The Port of Orillia has an offer of buy two nights and the
third is free, so we are staying here until Thursday morning. They have put in new docks that can moor over 200 boats! This photo shows only a part of the docks that have been added to welcome visitors.
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| There was lots of room when we pulled in - only a fraction of the slips were in use. |
This turned out to be a very good thing because Tuesday afternoon’s weather brought us heavy rains, thunder showers and wind so we were glad to stay put. This morning, before the rain we walked into town. There were lots of art installations along the way - you can see one in front of Mariposa below.
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| Mississaga St. in Orillia - Mariposa Market was a great place for lunch |
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| Having fun with the street art a la "Little Shop of Horrors" Press foot down on lever and fly trap opens - there was a hand in there already! |
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| The waterfront is dotted with these boat sculptures - each one with a uniquely decorated sail. Chris was glad to find something his size. |
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| Statue of Samuel de Champlain in the nearby park - apparently he was here. |
On Wednesday our boat friend Mary and I went to the Leacock Museum, the restored home of Stephen Leacock, Canadian writer, humorist and professor. He was often likened to writer and humorist Mark Twain. We had a wonderful guide who filled us in on a lot of the authentic details of the house which was built in 1928.
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| Leacock house with flowering catalpa tree in front - lovely gardens, too |
The city of Orillia has commissioned several local artists to decorate replicas of a chair found in the Leacock house. We had seen a few of them around town and there were two on the front porch of the museum. One of them actually depicted the house and had flowers planted in the storage compartments located in the arms. Leacock used to keep his pipe and current reading in these compartments - good idea, don't know why we don't have chairs like that today.
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| Artist's rendering of the Leacock house on chair |
Except for some raging thunderstorms and a very windy night we have had a pleasant stay in Orillia. The Kawartha Voyager is parked here tonight and is about to embark on a ten day cruise to Kingston, Ontario. We are headed in the opposite direction and only have 4 locks left on the Trent-Severn Waterway and that includes the great chute railway. If you haven't heard of it we will fill you in when we get to Severn.
Isn't art wonderful! Chris would have been right at home yesterday at the Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum in Boston. Hidden among the greenery in the courtyard were two of his cousins. Great pictures, Kathy.
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