We awoke to a stiff breeze blowing 20+ through the marina. We had to visit the fuel and pumpout dock before entering the Trent-Severn Waterway, so our planning changed to judging whether we could get off that dock or if we would be pinned to it by the wind. Getting tied up to the dock would not be an issue, but without a stern thruster we had serious doubts as to whether we could get off. Decision made ... one more day in Trenton.
It turned out to be the nice relaxing day that we (especially Barry) needed. I took him into town and let him experience the final day of the Festival on the Bay. There were plenty of new activities and vendors on Day 3 to keep me entertained as well. The first thing that caught my eye was the booth selling Krispy Kreme donuts. I chatted with the lady and told her my family was from Winston-Salem, NC, the birthplace of Krispy Kreme. I did not, however, buy any, preferring to get them when the red neon "Hot Donuts Now" sign is lit. The highlight of the morning were the Bed Races where teams had fashioned "beds" out of two bicycles and a platform that they then sprinted down a 50 yard stretch. We stayed and watched a few heats and saw no crashes, before moving on. Barry Skype'd with his dad as we sat by the river. We then ventured back into the festival just in time to see the belly dancers.
Moving quickly, we next came upon the ukulele trio performing (Rebekah, I was thinking of you and our recent ukulele Christmas). Okay, on down the road we went. On the main stage was Andy Forgie who had a fun set with happy songs for all ages. I sang along as he covered The Beatles and Simon and Garfunkle and when he brought the kiddos up to do "If You're Happy and You Know It." His set ended at noon and we turned the corner to grab lunch at Port Bistro Pub. We sat on the patio and watched the Dragon Boat races while enduring terrible service and mediocre (at best) meals. The sign we passed while exiting summed up our experience there.
Back to Crossroads we went, stopping at the marina's snack bar for ice cream hoping to put bad burgers out of our mind. The ice cream melted way too fast in the intense sun and got all over our hands. Since we were there, we went to the marina bathrooms to wash up. These are our new gold standard. No marina, in all our years on the water, has ever had nicer facilities than these. (That being said, I still shower on Crossroads so I don't have to tote all my stuff 300 yards.)
I have watched all week as the staff here at Trent Port Marina goes out and harvests sea grass from the slips each day. With a pitchfork, they scoop up the drifting mass of vegetation that accumulates in the corners. It can be quite dense at times. Today I actually saw them haul a load away. It takes a lot of work to keep this place as beautiful as it is.
We both took naps and I read a few chapters as the wind continued to drop. Around 4:00 we took Crossroads over to fill up with diesel and pump out the holding tank (flash to visions of Cousin Eddie in Christmas Vacation). We successfully peeled ourselves off the dock and put her back in the slip for one more night, very glad to have it all done.
A final walk through town brought us back to the riverfront where Martin Loomer's Orange Devils were performing as part of the Trenton Big Band Festival. Another large crowd had gathered, some sitting in chairs provided and many more in camp chairs they brought in. Quite a few folks even hit the "dance floor" on an open space of patio. We stayed through the first set and called it a night. Salads for dinner followed by a Butter Tart. Every Looper that passes through this portion of Canada raves about the butter tarts and how they load up their freezer with them. The butter tarts tasted an awful lot like Ukrop's Pecan Tarts and, while they are good, we won't be stocking up on them. We tried them; the poutine, on the other hand, we'll kindly pass upon.
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