Today was a planned off day so that we could go into town and do a little exploring. Last night we had walked up to the Peterborough Lift Lock just to check it out. It is the world's largest hydraulic lift lock and indeed massive as shown with Barry in the foreground, below. This morning we woke up to fog and then a heavy, half-hour shower. When it cleared off around 11:00, boats started to move. We followed fellow Looper Nepidae as they passed through the 65-foot lift. As far as locks go, this one is actually pretty benign (hope I didn't just jinx our passage) since there is no current and only a small about of water is added to the upper chamber. We'll actually enter the lower chamber, so no turbulence at all. For more information on this engineering marvel, check out the Parks Canada webpage or do a Google search for a video of it in action.
We spent almost two hours at the lock, with multiple trips up and down the 60-step staircase leading to the top, and were ready for a break from the sun and humidity. Today felt very much like August in Virginia. A quick stop was made at the Visitor Center gift shop where we picked up a few paper charts of Georgian Bay, a shirt for me, a hat for Barry, and a few magnets to add to our collection. In all our years of travel, we have collected magnets of our destinations and display them onboard Crossroads.
At 1:00 it was agreed that we needed some lunch so we headed up the hill, then down the hill to town. The first place we came to was the Ashburnham Ale House and since they served "Sammiches" and beverages, we gave them a try. It was an excellent lunch and we learned that their logo has historical significance. Seems that in the mid 1800s there was a man by the name of Dan McDonald who once hoisted a 500-pound pig over his head in the town square. This feat of strength earned him the name of Strongman Dan and a spot on shirts and glasses for posterity.
Next door to the restaurant was a grocery store so we ran in and picked up a few things. Then we were off to find a Post Box to drop off a few letters home. Mission accomplished, we headed back up the hill to the Peterborough Museum and Archives. We arrived at the front door just as the heavens opened up. We were glad to be inside. Its a small facility with a minimal admission fee, but we learned several fun bits of information from the displays.
> With a life span of only about two months, no one monarch butterfly can complete the entire migration trip. It takes up to four generations of monarchs to cover the entire 3000 mile distance of the navigation.
> The earliest documented account of a baseball game in North America was actually played in Canada in 1838, a full year before the Americans claimed to invent baseball in Cooperstown, NY.
I found the baseball exhibit to be fun and Barry obliged with today's insert-your-head-here photo opportunity. Doesn't look much different than when I was playing in the Hanover Little League. Hot and tired we headed back to Crossroads. We passed the Butter Tart lady one more time without giving into temptation. I spent a few hours on Fiberglass Beach reading and watching boats, including the cruise ship, lock through.
Tonight we did some route planning and weather watching. The low pressure system is still on top of us and the pressure fell some more today, down to 28.4. Our barometer cannot go much lower.
"Rising Canadian pop star" Scott Helman gave a concert in the park starting at 8:00. We sat on Crossroads with the windows open and listened for about 90 minutes. I have a feeling he might become a household name in the not too distant future.
We've enjoyed our time here, but want to get moving again. Hopefully our next stop will have better internet connectivity. I have grown frustrated with the gray screen of no connection.
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