Rideau Part 3 … A typical day

Rideau Part 3 … A typical day

Just in case anyone wonders what we do all day – here is a fairly typical schedule….. It gets light insanely early – like before 5 and stays late until almost 9:30 so it is ease to live with the sun…. well almost.  The locks don’t open until the ancient hour of 9 AM by which time Steve has scrubbed the boat twice and had two breakfasts – has the engine warmed and is ready to go… he would like to do that, but the Admiral is getting into the slower pace of things.  We have a leisurely morning but generally try to get the first or second opening to be on our way to the next stop a mere hour or so away – this is essential to get a place since the prime spots fill or stay full with regulars as we have found – especially on weekends.  After navigating a lock or sometimes even two – we stop for the day before lunch – after the captain’s siesta we work in a walk, tour of a museum or even some shopping.  Hiking has been a little problematic with the pesky deer flies….beautiful scenery but hard to see between the flapping hands and buzzing beasties.  We have not adopted the recommended system of taping fly paper to our hats but it might come to that very soon.  On the other hand, indoor walking has been delightful.  Newboro lock boasts the famous (to Canadians) Kilborn’s – a truly unique shopping experience.  This store has everything but hardware, and they may have had that but I got so lost in the maze of rooms and dazzled by the shoes, clothing, fancy food and kitchenware I missed any nuts and bolts they had tucked away in their vintage building. It was certainly an aerobic afternoon, I’m sure, but not sweaty thanks to their A/C and blessedly bug free. 

Many of the small towns we have visited have charming little museums like the one at Chaffey’s Lock housed in the lockmaster’s house or the Rideau District Museum in Westport occupying an old blacksmith shop. While these are not the high-tech museum experiences we found in Philadelphia, they are chock-full of authentic items from the early days of the Rideau Canal offering a glimpse into the life here in the 19^th century.

This leaves plenty of time for reading and visiting with boaters or tourists hanging around the boats. Before we know it the day has disappeared – even a little rain has not dampened our enjoyment of this rigorous schedule!

 another historic hotel now for sale!

 this dog fished for hours and hours!