Preparing For My Canal Cruise

In a few weeks, I'm booked to take a cruise down the Rideau Canal from Ottawa to Kingston. It's something I've wanted to do for a long time. By car, the trip takes two hours, but by boat - waiting for canal locks to lower and rise - it will take 5 days.

I'm looking forward to the experience of going through canal locks that were built in the 1800's.

In preparation, I've been reading a book on the history of the Rideau Canal... So fascinating!

I'm familiar with most of the towns the canal passes through... but I didn't fully realize how the canal connected them all.

I also didn't realize - until reading the book - that skilled stone-masons and other trades from Britain traveled around the world to work on various canal projects. Some ended up staying.

The more I read, the more I'm anticipating my five-day cruise through the locks and down the Rideau River, the only "highway" that existed in the early 1800's - before the age of cars!