Bellissimo: Orillia to Big Chute

Our next stop was Orrillia where we stayed for 3 days while we waited for Darrell and Beth. We were lucky as there was a lot to entertain us there. First of all, there was a beautiful theater that has been in use for over 100 years. We went there one evening and saw "Something Funny Happened on the Way to the Forum". It was hilarious.

The next day we went to the Farmers' Market and that was wonderful too. So many vendors with veggies that we filled up the refrig. There was a country/gospel music band playing and they were good to listen to. There was also a little girl, about age 7 who played the fiddle--she was featured in a couple of songs.

The featured event of the week-end was the Scottish Festival with 20 bands. They came from all over the area. There were men in kilts everywhere !!!

Another band....There were craft and food vendors in the park next to the marina as well as pipe and drum contests. It was a fun day.

And of course, no parade is complete without the Shriners !!!

We left Orillia early in the morning so that we could spend a little time studying this next lock called the Big Chute. It started out as a railway transport, but was never converted to a regular lock because it was thought that this type of conveyance would prevent the spread of the sea lamprey to the Great Lakes. This is a view from the top down to the lower waterway. We have to go down THIS??????

Here we see how the boats come UP from the lower waterway. Loaded onto the car, they'll go up and over to the higher water.

Going up......

Almost to the top....

Up and over the road to the upper waterway...being lowered into the water.

Now we'll see how we're going to go down...Here is a boat being loaded...

Up out of the water, over the road, and ready for the downhill ride. Looks easy enough...........!!!!

Our turn...we're going in with 2 other boats- 2 smaller cruisers in front of us.

Slings are in place and the car is coming out of the water.

Up and ready to go over the highway before we head down the hill. On the average, the highway traffic is stopped about twice and hour for this operation. It takes only about 7 minutes for the ride but loading can be longer, depending on the size of the boats, etc.