Moms Unplugged Take on Kingston is part of a new series I will be working on with a dynamic group of bloggers. Our mission is to explore new places and take part in activities that give us the opportunity to unplug from our families and experience things we may not do with kids in tow. Let’s be honest, sometimes us moms just need to take care of ourselves, do crazy stuff and hang with the girlfriends!
We arrived in Kingston, Ontario just in time for lunch and ready to get down to some serious adventuring, packing as much into the weekend as we could. I will be sharing the gastronomic experiences in a separate post. YES, the food will take up a whole post. Trust me: Kingston is a foodie town! After lunch we checked into The Delta Waterfront Kingston for our overnight getaway. Being bloggers and social media types we had to stop for the perfect selfie op in front of the water wall at Aqua Terra, a beautiful fine dining restaurant located in the lobby of the hotel.
The front desk staff was expecting us and ready to offer helpful tips on what to see and do in the area. The Delta Kingston Waterfront is in the perfect location – on the harbour and in the downtown area. They recommended we take in Feb Fest, a winter festival that was happening close by with free skating, live music and beaver tails! We headed up to our rooms and were treated to fantastic views of the harbour, which in the winter is empty, but in the summer would be filled with boats and yachts.
Being that we were so full from lunch, we kicked back to enjoy the super-plush beds and ample pillows in the modern guest rooms that the Delta offers. The rooms are serene and calming, you have lots of space to move around and a mini fridge and work station with lots of outlets for charging our devices. We basked in the quiet, admiring the view and making our action plan for the rest of the afternoon. Luckily, we had a wonderful itinerary planned for us by the great team at Tourism Kingston.
Rested and refreshed, we headed back out to take on all that Kingston could offer. You could park your car for the day and be walking distance to great restaurants, shopping, cafes and tourist attractions. My personal faves were all the cute, kitschy shops on Princess Street (find out more in another post in the series) and the walking path that follows the shore line. After all that walking, we were ready for some pampering at Serenity Day Spa, a large full-service spa and salon that has been serving the Kingston area for 16 years. We enjoyed side-by-side pedicures in the dedicated pedicure room as well as a lovely glass of wine from their licensed cafe on premises. The estheticians were friendly and knowledgeable about the services they provide at the spa and they shared with us that they get many bookings for girls’ weekends. Friends will meet up in Kingston because it is a halfway point between Ottawa and Toronto. Brilliant idea and I can totally see why Kingston is the perfect place to meet!
We rounded out the day by taking a Haunted Walk of Kingston Tour – oh yes, we did! It was actually really cool – a terrific history lesson on the lesser-known facts about Kingston with some incredibly creepy details. Did you know that Kingston has more bodies buried under paved parking lots and in city parks than any other city? For REAL! The park is affectionately known by locals as ‘Skeleton Park.’ You can find headstones and the odd femur making their way out of the ground after the spring thaw. There is now a parking lot covering the location of an old prison yard where criminals were buried after they were hanged and people have reported seeing ghostly figures lingering in the lot. CREEPY! We meandered the dark streets, led by our knowledgeable guide, stopping periodically in front of old houses where he would recount the history of the home and the supernatural activity that had earned that house a stop on the tour. Being a bit of a history buff, I enjoyed this tour immensely. It gives you the chance to get up close and personal with Kingston. Does this house look haunted to you?
We packed so much into our girls’ weekend in Kingston and could have done so much more – like Historic Fort Henry and The Marine Museum of the Great Lakes. During the summer months, you can take the ferry to Wolf Island or book a 1000-Islands Cruise. If you need more ideas or help planning your next weekend away, check out Tourism Kingston – our gracious hosts for our ‘Moms Unplugged’ series on Kingston, Ontario
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