My Town Monday: Fenelon Falls, Ontario

I'm in Canada, in southern Ontario, to be exact. We're having a GREAT time! And I wanted to share it with you.

Sorry this post is late. I'm literally in a little government building at the side of a highway where there is one computer with internet access for the public.

So, this week, my My Town Monday is about FENELON FALLS, Ontario. A few quick facts from Wikipedia: Fenelon Falls, "the Jewel of the Kawarthas", was incorporated in 1874. It's a village, primarily a tourist town, in the City of Kawartha Lakes. Construction began on the lock in 1885. Today the population is about 1800.



This past weekend, we spend some times at a cottage in Fenelon Falls, visiting my aunt and uncle, my cousin and various other fun people. The falls are only on display on weekends. During the week, the water is diverted through a power station where it generates electricity for the town.

My very fun cousin offered to play guide and boat us through from Sturgeon Lake to Cameron Lake.


My very fun cousin and I have had lots of adventures together, so I wasn't the least bit surprised when we were stopped by the OPP (Ontario Provincial Police). They generally check for such things as lifejackets, a whistle, a bailing can a floating flashlight. And, of course, no alcohol on board. Officers Cara and Carly could tell immediately that we were upright and outstanding citizens (at least with our children present!). We all had a nice chat and the officers gave us colouring books and plastic whistles.

My very fun cousin and I are looking forward to hours of colouring (I'm better at staying in the lines) and whistle-blowing (he's a more boisterous and noisy type).


Fenelon Falls is Lock #34 on the Trent-Severn Waterway.

We are entering the locks. In front of us is where the doors will close. Then water will flow in from Lake Cameron.


Here I am holding onto a cable so that we don't float all over the place in our "water elevator." See how responsible I am. If you look closely, you'll notice the doors to Lake Sturgeon closing behind me.


Here are some friendly people waiting to chat with us when we float up to their level.

If you drive your boat further in this direction, you'll reach Chicago. From there, you can wend your way along more inland waterways and get to the Mississippi River. Now, that would be exciting!


If you keep travelling in this direction, you can make it to Florida. And that would be exciting too!

We climbed up off the boat and indulged in some ice cream.

And the butterscotch was just as good as I remembered.

For more My Town Monday posts, please visit Travis Erwin's blog.