to Kingston! to Kingston!  
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We are down-to-earth, easy-going masculine couple living in Kingston and Picton area (weekends) who both enjoy the quieter things in life like dinner with friends, a walk in the woods, kayaking, travelling, biking, gardening, or a day at the beach. We hope you will take a few minutes to explore our site and if you are interested in meeting, drop us a line (pics always appreciated). We are looking for friendships with local guys or city guys who have an appreciation of the country. Be sure to sign our guest book. As we value visitor's privacy, only we can see your comments. Thanks for stopping by! Brian and Rob Email: simpstra@hotmail.com Upcoming travel plans:
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| Where we live We divide our time between Kingston, Ontario and Northport in Prince Edward County. Living overlooking the water in Kingston, we are within walking distance of downtown and enjoy taking in the many summer festivals and events.
 Kingston's waterfront featuring the City Hall dome Click here to see a live shot of Kingston. Kingston is a beautiful city steeped in history with plenty of things to see and do -- great shopping, sailing, Farmer's market behind City Hall, galleries and museums to visit and more. Located on the shores of Lake Ontario, many of the historic buildings are built from locally quarried limestone. Click here to view some of our favourites.
 To unwind, we retreat to our weekend place in the Northport (Prince Edward Country) about 40 minutes west of Kingston. Very private with an outdoor hot tub, it is a great place to entertain and get away from the city. On occasion we do weekly rentals of the house. |
About us Originally, we met in Toronto and lived there for many years until we decided to make a lifestyle move out of the city. Moving from Toronto to Prince Edward County known locally as the county and about two hours east of Toronto in 1989, we renovated a century home in Milford and lived there for about ten years. Running a bed & breakfast, a garden statuary shop and consulting were some of the things we did to earn a living. In 1998, we sold the house in Milford and searched the county for the right piece of property on which to build a house. Ideally, we wanted something near the 401 to reduce our commute to Kingston. In the spring of 1999 we purchased a private four acre property in Northport (Prince Edward County) with a natural clearing to build on in the centre of the property. We began construction in December of 1999 and moved in April 1, 2000.
 We lived in the house until the fall of 2001 and then took an apartment in Kingston for the winter as we missed having the option to partake in what a city has to offer. Since then, we have used the house as our weekend get-away. Travelling is something we both enjoy. Often, we are in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Ft. Lauderdale or Mexico in winter. We like to visit Europe as often as we can afford to.
 While we enjoy gardening, we have tried to keep the Northport property very low-maintenance and naturalized with lots of spring bulbs. There are a couple of walking paths as well with lots of mature pines on the property which ensure privacy for suntanning. |
Interests
We both enjoy travelling and in the summer of 1999, we visited Amsterdam for ten days. What an incredible city! We walked for miles exploring the inner core of the city with its unique architecture and picturesque canals. Definitely a city we want to visit again. In 2004, we visited Vienna, Austria -- another incredible city with great architecture and vibrant cultural life.
May 2005, we spent a couple of weeks exploring Italy (Rome, Florence and driving around Tuscany) -- definitely the trip of a lifetime. Oh, the food, wine and sights were astonishing! Certainly we plan to return again.
In the winter, we like to escape the snow and usually travel to Ft. Lauderdale or spend some time in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. In our return visits to Ft. Lauderdale, we have met many locals and find the city has as active a pace as you want ... nightlife, relaxation at the Sebastian Street or Haulover beaches. Mexico tends to be a quiet beach get-away with lots of reading, afternoon siestas and exploring.
In the fall of 2007, we took a last minute trip to Cuba and spent a week in Varadero. During the trip we explored Havana one day and Cardenas another. Definitely worth visiting!
We also enjoy the beauty and simplicity of Prince Edward County including the beaches at Sandbanks. For get-aways, we like to visit Toronto, Ottawa. Other interests we share are cooking, gardening, music, reading, wine-making, long walks, and summers at the incredible beaches of Sandbanks Provincial Park near Picton (both the regular and nude beach).
While in Ft. Lauderdale in February 2004, we took ocean kayak lessons. We purchased kayaks on our return and spent time kayaking on Lake Ontario on the Kingston waterfront as well as at Sandbanks Park in Picton.
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Puerto Vallarta
February 2007Canal in Amsterdam
RobOur tattoos Brian Chelsea & Jasper
our dogs that we lost to cancer and sadly missAt Fort Henry hill
overlooking KingstonA Carbineri
Italy
At the Colosseum
Rome 2005Rob - Trevi Fountain
Rome 2005Brian - Ponte Vecchio
Rome 2005
At Sandbanks beach
PictonOur woods
NorthportBanderos Bay
Puerto Vallarta
Habsburg Palace
ViennaHabsburg Palace Statue
ViennaBuilding Statuary
ViennaBeach boys
Puerto Vallarta 2006Canopy tour
tree top zipping
Puerto Vallarta 2006Rock Man
balancing rocks
on the Malecon
Puerto Vallarta 2006
Be sure to sign our guest book