Dreamscapes Travel & Lifestyle Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dreamscapes.ca/i/510262
SPRING/SUMMER 2015 DREAMSCAPES 47 THE RIDEAU CANAL,ONTARIO Pleasure boating is an apt way to describe the adventure of being able to navigate the 202-kilometre waterway from Ottawa to Kingston. Even if you're not such an ambitious boater, it is fasci- nating to spend time on the Rideau Canal where 45 locks were engineered almost 200 years ago to lift or lower ves- sels on the steep inclines. The system links the natural waterways of the region with 19 kilometres of a man-made canal in which a thousand workers died on the job from illnesses such as malaria. The incentive was for military purposes in 1826 (which included possible war with the United States) but that subsided and instead the canal played a key role in building the economy of a future Canada. Today, many locks are still hand-operated and boat tours are avail- able in the ports of Ottawa, Kingston and Merrickville. ontariotravel.net DROULERS- TSIIONHIAKWATHA, QUÉBEC Due to the authenticity of so many lifestyle items unearthed in this 15 th -cen- tury Iroquois village, you are actually encouraged to sleep over. Located in what is now the municipality of Saint-Anicet (about 70 kilometres west of Montréal), the village of Tsiionhiakwatha is identi- fied by historians as "the largest paleohistorical site discovered to date in Québec." After a local farmer, François Droulers, reported strange-looking mounds a few decades ago, archaeolo- gists found more than 150,000 artifacts belonging to an estimated 500 members of the Saint Lawrence Iroquois band. Today, their fascinating culture is shared with us through the insights of amiable guides. They teach flint knapping, camp- fire building and pottery making. Activities include watching lacrosse or bow-and-arrow matches. And if you sign up for it, you can sleep over (on cots) inside the central longhouse. A cosy sleeping bag and your own pillow are rec- ommended. sitedroulers.ca THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER Picture the 17 th -century missionary Jacques Marquette with navigator Louis Jolliet as they paddled westward on the St. Lawrence River in search of a fabled waterway. It was reputed to run south- bound along the entire spine of the continent and into the Gulf of Mexico. In combination with the Great Lakes and portaging, these navigators did indeed find the rolling river with the help of a friendly Sioux band, but couldn't com- plete the entire journey due to an ambush by rival tribes. Today, French place names still dot the entire shoreline of the Mississippi River, as do numerous ports named for Spain, which controlled it all by 1762. Who knew the Mississippi River is the main watershed for 31 Amer- ican states plus two Canadian provinces? Experience the tranquility yourself, perhaps aboard a luxurious antebellum-style paddlewheeler (the American Queen Steamboat Company) or on other specialized vessels such as American Cruise Lines and Avalon Waterways Cruises, which are adapted to the river's currents and serpentine shape. Steamboating in the 19 th century was a formidable driver of the frontier economy, much of which was chroni- cled by Captain Samuel Longhorne Clemens, who adapted a river measure- ment term for his penname, Mark Twain. experiencemississippiriver.com DS