One day last summer we went on a boat cruise along the St. Clair River in Sarnia, Ontario on the Duc d’Orleans II. My aunt treated my sister and me for our birthdays. We arrived at the dock in downtown Sarnia at 11:15 am for the noon cruise. We, along with most of the other passengers, sat on the upper deck watching the comings and goings in the park along the river. There was a lot of activity getting ready for the power boat races coming up on the weekend. Meanwhile, it was a lovely sunny day and promised to be a nice afternoon for the cruise along the St. Clair River. The tables were set up for the included lunch so we chose our spots and waited to set off. The lunch consisted of a cold buffet: cold cuts, buns, potato salad, coleslaw, raw vegetables, pickles and butter tarts. Coffee, tea and lemonade were also available. We received a guided commentary about the history of the river and the buildings on shore as we travelled south with Canada to our left and the United States to our right. Once we left the downtown core, we headed past the plants of ‘Chemical Valley’ and some of the smaller villages that have sprung up along the river. When we reached a certain point, Stag Island became our neighbour to the right. The island lies in the middle of the river between the two countries and is a destination for many Canadians who have holiday homes on the island. We saw many very nice homes with docks and boats along the river. We turned around before we got to the end of the island and headed back towards Sarnia and the view of the twin bridges that join the two nations between Point Edward (C) and Port Huron (USA). We saw many shore birds resting on wooden and concrete stakes along the river and a lot of other boaters out enjoying the day along with tankers plying their way through the Great Lakes system going from Lake Huron and Lake St. Clair and on towards Lake Erie. It was a short but enjoyable trip and we were back at the dock by 2:00 pm.
The boat is 84 feet long and is wheelchair accessible. You can check out the “website”:http://www.ducdorleans.com/ to book a lunchtime sailing for $25 (2015 price). There are other sailings throughout the day as well for which you do not have to book.