July 26 thru 30, 2024 Ottawa!
We arrived in Ottawa on Friday, July 26, around 2:15 p.m. We decided to begin our stay in a marina, the Hull Marina, which is in Gatineau, just across the river from Ottawa. There is a pedestrian bridge from here to downtown Ottawa, but for Dan and me, the walk from here to downtown is probably half a mile or more – to do that and still have enough in us to walk over downtown is asking much of our old bodies. Enter, stage left, George Norbert (pronounced Nohr-bear). George lives on his boat in the marina for the summer months, has a condo in Florida for the winter months. He’s about our age, a widower, and very friendly and amazingly accommodating! He stopped by to introduce himself, said he has a car here and is ready to take us wherever we’d like to go! He was as good as his word. Each day, we’d call him when we were ready to go downtown, he dropped us off at a central location, and said to call him when we were ready to come back! We will forever be grateful for his help and friendship. Dan and I were done in after 3-4 hours, so George came and got us. Michelle, in top physical condition, remained to wander around, see much more of the city, and then walk back to the boat.
One change was immediately noticeable in Ottawa from the rest of our time in Canada. We have crossed from Quebec to Ontario. Now, instead of the first language of announcements, greetings, etc., being French, we now heard English. Even though all the Quebec folks were so pleasant and welcoming, it is much easier to have communications in English!
In our time in Ottawa:
Day one – we were pretty tired, so we walked to a local restaurant there in Gatineau and had a pretty good meal. Early night.
Day two – George drove us downtown, dropped us off near the Tourist information office. We partook of their offerings and advice. Right next door was an outdoor cafe, where we had some lunch. We had gotten reservations for a tour of the Canadian Mint. We enjoyed the tour, learned so much about the Canadian mint process. Turns out the mint here in Ottawa doesn’t make any bills or any circulation coins. The bills are printed in the Bank of Canada. The coins are made elsewhere – I have forgotten where! This mint produces commemorative coins, medals (Olympic and military), gold and silver coins for investors. Interestingly enough, they also have produced coins for over 100 other countries, including the United States!? This was on Saturday and no work was being done that day, but the guide had several television screens to show the process. Our group had some good questions – Dan’s were the only question the guide had problems in answering! We were disappointed they weren’t giving out samples that day!
Day Three: We had tickets (free) to tour the House of Commons. This was really very interesting. The main house of Parliament is under construction, behind fences and scaffolding. From the outside, though, it is amazingly beautiful and imposing. In normal times, both the Senate and House of Commons meets in this building. But, some years ago the decision was made to completely renovate the main house plus create a large underground space for the visitor center. In order to undertake that project, both the Senate and House had to be relocated. Wow! Just imagining all the moving pieces of that project! The House of Commons that we toured meets in a beautiful space that formerly was an outside courtyard! They put a ceiling on it that allows some natural light in. They added huge columns that resemble trees with branches to hold up the ceiling and support the walls. On the main floor, there are two desks in the middle of the floor, both having to do with clerical/recording function. The big seat at the front is for the Governor General (or the monarch if he/she is present). The floor is divided into two, one half (the right side) is always the majority party) and the left the opposing party. The Prime Minister sits in the eleventh chair from the front of the room in the front row of the majority party. The minority leader sits in the eleventh chair across the room. There is a large balcony for the public to occupy – always first come, first serve. One fact I thought interesting is that, once a bill has gone through all the stages until it is thought ready to be the law of the land, the Governor General is presented with it. After she (currently a woman) has reviewed it there in the chamber, if she approves, she simply nods her head – and, there’s a new law!
We also saw a committee room, where a smaller group debates and amends bills that have been proposed.
On the same floor as the legislatures sit, there are a couple of sound proof small rooms that can be used for a member who needs some quiet or privacy.
The last room we saw was impressive. The Room of Remembrance has a book for every conflict that Canadians have fought and died in (eight books). Every day, an officer in ceremonial dress comes and turns each book to the next page. The ceiling has lighting that comes through holds to illuminate the room. The lighting gets brighter during the day to the point where all the pages are turned, then starts to dim. This happens 365 days a year. This way, every name of every Canadian who has died for his/her country sees the light one day per year. This was the only room in the House where photographs were not allowed. I was very moved to hear about this.
There is also a changing of the guard every morning at 10:00 a.m. in front of the main Parliament building. Doesn’t seem like we’ll get to see that…
It is thought that the main building will be ready for occupancy around 2032 – quite a long time!
After our tour, we strolled over to the street that is pedestrian only. We stopped for a cold drink. Dan and I decided we were ready to go back to the boat, so we called George who came quickly and delivered us back ‘home’. Michelle still had lots of energy, so she stayed downtown. We didn’t see her again until 9:00 p.m.!
Leaving Ottawa, the route takes boats up a flight of 8 locks. Once you start, you must finish – they are connected one to the next. At the top of the locks, there is a wall with power that we can use. We had heard conflicting information on that spot, but a Looper boat that just ascended a few days ago stayed there 2 nights, sent us detailed information on where they stayed. So, on Monday morning, our plan was to ascend the locks as soon as they opened (9:00), tie up on the wall, and explore more of downtown for Michelle’s last full day with us. Sunday night, we checked the engines and prepared to shove off early to get to the ‘blue line’ to wait for the locks opening. The blue line is just on the other side of the river, no more than 10 minutes away. The engines were a little hesitant to start, but they did start and off we went. We were the 3rd boat there. The very nice Parks Canada people briefed us on the order to go into the lock – since we were the biggest boat, we were the first in. All boats (4 by this time) got tied up, and up we went to the next lock. We asked if it would be possible to leave our engines running – the answer, not here. These locks are pretty deep and there are 3 other boats in the chamber with us. If we cannot be sure of starting in each lock, they said we should stay in the 2nd lock, let the other 3 boats go on into the next lock. Then we backed out of the first two locks. While that was happening, I called the marina, who found us a spot to return to. Our wonderful friend, George, will take Dan and Michelle to the store to buy more batteries and bring them back. Turns out these particular batteries were installed in 2017, so their useful life is over. If this had to happen, the timing and location couldn’t have been better – Michelle is an excellent and strong mechanic herself, and between Dan and her, they got the old batteries out and are off to the store! (I decided to make myself somewhat useful by updating our blog!) The mechanical engineers (Michelle and Dan)got back with three batteries, and all three were installed right away. We shouldn’t have any more battery problems – YAY!!
On Monday night, after the battery exercise, we asked George to take us to a good restaurant and to please have dinner with us! He took us to the Baton Rouge, where we had a terrific meal. We enjoyed George’s company – he has had an interesting life, including he and his wife shipping their trawler to France and living there for 14 years!
Next morning, we made our way to the blue line, again being the third boat there. The flight of eight locks was completed – we had lots of people watching. I even did a little happy dance at the top. The spot where we had hoped to dock for the night was taken up by two boats. Further along, there was more wall with 30 amp electrical outlets. We tied up securely, then decided to walk to the Basilica of Notre Dame. Dan stayed back, so Michelle and I went. I got a chance to duck briefly into the Art Museum, then took the guided tour of the Basilica. The guide was terrific, answering most of our questions before they were asked. The church is spectacular. Interestingly, every part of the church, including the columns was made of wood. They were painted to look like marble. The first church built in Ottawa was on this site, then they built the basilica around it. Just before completing the last wall of the basilica, the old church was dragged across the street. Unfortunately, it burned so does not exist any longer. There were interesting statues at the front of the church. Closest to the congregation were characters from the old testament, such as Adam, Abel, David. Look closely between David’s legs, and you see Goliath’s head! At the very front of the sanctuary, there are large statues of St. Patrick, patron saint of Ireland, and St. John the Baptist, patron saint of the French Canadians. Depending on the bishop currently residing at the church, those two statues are switched. The one on the right side of Jesus is the most honored position, so if the bishop is French Canadian, St. John the Baptist gets the favored position!
After the Basilica tour, we made our way to a restaurant that Michelle had discovered on some of her wanderings. She though Dan would enjoy it. Dan met us and we had a good lunch there. He and I did like the restaurant, Jax. It was an old fashioned diner, with milk shakes where they serve part in a glass and give you the rest in a stainless steel container! Once lunch was over, we made our way back to the boat where George was already waiting. Off Michelle went! We will miss her!
Next morning, We and one other boat, docked nearby, left to start down the Rideau Canal. We transited several locks with those folks. We stopped at Hurst Marina, and they kept going, intending to anchor out somewhere. At Hurst Marina, we finally met Ellen and John on Salud, who we had been messaging with since before we left Ottawa. They departed the next morning, so we might see them down the way….
At Hurst, Dan was able to arrange for a technician to come to the boat to look at the generator. It had stopped working quite a while ago – not a problem when we are at a marina or when we have power at a wall. But, it does limit our options. He fixed it! Yay! Now, we could anchor out and have power when we need it.
It has been so hot, in the 90s every day. At night, it doesn’t cool off much. We have been without A/C in the salon, which I have really missed! For the day we were at Hurst, I made good use of their pool! It felt heavenly to soak in that cool water. As we were preparing to leave the next morning, we were told they had found an A/C technician! So, we delayed our departure to give this guy a chance to see what he can do for us. Our journey for today is only about 3-4 hours, so having to wait around isn’t a big problem. Heck, if he can get this A/C fixed, I’m ok with staying at the marina another night! Unfortunately, the gentleman who came didn’t know anything about our type of air conditioning, so no fix there.
Off we went. We had intended to continue to Merrickville, but at the lock before that, the Parks Canadian folks told us that all the spots in Merrickville with power were taken. It’s a long weekend in Canada, so everyone with a boat is on the water. If we wanted power (yes, please!), we could stay there on their wall. Done. The wall was right on the Rideau River, and was a lovely quiet place. I got the best picture of a sunset in quite a while.
Next morning, we were at the lock again – Many places we have traveled, Kittiwake has been one of the smaller boat. Not so on the Rideau. For these locks, we were being fitted in with 4 or 5 other boats, and we were by far the largest. That day, we went through 8 or 9 locks – lost count. It was over 90 degrees, and by the time we arrived at Smith’s Falls, we were done in. Fortunately we did find a spot on the town docks. Less fortunately, the power outlet that should have been for us to use was being used by a food truck in the park...I started worrying (my super power is early worrying on any subject) about trying to sleep in 80+ temps with no A/C. My husband, though, was able to locate an outlet that was reachable with electrical cables that we have. Phew! A/C in our berth! Since this spot is within easy walking distance of a grocery store and a Canadian Tire (for oil for a needed oil change) and several restaurants, we decided to stay 3 nights. It was nice to just stay in one spot for a bit…
Tomorrow, we’re at it again! We are at mile 60 of 126 miles on the Rideau Canal. Two more days, and we’ll be at the end, in Kingston, Ontario.
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