Day 264, "on the loop", 6/30/2023

We are in Canada! 101 days left of our Great Loop adventure. Well, Joel just told me, it maybe more than 101 days - WHAT?! Oh well, guess that is why you don't make "solid" plans.

6/23 -

Map of Trip: 1000 Island Yacht Club (Alexandria Bay, NY) to Tall Ships Marina (Brockville, Ontario, Canada)

6/24:

1st day in Canada and after clearing customs, we had dinner at a local Pub (Keystorm Pub - Brockville, ON Canada). Amanda, our waitress, treated us like royalty. She was spunky and fun! Capel noticed a vault door and asked about it. Amanda explained the history. Apparently, it was a bank at some point and robbed by 4 men. One of the 4 men left his bank pass behind; hence, how he ended up being caught. The 3 other men got away with 10 million dollars and the one caught never ratted them out! It is our understanding the money has yet to be recovered.

Side note: The vault is now used as refrigeration for the beer kegs, Yes, like I said... Amanda treated us like Royalty and let us tour the vault :-)

Amanda ^ Us in the Vault ^ The Vault ^ The kegs ^

The Brockville Railway Tunnel, also called the Brockville Tunnel, is a former railway tunnel located beneath the downtown of Brockville, Ontario, Canada. It is the first railway tunnel built in Canada; construction began in September 1854 and the first train passed through the tunnel on December 31, 1860. Since 2017 it has been opened to the public as a free seasonal tourist attraction.

The tunnel runs in a north/south direction from Water Street, for a distance of 527 m (1,730 ft). It passes underneath what is now Brockville City Hall, built in 1863–64 as the Victoria Hall.

It is really neat, we walked through the entire tunnel, took a few pictures. The tunnel lights up in many colors. When the tunnel turns red, there is a faint train sound - very cool.

If you would like to read more, check it out here: https://www.brockvillerailwaytunnel.com

6/24 - Our 2nd day in Canada (Brockville), we had breakfast at a local tea house, visited a small market and picked up two small pot pies "jerk chicken" and two butter tarts. Both were very tasty! I have been talking about the butter tarts "all day," Yachts of Fun told me I would LOVE them and boy was Sharon right!

Nice little sugar dish with tong included in lid for lifting sugar blocks!

The guys went to the 1000 Island Brewery (a Pub) and I opted for a pedicure. My last pedicure was in March, while we were home visiting Grampy & Jonathan. It felt good to get my feet massaged and pampered.

6/25 -

Map of Trip: Tall Ships Marina (Brockville, Ontario, Canada) to Chrysler Park Marina (Morrisburg, Ontario)

The dockhands at this marina were young (in training), and language barriers didn't help matters! With the help of one dockhand, we had to dock ourselves for the most part and then jump into action to assist Arabella and Long Gone 2 (secure in their slips).

Cornwall was a great little town, everything we needed in walking distance (for the most part).

We walked a little over a mile to a grocery store. Picked up several items, too much to walk back with so grabbed a taxi for the return. The cool thing was these phones located at the exit. They connect you to the taxi service (you just pick up the receiver).

Postal Service: Did you know? US Postal Stamps are not valid here in Canada. I had to purchase Canada postage stamps in order to send post cards to the US.

Notaries: We didn't need a notary; however, a looper friend did. In the US, banks and other government entities can notarize things. Well, here in Canada, that task is handled by lawyers and there is a hefty charge for doing so (somewhere between $75 - $400 CAD).

We got caught up in a rain storm and ducked into a Bodyshop (garage working on damaged cars). As we stood there; all I could think about was "this would never be acceptable in the states.

6/26 -

Map of Trip: Chrysler Park Marina (Morrisburg, Ontario) to Marina 200 (Cornwall, Ontario, Canada)

We checked in at Marina 200. The kids were awesome getting us checked in. While doing so, we noticed the laundry and I asked if it took quarters. The dockhands explained their monies:

Canadian Coins

• Loonie (one dollar) The Loonie is a large coin made of gold-colored nickel.

• Toonie (two dollars) The Toonie or Twoonie is a distinctive-looking coin made of two different colors of metal.

• Quarter (25 cents)

• Dime (10 cents)

• Nickel (five cents)

• Penny (one cent) - these were discontinued in Canada a few years back

The top coin is $1.00 (aka loonie) and the row of 3 coins are $2.00's (aka Toonie). The quarter is right below the Toonie(s) and then a nickel is the final coin (I didn't have a dime at the time of this picture).

Canada Quarters, Dimes and Nickels are similar in size to our US Quarters, Dimes & Nickels; however, the Canada coins seems a little thinner and the edge/trim doesn't seem as thick as our money. The paper money feels a little like plastic.

Traveling into the marina we cut one cut too soon causing us to fight the current a bit. We were kicking up our speed and with current, we were only going 2 miles per hour.

6/27 -

Marina 200 (Cornwall, Ontario, Canada) to ValleyField Marina (Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Quebec, Canada)

In Canada, most marinas, dock and lock hands are operated by college kids. They are super helpful. In the US boat owners are responsible to pump fuel their own fuel for their boats; here in Canada the marina dockhands pump the fuel.

We purchased fuel here: CAD 1.75 = and 302 liters = 80 gallons

6/28 & 6/29

We rented a car, drove to Montreal, stayed overnight and toured the area in under 2 days! We shared the rental car with Arabella & Long Gone 2. We stayed at the Le Dauphin hotel.

We arrived at the hotel before lunch, we toured the historic district and old port before having lunch at a local French style restaurant. After lunch, we wandered around the city and got lost! No one complained we were just glad to be out and about. After a long walk (over 5 miles), we went back to hotel, rested a bit, freshened up and had dinner at The Keg (recommended by looper friends and Joel's sister, Julie). The Keg didn't disappoint!

< Having lunch!

> Lost in Montreal, waiting for an Uber.

Day 2: We enjoyed a wonderful "free" continental breakfast at Le Dauphin before heading to the Montreal Botanical Garden. After touring the Garden, Joel drove us to China Town and we ate at Beijing, another great food find. After lunch, we headed back to Valleyfield

Le Dauphin Hotel:

A great hotel for the price, clean, nice soft KING SIZE beds and BEST showers ever (this last part may be the looper in me talkin'). Seriously though, the continental breakfast was like none other. Incredible pastries, croissants and quiche! They also had yogurts, boiled eggs, selection of cereals and bread (for toasting). Did I mention they also had an espresso machine? The guys enjoyed their coffee while Chris and I enjoyed tea and hot chocolate!

Historic Montreal:

• Old Montreal is the historic district of the city of Montreal, located in the south-central part of Montreal Island and bounded by the St. Lawrence River to the South, Saint-Antoine Street to the North, McGill Street to the West and Saint-Hubert Street to the East.

• Founded by French settlers in 1642 as Fort Ville-Marie, Old Montreal is home to many structures dating back to the era of New France. The 17th century settlement lends its name to the borough in which the neighborhood lies, Ville-Marie.

Old Port:

This area is right along the water, and set up with street vendors, amusement park rides. It was fairly low key the day we visited. This area reminded us of a county fair.

Basilica: There are four basilicas located in the city, as well as six cathedrals of various denominations.

We visited the Notre-Dame Basilica of Montréal, the first Gothic Revival style church in Canada. The pictures do not do this place justice!

There is a $15.00 CAD fee to tour and is self guided.

The Keg:

Known for their steaks, this place did not disappoint. The Keg was recommended by a several. We had planned to book "open table" which indicated a late dinner time so we decided to walk over and take our chances. We were seated right away (in the bar area, but we didn't mind). Our waiter was incredible and the food AMAZING!

Karen and I tried a French Rose' called AIX, it was a dry wine and paired nicely with our dinner.

Botanical Garden:

The main functions of the modern botanical gardens are research, conservation, presentation and education, which the Montréal Botanical Garden has adhered to since its conception in 1931 and opening to the public in 1936. If you plan to tour the gardens, plan to spend 2 - 3 hours, it is unbelievable.

Bonsai trees over 100 years old.

Chinese Garden

Montreal, China District & Beijing Restaurant:

6/30

With expected Rain for the weekend, we decided to do boat chores. Joel washed the boat and I did laundry. Laundry was a bike ride away and was one dryer down so it took me over 3 hours. After chores, we enjoyed a nice pot luck picnic, near the boats.

If you have not been to Canada, Montreal, it would certainly be worth the trip!

Until Next week..... Enjoy your weekend.

Random Stuff & Other Information:

Grampy / Raymond Update:

Wasn't sure if I should blog about this; therefore, will keep it short. On Tuesday evening of last week (6/20), Jonathan walked in on Grampy and noticed something was off. Jonathan called 911 right away. Both our neighbors, the Wunsch's and Rasure's jumped into action to assist, followed Grampy to St. Clair and stayed with him until his procedure was over. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! We have amazing neighbors and it does take a VILLAGE!

Grampy had two, 99%, blocked arteries which resulted in him having a heart attack. Keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

Outcome: Julie (his daughter, my SIL) is with him now and taking great care of him, working with doctors, etc. Julie will stay with him and assist for 2 - 3 weeks, get him back on his feet and prepare him for his next procedure (should one be needed).

Shout Out to all that helped: Jonathan, Jan & Steve Wunsch, Denny & Shelia Rasure, Marsha & Tom Bledsoe, Keyla Walker, Jane Ruby and Kellye Heise. My BIL and sister who offered to drive up (from Nashville) to be with him if needed. Evelyn Soto for jumping in with thoughts and suggestions on how she can help too! Our looper friends for giving us the space to get everything workout from a distance!

Life Vest:

We are required to have enough life jackets to accommodate all guest traveling with us. We have 20 orange life vest and 4 of the type in this picture (they auto inflate when in water). We like these because they are comfortable to wear when conducting 1st mate activities.

It is mandatory to wear a life jacket when passing through locks and other waterways where you are outside the cabin area.

We had one auto inflate, we aren't sure if it was exposed to water or if it inflated as a malfunction; regardless, this is what is looks like inflated! See below: