After a couple days of hard riding in the heat and humidity, we had earned our rest day in Kingston to see the sights and relax. The only plan we had for the day was to meet some friends, who were driving down from Ottawa for dinner at the Kingston Brew Pub. I thought I’d also lighten my load by sending back a bunch of gear I wouldn’t use with them too.
All of the pizza and beer I’d drank so late the night before caused me to have a really awful night’s sleep. I was tossing, and turning with heartburn and indigestion. I finally got up around 6:00 to vomit, and only then was able to get some reasonable sleep for the next couple hours. Not what I had wanted from sleeping on an actual bed!
When everyone was awake, we started the day with a trip to the local Trek bicycle shop. Ilya and Alina had some things to have checked out, and Chris was looking for something to help him with the hand pain he was developing daily with the flat bars on his hybrid bike.
A short walk with the bikes over to Princess Street had us to the Trek store just after opening. The staff there were amazing! So accommodating, friendly and eager to help. They took Ilya and Alina’s bikes in for same-day service. Chris was also able to find a set of ergonomic grips to help his hand pain. The staff also gave us a breakfast recommendation for a place just down the street.
Leaving the bikes, we continued down the street for breakfast at Tommy’s Restaurant. Tommy’s was a relaxed, 50’s-style diner, with a crazy selection of french toasts, pancakes and omelets. We all ate our fill, Chris disappointed to miss out on their banana bread french toast, and were quite happy with how our day had started out.
Finishing breakfast, we decided to continue on toward the waterfront. Along the way, we passed the great St. Andrews Presbyterian Church at Clergy and Princess Streets, and out front was standing a mounted police officer from the Kingston Police on a massive draft horse. The officer was really friendly, and was letting kids (who were arriving from all over) to come and pet her horse, and giving stickers out to all comers. After some time swooning over the horse, we continued our way toward the water.
By the time we reached the water, it was nearly 11:30, and we didn’t really have a plan of what we wanted to do for the day. None of us really had the energy to walk too much, but we did want to see more of the city and the water. So while sitting, wondering what we should do, we saw tour boats plying the waters up and down the marina and the St. Lawrence’s Thousand Islands. We decided that’d be a perfect way to see more while still relaxing, and booked ourselves tickets for the next trip.
The ferry had quite nice views, and went a good 10km downstream between several islands, many of which were part of the Thousand Islands National Park. We learned that the border between the USA and Canada weaves its way through the islands, but never splits an island between the two nations. All this from a rather annoying set of recorded voices on the vessel, one an impersonation of Canada’s first Prime Minister Sir John A. MacDonald, and the other of the modern tour hostess, trying to educate Sir John on the etiquette ways of the future. We were all too happy to head to the bow of the ship to get away from the electronic banter and watch the waves in peace!
When we returned to shore, we decided it was time for an ice cream, but were torn on where to go. We’d seen several shops along the way to the waterfront. Alina had a place she wanted to share, and I’d seen a nice coffee shop that had ice cream along the way.
Alina convinced us to go to her choice of shop, but immediately on entering, turned around and left. This caused Chris to get upset and lose his cool, and everyone was confused and mad or sad for reasons no one understood. Chris left in his anger, and went on ahead, while we tried to figure out what the heck had just happened! Everyone was able to calm down when we stopped in for peoples’ choice of coffee or ice cream at Coffee & Company. Alina bought Chris a peace offering of the banana bread he’d wanted earlier, and we all agreed we needed more chill on this bike tour going forward.
After refreshments, we headed back up Princess Street to collect the bikes and other spoils from the Trek store. When we arrived, the bikes were ready, but a torrential downpour of rain kicked off, so we hung out in the shop for shelter while the storm blew through. A bike shop is a dangerous spot to be forced into hanging out for a cyclist. There are so many shiny new bikes, accessories and things to be tempted into buying! While we were waiting, the staff at the shop were asking about our trip, where we were staying, etc. They said the neighbourhood of our Airbnb was ripe with bike theft and offered to store our bikes in a locked shed for the night! What hospitality!
After the storm had petered out, we walked home, with Ilya and Alina taking up the offer of bike storage along the way. I had a good, long nap to recover from my bad night of sleep, and Chris coordinating the last bits of our dinner plans. I slept like a log. Chris tried waking me up, just as it was time to head out for dinner, but I hadn’t had time to get any of my send-home gear together, so I let him, Ilya and Alina go on ahead. After packing up nearly 15lbs of gear I wouldn’t need, I joined them at the Kingston Brew Pub for dinner.
It was nice to see everyone, and we all had nice dinners, mostly fish and chips, with some nice beers. Beer might not have been the best choice for me, I still wasn’t feeling the best after my experience from the previous night. After dinner, we all headed back our different ways. Ilya and Alina went out with another friend by the name of Mike, while Chris and I headed back to the our Airbnb. Thanks to Misha and Vera for driving down from Ottawa to meet us, and thanks to Colin for taking my excess gear back, it really made the next couple days’ riding much nicer!
When we got home, Chris and I decided to do a bit of work on our bikes. We got Chris’ new grips fitted and both our chains cleaned up and lubed. As he was going to adjust his spokes to fix a pretty serious wheel wobble, Chris found that he had 3 broken spokes between his two wheels. These would need fixing, but not tonight and the shops were closed and it was getting dark.
Next day, Brockville, Ontario!