Not everything is laughs and giggles on the Rideau Canal. The necessities must be attended to. This morning's use of the washing machine will give us clean sheet's night. Something of which the crew is always appreciative.
The Opinicon Resort is a stone's throw from Chaffey's Lock. This morning's early walk gave us a chance to really explore it.
Chaffey's, like all the locks, is a piece of living history contained within an immaculately maintained park. It's truly an immersive experience in which the passerby is invited not only to view, but to touch. Pride is taken in the masonry and mechanisms which, if aren't 1830's originals, are exact copies. To prove the point, yesterday we saw a lock sill made of concrete. While functional and beautifully made, it is an obvious anachronism as the locks are made of stone and mortar. In fact, the concrete is a temporary solution until high quality, stone blocks can be quarried.
The locks have many explanatory signs, and some even have small museums, that help explain the historical context. The following came from one of those signs:
The locks have many explanatory signs, and some even have small museums, that help explain the historical context. The following came from one of those signs:
The purpose of this remarkable artery was to provide the British army with a safe route for supplying its inland garrisons, avoiding the safe but exposed route along the St. Lawrence which only the disorganization of the American forces had prevented from being cut during the war of 1812.
I hate to quibble with our esteemed northern friends and colleagues but, as a citizen of the United States and a member of its armed services, that is a run-on sentence.
