Bellevue House National Historic Site — Attraction in Ontario

Visited the Bellevue House May 27, 2023. It was a beautiful day. Started at the visitors center for the site and obtained great information from the two ladies in the center. Viewed the displays and history of the house during the time MacDonald lived in the house. We walked around the grounds outside to view the house and gardens. We talked with two of the staff working the 'kitchen' garden. Both of them were knowledgeable on the garden, what they were doing and have planned for the garden this year. We discussed the plantings of vegetables and herbs. As we were leaving we met Colleen, and she added more details of the site. All of the Park Staff were very friendly, had answers to all of our questions, and provided information to relate what living during the time period MacDonald lived in the Bellevue House.

Colleen also provided directions to a local pastry shop since we were in search of 'beignets', a French Doughnut. The pastry shop had no idea what a 'beignet' was. The French Canadian influence must not reach to the Kingston, ON area.

Lois and...

I and my family visited this nice place called Bellevue house in Kingston ON. We had very good time there. It was quiet, Vintage, extravagant, well preserved. It took us virtually back to 18th century lifestyle. The highlight of my experience was the staff hospitality. Simply Awesome. On my way back, my car ditched me in parking lot. It did not start. I thought car battery went dead. It was morning and we had out whole day and trip in jeopardy. This quiet place had no service center nearby moreover it was a Sunday. Seeing my hood off the car, a nice gentleman from the welcome Centre walked towards us offered to help. He pulled over his truck swiftly, figured out the issue and helped us with jump start. He discovered loose contact issue as well with my car battery and gave us a spanner to keep for the trip in case if I need to re adjust the bolts having loose contact. So nice of him. We saluted him in our hearts. He left us a most wonderful experience that Canadians had offered when needed the most. I don't know his name but he will be remembered for...

I'm a resident of Kingston and my previous visit to Bellevue House was decades ago when we first came to Kingston. During the past week, I visited the House twice. The first occasion this past week was to take the grandkids for a visit. They were very interested in the House and what the guide had to say. However, once done, we would be unlikely to visit again.

The second occasion to visit Bellevue this past week was to attend a whisky tasting event with my wife. We quite enjoyed this event and will likely come again for a forthcoming talk about some of the more interesting but lessor known aspects of MacDonald.

The lesson learned is that if Parks Canada wants to have repeat visitors, it has to offer programming that goes beyond a house tour. They also need to promote it in advertising or by other means. I first heard about the whisky tasting by word-of-mouth. I heard about it again from a local club to...