Day 2 (May 18, 2025): Kingston's Sights

 Successively an Indian encampment, a French fort and trading post, a United Empire Loyalist settlement, and a British garrison town, Kingston owed its continuing military and commercial importance to its strategic position at the head of the St. Lawrence River and the foot of the Great Lakes. Founded as Cataraqui in 1673, it became known as Kingston in 1788. it was the site of the first school and the first successful daily newspaper in Upper Canada. From 1841-44, Kingston was the capital of the United Province of Canada. Late in the 19th century, Kingston declined as a port and transportation centre: it has become a city of institutions and service industries — recreation, education, military, penal, and health care.

Canadian Pacific Railways steam engine 1095 and the former Kingston Railway Station (now the tourist bureau) are at the heart of Confederation Park, in the centre of Kingston.  The 'K[]NGSTON' sign is a highlight.  The tourist makes the "I".

This is the Wolfe Islander III, from downtown Kingston to Wolfe Island. The crossing departs hourly and takes 20 minutes.

We didn't realize it when we boarded, but we were extremely fortunate to have gotten to experience this vessel.  We crossed at 10AM Sunday morning, and the ferry was to be retired the next evening!

This is the view of downtown Kingston from the Wolfe Islander III.

Historic Fort Henry, as see from the Wolfe Islander III.

Arrival at Wolfe Island!  It is quite a huge island, with much agricultural land.

It also has a massive wind farm.

The Anglican Church on Wolfe Island.

On the south side of Wolfe Island is a small ferry terminal that departs for another island, in New York State. The land you see in the distance is the USA!  In fact the Canada-USA border is just a few metres off the end of the pier.

The tiny Canada Border Services Agency office on Wolfe Island, for departures to the USA.  Notice the 'Welcome to Ontario' sign on the left.

Not only is the Wofle Islander III going to be retired tomorrow evening, so is the existing ferry pier. Above is the brand new ferry terminal, parking lot, and the replacement vessel for the Wolfe Islander III.  All brand spanking new, and all set to switch into gear on Tuesday morning at 5AM! A truly historic moment for Wolfe Island.

Pulling away from Wolfe Island.

Entering Fort Henry.

A fife-playing sentry at Fort Henry.

The entrance to the lower fort.

A 'pano' view of the courtyard of the lower fort.

This is a Victorian era prison cell in Fort Henry, in accordance with Britian's Victorian era dimensions for prison cells. Kingston Pen's cells were also built to these dimensions, although the cells there were later doubled in size.

The privies didn't hold much privacy!

Officers' social area.

The private quarters of the Commander responsible for the Fort.

The kitchen for preparing the food for the soldiers.

Soldiers' sleeping and eating quarters.

The lower fort, with a parade of soldiers.  This was the grad weekend at the Royal Military College next door.  So a lot of the miltary grads, who will be stationed at Fort Henry for the summer, took advantage of being there to practice their parade drills.  The daily parade doesn't normally start until July 1, so we were fortunate to have gotten to see it.

An officer from the Royal Military College demonstrated four types of 19th century rifles.

Canon on display at Fort Henry.

Fort Henry was built in response to the War of 1812, as it was determined by Britain that Canada was vulnerable to a future attack by the USA.  (How things come back around!  It's 2025, and the same fear has been resurrected.)  Fort Henry holds a strategic spot at the head of the St. Lawrence and the Cataraqi River, which the British connected to the Ottawa River via the Rideau Canal in the mid-1800s.  The red dots on the map show the location of the various lochs along the Rideau Canal.

The entrance to the Royal Military College of Canada.

The historic Arch at the Royal Military College.

A view of the Royal Military College from Fort Henry.

Kingston, like all small-medium Canadian cities, has a professional arena.  And, like all arenas of its size, naming rights go to the highest bidder. You may have heard of Rogers Centre in Toronto, for example.  Well, Kingston's arena was named for a somewhat lower brow company! Slush Puppy Centre.  Apparently, Kingston is an important centre in the Slush Puppy empire.  Get slurpin', Kingston!

Kingston Pen is not the only prison in Kingston.  In fact, the city has eight prisons! Collin's Bay is a medium security institution, and is best-known by locals as 'Disneyland', due to its red-roofed reception building.

Beyond its Royal Military College and eight prisons, Kingston is, perhaps, best known for Queen's University, one of Canada's most prestigious universities. This is Grant Hall, the university's pièce de resistance.

Queens' new library, which features a Harry Potter-inspired reading room.

Martello Alley is a hole-in-the-wall in downtown Kingston. It was the vision of an artsy guy, who we met, who turned a scuzzy courtyard for several apartments into an outlandish but very neat tourist attraction. His artisan market is at the heart of the whole thing.  It has become such a curiosity that it is now among the top ten things to see in Kingston.

St. Mary's Basilica, built in 1959.

St. George's Basilica.

Canada Geese are very much at home in Kingston.  They are, after all, the epitome of all things Canadian.  This goose was being closely followed by a sole chick.