Maritimers like me have this twisted view of Ontario as a land of concrete and no Alpine beer. At the east end of Lake Ontario, however, a cottage on a clean lake in the woods is far closer than it is from Halifax. This spot is 40 km from downtown Kingston.
Category: Ontario
Elizabeth Cottage
At the corner of Brock and Clergy up from the Hotel Dieu Hospital and half a block down from the back door to the Royal Tavern sits the Elizabeth Cottage built in the 1840’s. It was the private home of the architect of the Kingston Pen and is now a national historic site. I was thinking of typing this out but I am too lazy so here is the FedGov’t plaque out front.
The Queen’s Inn, Kingston, Ontario
When I was going up to find the back view of the Royal Tavern the other day, I passed this pub and realized that it said established 1839 on the awning. For those of you in outside of North America, this may not be extraordinary but for Canada – especially west of Quebec – operating establishments of any kind older than, say, 1900 are rare. 
Far rarer are bevvy related things of that age as we had prohibition for a good chunk of the period before WWII. In PEI this lasted decades, from before WWI to after WWII. As a result, few aspects of the inn and pub life of the place remain. Ontario’s prohibition lasted only from 1919 to 1927 but as this article points out the rippling effects of misguided do-goodery were felt for decades.
I had suspected the Queen’s Inn in large part due to the brick wall seen in the alley and the somewhat phoney limestone rebuild out front but when you get back behind the place you see the real history. The brick wall in the alley must have been pit in when a neighbouring building was removed and you can clearly see from the rear views to the left and below that the limestone walls are indeed of the early or mid-1800s, rough and irregular. Similarly to the Royal Tavern, to the post on which I have added two exterior rear shots, there is the monarchist aspect to the name, too, that requires a certain age for the use of reference to the Crown to be grandfathered.
Also like the Royal Tavern, I have yet to make a stop at this pub but will do some interior reconnaissance soon.
Pilot House, Kingston, Ontario
Another in my occasional series on the pubs of Kingston. This is at the corner of King Street and Johnson. Half a fish and chip shop, half pub. This is our version of Chess’s of St. John’s, Murphy’s of Truro except it has Guinness on tap. Your choice of fish and chips includes smoked cod. Seats about 30. The outside patio along the right side of the building in the picture was getting put up yesterday. Summer is a comin’ in.
Later: Here is a November morning shot of the Pilot House.
The Royal Tavern, Kingston, Ontario
My days of bar hopping are long past. The five and a half years of rural life which wrapped up a year ago did its best to kill the habit geographically as did the advent of kids. There are, however, things that are habits and things that are personality traits and I think that the architecture of bars will always interest me. One class could be called the hard little place, that is not a sports bar, not a pub, not a road house. It might be a neighbourhood bar if you didn’t like the neighbours. The old Victory Lounge, formerly in the Lord Nelson Hotel in Halifax, Nova Scotia, or The Green Dory in the Halifax Shopping Centre come to mind as examples as does The Hillsborough Hotel (aka “the hug and slug”) in Pembroke, Ontario. I may, with such an introduction, be slandering the Royal Tavern on Princess street on one particularly non-gentrified block but the place simply does not invite. I would be interested in being proven wrong.
I thought that the adjective “Royal” was not permitted except with government permission. Indeed, as no doubt you all shouted as one at the screen ust now, look up section 10(1)(a) of Ont. Reg 122/91 which makes implying a connection to the Crown a dodgy matter. Did the Queen Mum put in a good word? Maybe she stopped there once in 1937. Most likely the name is saved by section 12(1) and the grandfathering clause for pre 1991 uses. Glad we cleared that up. The phoney Dickensian touches on the exterior, like the Ye Oldie font illuminated “Tap Room” sign over the door, are intriguing but you can bet the inside will disappoint, that the only thing on tap might be Labatt Blue. Actually it kind of looks like a location for a meeting of toughs on Canada’s first coroner TV drama from the late 60’s, Wojeck. The mock ecclesiastical glass and angled door, detailed below, are interesting but somewhat weird touches. I will have to look again but it appears that to the left of the building there is a filled in carriage arch which would have led to a back stable. There are still a number of these arches around the town. There is one great one in Charlottetown, PEI in a wooden house on one of the streets behind the former The Harp and Thistle.
Later: The carriage way is confirmed and even advertised. Apparently the place is very old on the inside even having cobbled or stone floors.
The other day I went back to get the exterior of the rear and was glad to see that the old limestone and double dormers are still there. At City Hall, there is a framed 1875 business directory map of the downtown which shows the building as having the twin dormers and an enclosed walled space out back. From the view below of the inelegant car park you can see reminants of the old walls to both sides of the property with the capping of the wall to the left apparently still intact. Likely it was for horse barns and other out buildings, it is kind of nice to imagine a walled ale garden circa 1840. Come to think of it, though, it is three dormers I am looking at with the one to the right being over the carriageway. The carriageway now feeds into the lean-to like addition to the right of the picture.
Cousins
On Saturday afternoon, the four year old cousin had her birthday. Lots of family photos. Many Canadian men begging for grilled meats causing much shovelling of snow from around the gas BBQ at brother-in-law’s.
March is clearly the snakey, cabin-fever month after the glum of February. The maple syrup shacks are opening up in defiance of both Lent and winter, making the first agricultural crop of the year, boiling tree sap down something like 1/20th. Through the spring the sugars made by the tree shift from the first light runnings to dark.
As it roasts, baste a leg of lamb in dark maple syrup after poking it full of garlic and rosemary.
Martello Towers
Martello towers guard the mouth of the Rideau. There are actually three in the picture, the third hidden by the trees to the left. It stands out in the mist better here. Built in the 1840s to protect the then high-tech canal technology of the Rideau accessed between the nearest two towers, the theory was similar to Halifax Harbour’s defences – a killing zone of miles deterring any thought of attack. One gun in the red roofed tower to the left had a range of 7 miles. Greater detail and a harbour map can be found here.
Men at Serious Play
So we went over to St. Lawrence County, New York, on Saturday to catch a War of 1812 re-enactment of the Battle of Ogdensburg organized by a local group, Forsyth’s Rifles Inc.. We were not disappointed. I had never been to one of these things before – other than being a mock soldier at Citidel Hill in Halifax for one day (I got sun stroke in the shade) – and so in had some pre-conceptions that, on one hand, it would be like a radio nerd convention and, on the other, a bit gungho.
It was neither. About 60 guys, who could very well have been all high school history from either side of the river/border, played out the actual battle with some authenticity for over about an hour. They were quite happy to answer all questions and made sure everyone kep a safe distance. The grey-coated British advanced over the ice in formation, cannons roared from both sides and fifes were played. It was quite cold and a couple guys said they were considering taking Walmart and holding it instead.
I wrote earlier this month on the events and provided links in that post. A year later in the War of 1812, the USA invaded Eastern Ontario and got hammered at Chrysler’s Farm where a much smaller force protected Montreal against 8000 soldiers (including the real Forsyth’s unit) coming up the river from Sackett’s Harbor. There is a bigger re-enactment in summer of that battle which we will likely take in. The Ogdensburg guys head over for that.
Some short movies of the action – all around 2 Mbs so expect some delay
The fifes play as the battle nears
The US forces march out to meet the Brits
a US cannon fires
The US musketmen are ordered to fire at will – note small Brit snowshoe unit coming up to the left in trees
Please give me a heads up if any of the links in the multi-media post do not work.
Napanee
Things seen in Napanee this afternoon. The Square Boy Pizza logo must be one of the last dot matrix brands left. I didn’t catch if the restaurant was inferior or superior.
Good Planning
Pub, Art, Hair, Curry, Texmex. I like this block – kitty corner to S&R – which incorporates a 1870’s firehall, some limestones a few decades older as well as a new brick build with a hair place that fits in the scheme. Next to it, tucked behind down the alley to the right is Curry Village, one of the great Indian restaurants in the downtown. Behind to the left you’ll see a Holiday Inn which was built on an old wharf like others in the downtown – rather than on land occupied by historic buildings. At the intersection, Cornerstone is a private art gallery with Inuit art among other things. The 1876 firehall half shown to the right of the picture is a Lonestar. To the left, the newish pub Merchant MacLiam built in the last year or two fills the oldest space in the scene, an 1840 warehouse with a very similar build to Halifax’s Lower Deck with more of a Middle Deck crowd. The pub, curry and texmex all meet in patios at the back with view of the river.