I know a lot of us do (sometimes lengthy) day trips here, so I thought we could start a thread sharing locations/ideas as well as photos. It might give others ideas to do the same, or hey, at least make for some photos to look at. 
I'll start.
This morning after taking my daughter to the barn I hopped on the scoot around noon and headed for Gravenhurst - I had a 4:30 reservation on the RMS Segwun steamship, a real piece of history. Built in 1887 it's the oldest still operating steamship in the world and one of the last 4 ships in the world still carrying the Royal Mail Ship (RMS) designation.
Grabbed lunch in Port Perry, avoiding the Tim Hortons (it was littered with Timmies Angels sitting next to their bikes drinking coffee) and grabbing some pizza instead from what used to be Yellow House Pizza but is now something else - not as good as it once was.
I arrived about an hour early and toured around on foot - Gravenhurst is such a picturesque town.
The ship arrived back from the previous tour at the time we were supposed to be boarding, so by the time they disembarked everyone and got us aboard we were about 20 minutes late leaving, and since the next cruise was a premium dinner cruise, we got the short end of the stick with a truncated trip that was only about 40 minutes.
Regardless, I was there not for the scenery, but for the machinery - I'm a ship buff. Once we backed out of our slip and were underway I headed for the wheelhouse (I had asked about a tour when boarding) and spent about 25 minutes chatting with the captain and watching things as we were underway - totally awesome, a real window into how ships used to be 100+ years ago. This is Titanic era stuff still in use in modern day - the engine room telegraphs are original 1887 as is the compass. The steering gear has been upgraded from the old chain system to hydraulic, but the wheel remains...and captain said it was not assisted, so swinging the rudder from lock to lock did look like a task involving some amount of strength - I asked and he said the steering was reasonably light around midships, but was a bear towards lock, especially under power.
Next I headed for the engine room - it's actually surprisingly open (at least the control station, the machinery room below is out of bounds) and you can walk through the control area. Again, for a history or ship buff, this is awesome stuff - again, original engine room telegraphs still in use, and the coal fired boiler & steam engines are still ticking. Yes, it was hot - the Segwun is still powered by coal and there was no shortage of heat in the vicinity of the machinery room/control station. You can look down through grates to see the crankshafts and other machinery below - neat stuff.
Anyhow, for anyone looking for nice northern day trip destination with something to do at the end, here's an idea - even for the people with no interest in the mechanics or history of the ship, it is a great scenic tour down millionaire alley north of Gravenhurst, and if you go for one of the longer tours they reportedly serve a great meal.
I'll start.
This morning after taking my daughter to the barn I hopped on the scoot around noon and headed for Gravenhurst - I had a 4:30 reservation on the RMS Segwun steamship, a real piece of history. Built in 1887 it's the oldest still operating steamship in the world and one of the last 4 ships in the world still carrying the Royal Mail Ship (RMS) designation.
Grabbed lunch in Port Perry, avoiding the Tim Hortons (it was littered with Timmies Angels sitting next to their bikes drinking coffee) and grabbing some pizza instead from what used to be Yellow House Pizza but is now something else - not as good as it once was.
I arrived about an hour early and toured around on foot - Gravenhurst is such a picturesque town.
The ship arrived back from the previous tour at the time we were supposed to be boarding, so by the time they disembarked everyone and got us aboard we were about 20 minutes late leaving, and since the next cruise was a premium dinner cruise, we got the short end of the stick with a truncated trip that was only about 40 minutes.
Regardless, I was there not for the scenery, but for the machinery - I'm a ship buff. Once we backed out of our slip and were underway I headed for the wheelhouse (I had asked about a tour when boarding) and spent about 25 minutes chatting with the captain and watching things as we were underway - totally awesome, a real window into how ships used to be 100+ years ago. This is Titanic era stuff still in use in modern day - the engine room telegraphs are original 1887 as is the compass. The steering gear has been upgraded from the old chain system to hydraulic, but the wheel remains...and captain said it was not assisted, so swinging the rudder from lock to lock did look like a task involving some amount of strength - I asked and he said the steering was reasonably light around midships, but was a bear towards lock, especially under power.
Next I headed for the engine room - it's actually surprisingly open (at least the control station, the machinery room below is out of bounds) and you can walk through the control area. Again, for a history or ship buff, this is awesome stuff - again, original engine room telegraphs still in use, and the coal fired boiler & steam engines are still ticking. Yes, it was hot - the Segwun is still powered by coal and there was no shortage of heat in the vicinity of the machinery room/control station. You can look down through grates to see the crankshafts and other machinery below - neat stuff.
Anyhow, for anyone looking for nice northern day trip destination with something to do at the end, here's an idea - even for the people with no interest in the mechanics or history of the ship, it is a great scenic tour down millionaire alley north of Gravenhurst, and if you go for one of the longer tours they reportedly serve a great meal.
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