Huntsville, back to Kingston Dec. 7, 2010

Our day began at the Holiday Inn Express in Huntsville, ON. 

There was much more snow there than we have seen before, but far short of the mega-mountains of snow that most media mentions maintain.










Then it was on to Bracebridge, ON

Downtown in Bracebridge, which styles itself as "The Heart of Muskoka"

There we were hosted by Dorothy's cousin Beth and her husband Bill.  They have recently moved into a retirement residence owned and operated by Chartwell Seniors Housing REIT (the same company that owns the Conservatory Pond where we have been staying in Kingston).

Beth, Bill, Dorothy and "Maggie"

We had a great tour, a lovely private lunch, and shared some stories old and new.

Dorothy pointed out some highlights of life in the Muskokas

Franklin checked out the spacious games room

Then, it was off to Brechin, ON

Brechin, is a small village, but there still survives one of the few Standard Bank of Canada buildings.
Standard Bank operated from 1876 - 1928, mostly in Ontario.  As with most banks of that era, it issued
its own bank notes which circulated as what we call "money" today.
Standard Bank was ultimately absorbed into what is now CIBC

Near Brechin is a resort community called Lagoon City.  Dorothy's brother and his wife had a home there for many years so we have made many trips to these communities.

Former home of Dorothy's brother Al and his wife Anne (it looked a lot neater in their day).
It was here that from January to March 1981,  I completed the final overall redraft of my doctoral dissertation.
At that time, Al and Anne had a winter home in Florida, so I had the place to myself.
It was a great venue to labour away at the electric typewriter completing construction
of my biography of John Brownlee.
Dorothy would drive up from Kingston every weekend with baskets of goodies to replenish the fridge, and
pick up the laundry, then back to Kingston to run our little motel.  It was a busy time.

One more little side trip was to Leaskdale, ON to visit a home in which Lucy Maud Montgomery lived from 1911 - 1926.  It was here, as Mrs. Ewan Macdonald, wife of the local Presbyterian minister, that she wrote 11 of her 22 books, including Anne of the Island and Anne's House of Dreams 

Home in Leaskdale, ON maintained by the Lucy Maud Montgomery Society
[Note to those in Lloydminster - old buildings are sometimes preserved for their historic significance.]

We returned safely to Kingston and had a relaxing quiet dinner at Le Cavelier Room.  We valued the opportunity to visit Beth and Bill, and revisit some of the sites of our time in Ontario.