Canada Day in the Capital

Well, Pat has taken down the flag on our house and I've put my red and white T-shirt away until next year. Canada Day is long over. If you have never experienced Canada Day in Ottawa, you really might want to put it on your bucket list.

Most years we head downtown by bike, along the beautiful Ottawa River Parkway. (I refuse to call it by its new Harper name; the Sir John A. MacDonald Parkway.) There are always lots of folks biking along beside the river, towards Parliament Hill. This year the skies looked threatening so we took the free bus option instead. By 9:30 am buses were already packed with people of all ages.

People watching is one of the main events. Pretty well everyone wears red and white. Some people wear great outfits.

Over the years we have established a bit of a routine. About five years ago we started attending the free Unisong concert in the National Arts Centre. This year there were five Ottawa choirs who were joined by six choirs from across the country. Unisong was created in 1997 to foster understanding and patriotism.             

This year's show was great. The program consisted of pieces representing various regions of the country. Especially moving was a piece by James Wright, entitled To Young Canadians. It was the first time that we have heard this piece, that sets to music the final speech/letter of Jack Layton.

After Unisong we usually head to the Hill and listen to some of the noon hour concert and O Canada. It's alway a thrill to be anywhere downtown when the Snowbirds fly over the Peace Tower. Then we head over to Major's Hill Park for the Canadian Chicken Farmers bbq chicken sandwich.
When our kids were young we would walk across the bridge to Jacques Cartier Park in Gatineau, Quebec. This year it was too windy for the Sky Hawk parachute team which usually  lands there.

The Skyhawks..always fun to watch!

Later on in the afternoon when our feet are fading, we often attend an afternoon concert in Confederation Park. However this year we went back into the NAC. One of the best things about Canada Day is that we always bump into someone we know. This year was no exception. While watching a concert by a group called The Peptides, my gaze went from the singers at the front of the stage to the young drummer at the back. Was he one of my former students? After they finished I went over to speak to him and yes, he was Alex, a student from my Holy Trinity days. It was fun to meet up with him again.

We were walking out of the building after that encounter when  a young woman came up to Pat, enquiring, "Mr Shaughnessy?" Again, a former student, Brittany. She had recognized her kindergarten teacher and just wanted to say hi. It was a pleasure to meet the grown up version of these former students.

Canada Day Tips:
Do not attempt to walk your bike around downtown. Lock it up and walk to the various parks. The stupidest thing we saw this year was a family on bikes. The mom was walking her bike through a throng of people. She had a toddler on a bikeseat and was having a hard time keeping up with her husband. He was attempting to push his way up the hill on Rideau Street with a tandem bike. He did not have just one kid bike attached to his own. No, he had two kids, on their own bikes, attached to his!

Don't go downtown if you hate walking in crowds.

If you think you might make a special effort to attend Canada Day just one year, do not come in a year when royalty is in town, unless you're really into the Royal Family.

Because of the extra security, barricades are put up all along Mackenzie Avenue, which runs beside Major's Hills Park. The barricades continue around the corner, onto Rideau Street to Parliament Hill and you can get totally trapped on one side of the street. The year that Kate and Will were here, we ended up standing in the sun for half an hour, virtually unable to move, in a crush of people, while we waited for the RCMP to let us cross the street into the park. And that was after the carriages had already passed by!

Even without royalty, the Governor General and the Prime Minister always drive along Mackenzie in horse drawn carriages, so after they pass, watch where you walk.

Drop in to The Chateau Laurier Hotel. The air conditioning provides welcome relief on a hot day, the chairs in the lobby are comfy and the washrooms are definitely a step up from the porta-potties outside. The National Gallery and The Museum of History (Also recently renamed by Harper…..for twenty years it was the Museum of Civilization) are also great indoor spaces to escape either heat or rain. All the museums are free on Canada Day.

Enjoy the music.

There are all kinds of free concerts in the parks as well as musicians and entertainers on many corners. Many years ago, on Canada Day, we saw Al Simmons for the first time. He is my absolute favourite family entertainer. For pure, goofy fun he cannot be beat.

On the Sparks Street Mall

This year we came across these fencers! 

During the day, downtown is full of families. The evening is a different matter.We used to go back downtown to see the show on Parliament Hill and watch the fireworks but lately we find that in the evening, the young drinkers are out. Now, if we choose to watch the fireworks we go to a spot far away from the Hill. There are plenty of locations along the river  where you can see them. It's a great way to end the day.

So thanks to my fellow Canadian taxpayers. Every year Canada Day gives us many reasons to be glad we're here.

Rafting on the Ottawa River

Somehow it is already July 1st! Happy Canada Day! Instead of a long list of excuses for my absence, I offer the following...just one of the many activities that have kept us busy these past few weeks.

"Cruising down the river, on a Sunday afternoon…"

There’s a new show in town. And I’m not talking CFL football. No, it’s rafting down the Ottawa River, right here in the city. For years I have wanted to go on a rafting expedition but simply never got around to organizing a trip out of town to do it.

Now, if rafting is your wish, there is no need to leave Ottawa. Wilderness Tours has recently expanded operations to include their Ottawa City Adventure trips. On a recent sunny Sunday afternoon, nine members of my family celebrated my sister’s 60^th by paddling, sightseeing and talking our way from Brittania Beach, in the west end to Lemieux Island, which is just before the War Museum.

  

Along our way we went through the Deschenes, Champlain and  Remic Rapids. If that sounds dangerous, it isn’t; not when you are in the hands of an experienced paddler like our guide Cameron. It’s true that on that very same day, a family had to be rescued from the Deschenes Rapids. However, that family was not in a large, inflatable raft with a seasoned guide. You have to know and understand the rapids in order to navigate them successfully. Although it was fun to bounce through the rapids, at no point did we feel uneasy. As promised at the outset, this was a gentle introduction to rafting. The only time we got wet was when some of us chose to cool off with a quick swim when we were in a quiet section of the river. Cameron hauled us back in by the straps of our lifejackets. 

Cameron sat up higher than us and steered our craft with a pair of high tech oars. We were all issued paddles and although we contributed to the paddling effort, it was no big deal if you decided to take a break and simply enjoy the passing scenery. Cruising down the river affords you a unique vantage point. In the middle of the river, the sounds of the city disappear as you take in both natural and manmade landmarks on both the Quebec and Ontario sides.

Along the way we passed Westboro Beach where we took swim lessons as kids in the 60’s. Then we passed The Point, and Remic Beach where our mom swam as a youngster. We reminisced about the days when the log booms were still along that stretch of the river. They were huge squared timbers, chained together to keep the logs floating down to the EB Eddy plant from going ashore. As teens, we used to swim out to the booms and see how far we could walk along before falling off. Remnants of those days can still be seen. On our ride we passed an upturned log. That visible end was notched, where a chain once attached it to its place in the boom.

Our journey ended among the tiny islands around the water filtration plant, a very peaceful, picturesque section of the river. Just past the bridge that goes to the plant on Lemieux Island, we went ashore, where a van waited to drive us back to Brittania Beach.

Hopefully before the summer is over we'll go again but this time we will take our mother along. It would be fitting for her to go along this historic river, as her grandfather made that trip many times as a river-man, working on the log drive.