As is my usual (and unfortunate) habit, I did most of my research on the places I went and the things I saw after I got home. It's a slightly backwards way to learn about things, I guess, leaving me feeling a need to return to get a second look at some things, and a first at things I overlooked. That's just how I roll.

Wikipedia, of course, provides basic information on just about everything. The following websites have been very useful in enhancing my understanding of things experienced on this trip:

•Lighthouse Friends, by Kraig Anderson, has information on virtually every lighthouse in the United States and Canada.

•Rideau Canal, by Ken Watson, has an astonishing amount of material on the canal and related topics. I'm going to be reading this for months.

•Dictionary of Canadian Biography provided me with detail on the life of Lieutenant Colonel John By. The DCB has more than 8,000 entries.

One good habit I have developed in my years of travel is photographing interpretive signs at all the sites I visit. These are not always read carefully or fully digested on-site. Below are some of the ones I photographed on this trip. The signs at the canal locks all have the map at left and a French translation at right, as well as the same general information after the two or three paragraphs describing the site, so I've cropped them down to just the latter. I've also included a Google map showing the lockstations I visited.