You must hear it often. Well you would hear it often if you spoke with Ottawa natives often enough.
It often sounds like complaining, maybe even whining. It may certainly sound like a beautiful city taken for granted. I know because my hubby and I are definitely one of those many locals that complain.
And what are we saying??
There's nothing to do. Ottawa is boring. If you are going to do anything worthwhile with your life you have to leave Ottawa.
Hmmm.....
Is that true, really??
Even I am beginning to wonder if that is a false tale.
Take a drive around town and you will see many new homes being built, many new businesses that offer something that used to be reserved for Toronto or Montreal. There are many expensive cars that were not around years ago.
While this may not be clear to you why this point would be important to notice, to my hubby and I, it is. It shows us that there are lots of people with lots of money, solid careers and businesses and that Ottawa really is growing in a positive way.
It shows us that people are moving here, by choice. Ottawa has something that people want. And we don't get it. We don't understand what "it" is. But we aim to find out.
So we are going to start with gathering a list of the things to do around this city of ours to see what brings people here to visit over and over again.
There are many tourists who visit Ottawa repeatedly as this is their favourite city to travel to. Our favourite place to travel to was found by accident, we love the coast of Maine, mostly Ogunquit, Old Orchard Beach, and Wells. Why we love it there is really not the point of this post, however, why people love Ottawa is, and that is a point we don't see because we are too close to the question (or maybe to close to the answer).
I may have to start with a list of what Ottawa has to offer as a whole. Looking at the city with a tourists eyes may accomplish that...
I will start a post for What to do around Ottawa (and area) and I will add to it often. I will add links if they are available, and welcome additions that you feel I may not find on the scattered information on the web.
What I am looking for is not only the larger scale events that would be publicised for tourist attraction, but also events for locals, as there are many of these, we tend to miss out on them and hear about it after the fact. Talk about frustrating!! I am also looking for general activities that are not event related.
So help me if you can! Here's the linky for the post I am making.
We could make a great one stop place to look for ideas as there are no one stop places for this kind of info.
That is what I feel makes a great city, the attractions for the locals, that is why we fell in love with the areas I mentioned in Maine.
Friday, June 24, 2011
Things to do in and around Ottawa- Updated regularly
Check back often for new additions to this list, as it will be a work in progress.
**MAJOR NOTE** Please feel free to comment or email me if there is an event or activity that you feel I should add to the list, we could use many eyes, ears and typing fingers to find the fun things to do around this city!
This is just a place for me to keep track of different things to do. I hate how Ottawa events and activities are thrown out to the wind of internet space in a million different locations instead of one place.
So I am trying to compile my own list of potential things to do, to see and go to. Feel free to browse. I put in links if they are available.
Cyco's rent a bike for the afternoon or day and ride the many bike paths that Ottawa has. Bring water and a small picnic.
Do you like a water park?? Do you have more money than GOD? Try out Ottawa's newest Calypso WaterPark
Or you can try out Mont Cascades Water Park which is more affordable.
Got a day or two to spare??
Two hour drive- Mont Tremblant Resort
Montreal
Calabogie Peaks Resort
These all offer plenty to choose from on their own. Boat rentals, hiking, bike rentals, swimming, water parks and/or beaches. Montreal has museums, galleries, botanical gardens, bio dome, a zoo in Granby, as well as a kick ass Space and technology museum in Laval.
New: June 26th:
Gananoque Boat Line is celebrating their 60th Birthday and they have family fun activities that your pirates may like!
July 8yh-10th Osgoode Medieval Festival. Education day is July 8th. jousting, knights, princesses, archery demos and more.
Royal Canadian Mint- Gold Rush tour sussex ave.
Currency Museum- Sparks street - FREE ADMISSION! they even have a teachers package that they will mail to you complete with overhead projection sheets, handouts etc.
Day trip to the Papanack Zoo- Wendover ont, 25 mins east of orleans.
If you are looking for another location to tour while looking in at the Upper Canada Village then you need to stop in at Prehistoric World. very reasonably priced and at an hour to tour it is a great stop.
At the Science and tech museum, weather permitting there are daily outdoor demos on a variety of science related topics including water rockets!
Stay tuned for more finds!
**MAJOR NOTE** Please feel free to comment or email me if there is an event or activity that you feel I should add to the list, we could use many eyes, ears and typing fingers to find the fun things to do around this city!
This is just a place for me to keep track of different things to do. I hate how Ottawa events and activities are thrown out to the wind of internet space in a million different locations instead of one place.
So I am trying to compile my own list of potential things to do, to see and go to. Feel free to browse. I put in links if they are available.
Cyco's rent a bike for the afternoon or day and ride the many bike paths that Ottawa has. Bring water and a small picnic.
Do you like a water park?? Do you have more money than GOD? Try out Ottawa's newest Calypso WaterPark
Or you can try out Mont Cascades Water Park which is more affordable.
Got a day or two to spare??
Two hour drive- Mont Tremblant Resort
Montreal
Calabogie Peaks Resort
These all offer plenty to choose from on their own. Boat rentals, hiking, bike rentals, swimming, water parks and/or beaches. Montreal has museums, galleries, botanical gardens, bio dome, a zoo in Granby, as well as a kick ass Space and technology museum in Laval.
New: June 26th:
Gananoque Boat Line is celebrating their 60th Birthday and they have family fun activities that your pirates may like!
July 8yh-10th Osgoode Medieval Festival. Education day is July 8th. jousting, knights, princesses, archery demos and more.
Royal Canadian Mint- Gold Rush tour sussex ave.
Currency Museum- Sparks street - FREE ADMISSION! they even have a teachers package that they will mail to you complete with overhead projection sheets, handouts etc.
Day trip to the Papanack Zoo- Wendover ont, 25 mins east of orleans.
If you are looking for another location to tour while looking in at the Upper Canada Village then you need to stop in at Prehistoric World. very reasonably priced and at an hour to tour it is a great stop.
At the Science and tech museum, weather permitting there are daily outdoor demos on a variety of science related topics including water rockets!
Stay tuned for more finds!
Thursday, June 23, 2011
For the water lovers and their moms
I thought i would post this for all of us ottawa moms that would like to try a new park with a water feature...enjoy!
Locations have been divided into two categories: East and West. The dividing line follows the Rideau Canal and continues south along the Rideau River.
Outdoor water ban now in effect for Riverside South, Barrhaven and Manotick. Splash pads in the area will not be in use during the ban.
Splash pad locations:
Join in the summer fun at splash pad parks!Locations have been divided into two categories: East and West. The dividing line follows the Rideau Canal and continues south along the Rideau River.
Outdoor water ban now in effect for Riverside South, Barrhaven and Manotick. Splash pads in the area will not be in use during the ban.
East | West |
|---|---|
| Aladdin Park (East) 3939 Albion | Bandmaster Park (West) 230 Mistral Way |
| Arnott Park (East) 691 Hartman | Banner Park (West) 90 Banner |
| Barrington Park (East) 1705 Orleans | Beechcliffe Park (West) 2 Beechcliffe |
| Beacon Hill North Recreation Centre (East) 2132 Radford | Brewer Park (West) 100 Brewer |
| Bearbrook Park and Pool (East) 99 Bearbrook | Bridlewood Park (West) 75 Bridlewood |
| Blue Willow Park (East) 6011 Longleaf | Centrepointe Park (West) 114 Centrepointe |
| Bordeleau Park (East) 349 Bruyere | Chapman Mills Park (West) CLOSED 139 Windhurst |
| Butterfly Park (East) 711 Long Point Circle | Charing Park (West) 37 Chartwell |
| Cardinal Glen Park (East) 11 Dunbarton | Citiplace Park (West) 285 Citiplace Drive |
| Cedarcroft Park (East) 1200 Cedarcroft | Glebe Memorial Park (West) 75 Glendale |
| Champagne Park (East) 1861 Markwell | Greenbank Park (West) CLOSED 895 Greenbank |
Chapel Hill Park (East) 1556 Forest Valley | Harrold Place Park (West) 1 Harrold Place |
| City Centre Park (East) 1800 City Park | Hintonburg Park (West) 1064 Wellington Closed due to park construction this summer |
| Claudette Cain Park (East) CLOSED 660 River Road | Huntley Centennial (West) 108 Juanita Close: Sept. 20, 2010 |
| Cummings Park (East) 980 Cummings Ave | Kilbirnie Park (West) 665 Kilbirnie Drive |
| Cyrville Park (East) 1420 Meadowbrook | Kilreen Park (West) 1250 Southwood |
| Delorme Park (East) 6591 Delorme | Laroche Park (West) 52 Bayview |
| Dr. John Hopps Park (East) 300 Den Haag | Leslie Park (West) Dayton Crescent |
| Elmridge Park (East) 1841 Elmridge | Lincoln Heights Park (West) 175 Lincoln Heights |
| Emerald Woods Park (East) 3795 Alderwood | Morrison Park (West) 1095 Morrison |
| Fairfield Park (East) 49 Appleford | Plouffe Park (West) 930 Somerset |
| Fallingbrook Park (East) 681 Deancourt | Roy Duncan Park (West) 295 Churchill |
| Four Seasons Park (East) CLOSED 4386 Spratt | South Nepean Park (West) CLOSED 700 Longfields |
| Gardenway Park (East) 2001 Gardenway | Teirney Park (West) CLOSED 50 Heritage Glen Drive |
| Gerald Poulin Park (East) 1899 Du Clairvaux | Upcountry Park (West) 310 Upcountry |
| Glen Park (East) 1766 Grey Nuns | Walden Park (West) 130 Walden Drive |
| Greenboro Park (East) 1505 Cahill | Walter Baker Park (West) 100 Walter Baker |
| Heatherington Park (East) 1560 Heatherington | Westcliffe Park (West) 681 Seyton |
| Hiawatha Park (East) 6218 Voyageur | |
| Jasmine Park (East) 2040 Jasmine | |
| Joe Jamieson Park (East) 6940 Bilberry | |
| Kaladar Park (East) 2554 Kaladar | |
| Kiwanis Park (East) 395 Levis Avenue | |
| Lawson Park (East) deactivated for the summer 491 Lawson | |
| Manor Park (East) 100 Braemar | |
| Marcel Beriault Park (East) 1691 Sunview | |
| McCarthy Park (East) 3320 Paul Anka | |
| Meadowbrook Park (East) 1485 Meadowbrook | |
| Montgomery Memorial Park (East) 61 Main | |
| Nault Park (East) 325 St-Denis | |
| Mountain Meadows (East) 3740 Mountain Meadow | |
| New Edinburg Park (East) 193 Stanley | |
| North Vineyard Park (East) 6026 Voyageur | |
| Owl Park (East) 185 Owl | |
| Palmerston Park (East) 1326 Ogilvie | |
| Portobello Park (East) 670 Aquaview | |
| Queensway Park (East) 1580 Telesat | |
| Queenswood Heights Centennial Park (East) 1485 Duford | |
| Queenswood Ridge Park (East) 346 Kennedy | |
| Roy Park (East) 6210 Meadowglen | |
| Sheffield Glen Park (East) 2320 Southvale | |
| Sieveright Park (East) 2999 Sable Ridge | |
| Silverbirch Park (East) 6105 Silverbirch | |
| Sir Wilfred Laurier Park (East) 288 Chapel | |
| Stanstead Park (East) 861 Stanstead | |
| Stonehenge Park (East) 1434 Ridgebrook | |
| Thornecliffe Park (East) 45 Provender | |
| Whiterock Park (East) 1245 Matheson | |
| Winterwood Park (East) 1844 Johnston Rd |
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Gardening trials and gnomes from hell??
I have been trying new variations in my front garden every so often for the past 7 years to find a low maintenance method for beauty. I thought I had finally found it! I ordered expensive bulbs from a mail order catalogue that had these bulbs arriving for fall planting all the way from Holland itself! So they had to be fantastic! Right?
Well they were incredibly beautiful, I won't knock them down for that. However, I ordered two varieties of red lilies; one was a border variety that was supposed to grow to about 12-15 inches tall, and the other was a "Hedge" variety that should have come up up to about 25-30 inches tall. They are meant for full sun as the catalogue stated which is what it got....the first grew to about 25-30 inches tall and the second grew to about 45-48 inches tall! plus they were supposed to grow in stages to have blooms all summer long. Well half of them that should bloom in July were ready to open this week, and the august blooms wouldn't have been far behind.
So by the time august comes around all the green and reds are brown.
Well I noticed last year and again this year these damned buggers.....
And they turned this:
Into this:
and you can still see the damned thing eating away at my plants.
So, I thought I would learn a little about these little adversaries. They hibernate in the soil, in the bulb, over the winter and start their eating/mating/laying eggs/ becoming larvae that cover themselves with poop procedure over and over again. One plant can have three or more generations!
Since this is the only plant that I have that they will eat, I am vacating the all-you-can-eat buffet and will drown them after I remove the bulbs and throw them away tomorrow.
Then I will get on with the rest of my gardening adventures. I am starting late but I have vegetables growing from seed in little pots on trays from the garden centre that I have been chasing the sun with around the house. I had even made a make-shift green house to protect them from the rain and potential rodents.
Wish me luck, I will try to keep posting here even though I have been keeping a gardening journal.
Well they were incredibly beautiful, I won't knock them down for that. However, I ordered two varieties of red lilies; one was a border variety that was supposed to grow to about 12-15 inches tall, and the other was a "Hedge" variety that should have come up up to about 25-30 inches tall. They are meant for full sun as the catalogue stated which is what it got....the first grew to about 25-30 inches tall and the second grew to about 45-48 inches tall! plus they were supposed to grow in stages to have blooms all summer long. Well half of them that should bloom in July were ready to open this week, and the august blooms wouldn't have been far behind.
So by the time august comes around all the green and reds are brown.
Well I noticed last year and again this year these damned buggers.....
And they turned this:
Into this:
So, I thought I would learn a little about these little adversaries. They hibernate in the soil, in the bulb, over the winter and start their eating/mating/laying eggs/ becoming larvae that cover themselves with poop procedure over and over again. One plant can have three or more generations!
Since this is the only plant that I have that they will eat, I am vacating the all-you-can-eat buffet and will drown them after I remove the bulbs and throw them away tomorrow.
Then I will get on with the rest of my gardening adventures. I am starting late but I have vegetables growing from seed in little pots on trays from the garden centre that I have been chasing the sun with around the house. I had even made a make-shift green house to protect them from the rain and potential rodents.
Wish me luck, I will try to keep posting here even though I have been keeping a gardening journal.
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