I just recently discovered the BlogTrotting site, after I read my friend Jessica’s post about Austin, Texas, and I thought it was a great idea so I signed up. I don’t necessarily live in the most exciting city in the world, but it is my hometown, and I’ve lived here almost my entire life, and to me, it is most certainly home. And yes, it is a must-see, if only to visit yours truly.
So here are some basics about my hometown:*It is located in South Eastern Ontario, surrounded by beautiful Lake Ontario, and is a major port to the world famous Thousand Islands
*Kingston was the first capital of Canada, and is the home of Canada’s first Prime Minister, Sir John A Macdonald (who is also buried here)
*The population of Kingston proper is approximately 117,000 and approx. 153,000 when including surrounding townships
*It is also known as the “Limestone City” because many of the local, historic buildings are built from the local limestone.
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Do you need a little education?
Queen’s University, one of the oldest universities in Canada, and most beautiful is also located in Kingston. It’s a gorgeous campus, filled with many smart profs that will be sure to stress you out for as long as you’re there (yes I speak from experience). Along with my alma mater, you will find St. Lawrence College and R.M.C. (the Royal Military College of Canada) – Canada’s only military university. Kingston is also home to the oldest high school in Canada, K.C.V.I., again my alma mater.
Have you been a bad boy (or girl)?If you happen to break the law, then you may end up in one of the 9 institutions located in and around Kingston – yes, we are famous for having the most federal correctional facilities in Canada. Seriously, though, isn’t that a pretty penitentiary?? That definitely deserves at least a banner I think.
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It’s good enough for Bryan Adams to be born here, then it’s good enough for you too dammit!
There are many well known individuals who are from Kingston and/or make their home here including several NHLers and musicians. They include: Don Cherry, Doug Gilmour, Kirk Muller, John Kay (Steppenwolf), The Tragically Hip, Zal Yanovsky (The Lovin’ Spoonful), Sarah Harmer, and Dan Akroyd.
There are also many notable authors that live or once lived in Kingston, and being a book lover, I can absolutely appreciate this. Some authors you may recognize include: Helen Humphreys, Diane Schoemperlen, Robertson Davies, Merilyn Simonds, and Steven Heighton.
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What to do, What to do
I will admit that although I am not a fan of winter ANYWHERE, I do really enjoy the warmer months in Kingston, because there is always something going on. There are many well-known tourist attractions in the area including Fort Henry, numerous museums, our historic downtown and the Thousand Islands cruises. There are many festivals that occur every year, that bring in thousands of tourists and we try to attend as many as we can. Our favorite is the Busker’s Festival, but we also enjoy the Blues festival, the Jazz festival, and Febfest. We also enjoy attending theatre, the Kingston Symphony and other musical events at the local Grand Theatre and KROCK Centre. And for the outdoorsy types, there are many beautiful trails to enjoy, as well as fresh water sailing, diving and golf.
So there you are – just a brief tour of our beautiful city. I hope that you come visit one day and preferably without handcuffs!. And when you happen to stop by my little city, let me know and I’ll let you buy me a drink. Cheers.
{ 38 comments… read them below or add one }
If I’m ever in Kingston (and my goodness, it’s GORGEOUS, why wouldn’t I visit?), I will absolutely buy you a drink! And then you can take me on a tour of the penitentiaries. That might be the prettiest prison I’ve ever seen. Is that a phrase that has ever been uttered before?
Truly, an old friend of mine used to visit the thousand islands (I’m guessing only one island not all of them?) with her family every summer and they spent a night on either side of the trip in Kingston. She always talked about what a lovely town it was.
Thanks for being a part of BlogTrotting! Great post!
It was my pleasure Cara – thanks so much!!
What a beautiful city! And Bryan Adams hometown! While I am a fan of winter, too much winter is like too much pink – everything can be overdone. Thanks for a great Blog Trot! And the prisons – I just never expected prisions on a tour! How very out of the box!
“too much winter is like too much pink”
That is awesome.
Wow, what a beautiful city!
And Bryan Adams? I am so there!
If I ever get there in real life I’ll buy that drink for ya!
I look forward to it!!
great tour! stopping over from blogtrotters. my canada experience is very limited, but there is a lot i would like to see, actually. kingston sounds great though, and now i really would like to visit!
Gorgeous city! You need to join the Sundays in My City meme through unknownmami its alot of fun. Have a wonderful Monday!
I’ll check it out – thanks so much for letting me know about it!
That looks like a lovely place to live! I really like where I live now, but it’s NOT a pretty city like Kingston… so I’m slightly jealous
Okay, this is just fun!
I’m loving my virtual tours via Blogtrotting! Kingston looks beautiful, although I’ll pass on the prison, thankyouverymuch.
Now I’ll be singing “Summer of ’69″ all day…
Blogtrotting sounds interesting! I will go check it out.
Stopping by from SITS to say Hi to my SITSah!
I’ve been to Kingston a few times when I was growing up — we lived in central NY. It’s so pretty there; we always enjoyed going. The Thousand Island cruises were my favorite though!
You just admitted that you never read my BlogTrotting post on GREECE, your MOTHERLAND! Tssk, tssk!
For shame, woman! 
Kingston is a nice city. 
Fun post! I will have to post one for my town too.
And yes, most gorgeous prison ever!
Wow, prettiest penitentiary I ever did see.
The last photo sealed the deal. I really want to visit your beautiful city! I have the theme from Robin Hood in my head now . . . that’s Bryan Adams, right?
Thanks for a fabulous tour!
great post – I’ve stopped in many places all over Kingston… we used to visit a friend who did his law degree at Queens.. one of my fave places was Sir John A’s house .. but then again I’m all about the historical houses
stopping by from SITS
Looks like a gorgeous city with much history. I would love to visit:)
Tricia Hull, if you go, you MUST stop on the way and pick up your mother!!
Thanks so much for the tour Maria.
I’m going to have to repeat everyone else and say Kingston looks like a gorgeous city. I’ve never made it up to Ontario even though I have a cousin who lives in Toronto, but I keep meaning to head up to the great North. Now you have me convinced I need to make a road trip of it and visit all of Ontario, including Kingston. Thanks for the tour.
Looks beautiful! Thanks for the post!
I have been there and I really do love it!!!!
Oh, Kingston… if it wasn’t for you, I would not exist. My parents met at Queen’s!
My mom lived there in the late 90s… I remember going to the Kingston Mall on a Saturday and all the convicts were there on their weekend or day passes with their families. It was kinda surreal… like a movie!
How did you know they were convicts in the first place? Were they wearing prison jumpsuits and shackles???
Well, some were on supervised day passes, so they had COs lingering around them. Seriously, it was weird. When mom asked at a store, the person said that the mall gets flooded with day/weekend pass convicts on Saturdays.
Mind you, that was over 10 years ago.
this is the second blogtrotting entry I’ve seen. I think I might take a wander over and sign up…
I love this! I’ve always wondered where you came from
What a beautiful place, and so much wonderful history. Thanks for the tour.
Oh my goodness! I so need to go there!
I wanna visit. Those pictures are beautiful, But yeah, I’d have to come in the Summer for sure! Thanks for the tour!
Wow. I wanna come. Any place that has penitentiaries that are that beautiful deserves a second glance!
New to SITS and saw you there. Thought I’d stop by. Glad I did.
I’ve wanted to go to Canada every since I saw this awesome 20/20 episode about how all the cool kids are going there for trips now back when I was in college. A husband and 3 kids later I still haven’t made and I’m starting to think it’s not gonna happen for me. Fingers crossed it will though because it really does look gorgeous!
It looks like a beautiful city. I do love Canada but this California girl would never survive one of your winters. Maybe that is why all of my Canada visits have been in July…
I’ve been to Kingston several times
I always thought it was beautiful.
what is the name of that prison that looks like disney land????
Ha! We actually call it DisneyLand, but its actually Collins Bay Penitentiary
Also, I should clarify that is wasn’t ALL the convicts, but appeared to be ALL the ones who had day/weekend passes