Jim and Barbara's Genealogy Trip Day Six-September 13

On Day Six, we decided to stand down from our mission for one day.  There were a number of reasons including rest, laundry, but most importantly it was Barbara's Birthday.  It also gave us a chance to see a little bit of Barrie, Ontario, Canada.  Next to Lake Simcoe and gateway to the north, it is an interesting city.  After doing our exercises, we started the day by visiting the Province of Ontario Travel Information Centre in Barrie.  These Centres are operated by the Ministry of Tourism and Recreation, and provide tourist information on the entire province. You can pick up brochures, special-interest publications, maps and directions. For those of you traveling to or through Canada, take advantage of this excellent service provided by the Canadian government.  A young lady spent time with Barbara and I showing us tourist spots.  Since we were traveling the next day to the Archives in Toronto, we also asked about the location and about subway service in downtown Toronto.  She pulled up maps and gave us explicit instructions.  Very nice indeed!

So we were off to explore Barrie.  Lake Simcoe is a very large lake that Barrie is situated on.  They have a nice waterfront park which Barbara and I explored. See the pictures below. It was after the tourist season so it was kind of nice.  Barrie is situated on the shores of Kempenfeldt (or commonly spelled Kempenfelt) Bay which is an 10 mile long, straight and deep bay sticking out from Lake Simcoe, which is a part of the Trent-Severn waterway connecting Georgian Bay (Lake Huron) with Lake Ontario. See the picture below that shows the eastern terminus of a portage between Lake Ontario and Lake Huron.

We also walked through the downtown and viewed the unusual pie shape of the Simcoe Hotel and found a 1973 painting on the side a downtown building giving more history of Barrie.  See those pictures below.  We didn't have enough time to visit a few places such as the Canadian Air Force Museum at Camp Borden.  Camp Borden was the first airfield in Canada, established in 1921.  Oh well, more reasons to go back to see relatives and history.

So we had a dinner for the birthday girl and retired for the evening ready for our venture into Toronto on Day Seven.