Wolfe Island: Kingston, Ontario
Wolfe Island, near Kingston, Ontario, is a farming community on it's way to being an energy centre. Wind turbines now dominate the horizon everywhere around the island. This pleasant island is twenty minutes
ferry
ride from Kingston -- and the ferry is FREE! It leaves from the dock at Kingston about every hour during the
summer.
The schedule is different for
winter.
For your first visit, a stop at the information centre (the smaller building to the left on this picture) will be a good investment. It's a hundred yards from the dock on the main street of Marysville, Wolfe Island's only town.Marysville was founded in 1858/9 and this building of Kingston area limestone is one of the earliest remaining examples from the period. The fine church whose steeple dominates the town is another.
Farming in Ontario isn't the money-maker it once was, it's so easy to transport food now from places with more congenial climates, so farms now often have sidelines to supplement there income. And the taste for exotic meats in restaurants is creating some interesting sights in Ontario's fields, like the bison and llama farms on the island.
Grant Allan was Canada's first crime writer and the annual Scene of the Crime festival is held on Wolfe Island (his birthplace and home)in his honour. The festival takes place each August and features world-famous writers of crime stories. In 2009, the festival honored Peter Robinson, writer of the Inspector Banks novels. This mural, at the information centre, shows him 'hard at work' -- this is why I want to be a writer!!
Restaurants are fairly relaxed on the island, as you'd expect from a country place, but they aren't just burgers and fries. Brown's Bay Inn and the General Wolfe Inn, for example, do good food with a reasonable wine list. For live music and a more party atmosphere, the Island Grill in Marysville, is the place to go. Wolfe Island isn't very big, about 40 km long and 10 km wide at the western end, but it still manages to find room for two nine hole golf courses: Alston Moor and Wolfe Island Riverfront. Each course has its own character, Alston Moor is a links course with regulation length holes, greenside bunkers and 'tough roughs'. Players get a view of Kingston and the mainland from the course. Riverside is a groomed course with wide fairways and more manageable roughs. The view from here is out over the St. Lawrence. It may sound like these are easy courses -- not a challenge for a serious golfer -- but remember those windmills... This is a windy place!
Horne's Ferry
to the US sails out of Alexandria Point at Button Bay on the southern shore. It's about 15 minutes drive from Marysville, past the bison farm, on a quiet day.
The Information place provides Cycle route maps. There are three that will take you around most of the island. The longest route, The Foot Loop, is a 58km round trip, out to the eastern end of the island. The middle route, Button Bay Loop, is 28 km and takes you around the widest part of the island, starting at Maryville on the northern side of the island and reaching Button Bay and Alexandria Point on the south. The shortest is The Head, a pleasant 18 km ride that leaves Maryville heading due west, taking in views of Kingston, and Simcoe and Horseshoe Islands just offshore. A word of caution here though, many of the roads aren't paved so take it easy. Crafts and antiques are also an important part of the Wolfe Island experience and, again, the Information booth can provide details or this
Wolfe Island website.
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The island's provincial park, Sandy Bay, is a quiet stroll through woodlands down to a sandy beach. The woodland is a stopping off spot for migratory birds and a hiding place for deer (such as this one seen in Sandy Bay Park) and turtles (such as the Spotted Turtle below, also photoed at Sandy Bay) from the nearby marshes.
