the former Lansdowne House, stands out like a manor house in its rural community just east of Gananoque. It was a large, stately home that has recently been remodeled into eight spacious guest rooms, plus a large suite for the owners. It also has a fitness room, a breakfast room, and a beautiful rooftop terrace. Relieved that we had at least broken even on our bet, we dropped our luggage and headed in to town to explore.
What an adorable town! Gananoque—or Gan, as locals call it—is just our speed: small, picturesque, quiet, and oh-so friendly. There are several scenic walks through the town of approximately 5000 which highlight some of the elegant homes built during Gan’s heyday as a major transportation hub on the St. Lawrence. Perhaps it’s fortuitous that river traffic was later diverted to Kingston, a city of over 120,000 today, so that Gan could retain its 19th-century charm.
We started at Tourist Information, where a pleasant woman educated us as to Gan’s many highlights. Primarily, it’s a launching point for boat tours of the 1000 Islands. Rather than being cooped up with tourists feeding seagulls for five hours, we opted to see the sights of the town on foot, starting with the Ganonoque Brewing Company which, as luck would have it, was right across the street from TI. We enjoyed a very talented (humorous, as well as musically endowed) duo performing in the brewery’s diminutive Beer Garden while we washed down the dust of the road.
at the Purple House Cafe
A couple saw us reading through our TI brochures and asked if we were looking for a place to eat. Not particularly, but we would take all recommendations. Purple House Cafe, hands down. Just a pleasant stroll away, Purple House had a sweet stone patio with a wood-fired pizza oven out front. The weather was perfect—sunny and a warm 75°—so we enjoyed a delicious pizza while playing a rousing game of dominoes. Board games are part of the ambience. It just keeps getting better. Winner, winner, pizza dinner!
Bendominoes, bendy dominoes
view of the Mid-Hudson Bridge from the Walkway
The Walkway Over the Hudson is, at 1.28 miles long, the world’s longest pedestrian bridge. Originally a railroad bridge, it was irreparably damaged in 1974 in a fire caused by sparks from the brakes of a train crossing over. It was later repurposed as a pedestrian walkway and reopened in 2009. On the Poughkeepsie side of the river, the walking and biking trail extends another twelve miles east of the bridge, continuing the rails-to-trails conversion. What a great asset to the area!
lovely homes on the Hudson
We were pleased to see so many people out getting exercise on a hot Wednesday afternoon. There is no shade on the bridge, but I think locals were just happy to be out in the sunshine after such a long and cold winter and spring. The views north and south on the Hudson were spectacular.
crew practice on the river
a working boat on the Hudson
Marcus and I had only tried kayaking once before–twelve years ago at a resort in Jamaica. Our backs hurt so badly after ten minutes of sitting in the molded plastic seats, we returned the kayaks to the beach and hobbled back to our lounge chairs.
So many of our friends rave about kayaking. I’ve watched people in kayaks in the Indian River Lagoon in Stuart, and I’ve envied the way they silently slip in and out of the mangrove islands watching wildlife undisturbed. How is it that everyone can sit in those boats for hours except us? I began to suspect that maybe it wasn’t us, it was the cheap for-tourists-only kayaks at the resort.
Fortunately we had the opportunity on this trip to try good kayaks. Our friends, Dan and Nancy, live on a little piece of paradise on the Withlacoochee River in Inglis, just north of Crystal River. They are avid kayakers and offered to let us try theirs in the peace and quiet of their backyard river. Well, I thought, if we don’t find their kayaks comfortable, then it is us!
I was a little apprehensive, however. I had never paddled any kind of boat on my own. Marcus had always been on board to help me out, if I should find myself headed backward downriver toward a waterfall, for example. But this was a one-person craft; I’d be on my own. Fortunately Dan and Nancy are extremely patient teachers and did just about everything but paddle for me–adjusting the foot rests to fit, easing me into and out of the river, and following me upriver and back like protective parental ducks taking their offspring on her first swim. I was in good company!
It was a blast–all twenty minutes of it! Dan and Nancy gave us the option of going on a longer journey downriver after our trial run, but we opted for their pontoon boat so we could go farther and see more–and so we could perfect our paddling strokes in the privacy of our own lagoon! I felt like a baby moose trying to stand on gawky legs for the first time. The paddle was everywhere except where I wanted it to be! How does one gracefully apply this oversized appendage toward something resembling movement?
We’ll seek out further kayaking opportunities at home and get that paddling down to an art. I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
