Oooooo! This summer has been filled with mini travel adventures.
There was an excellent seat sale on Porter.ca … So I decided to spend a little over a week in Ottawa, Canada’s capital city over…
Canada Day Long Weekend!!
Here’s a recap of what I did AND what I wore …when I remembered to take pictures 🙂
Things To Do In Ottawa!
This may have been my first visit to this Big-Little City as an adult. And I have to say it is beautiful in the summer!!!
The first half of the week I stayed with friends right in The Byward Market. Within an area of roughly four blocks, you’ll find museums, cafés, specialty food shops, boutiques, galleries, restaurants, pubs, salons and more! Often there are musical buskers performing and so many patios to sample! I did my fair share of sampling a few afternoon pints and bites throughout my week there.
There was one spot that had a fabulous Brunch menu – called Lieutenants Pump Pub. For my food review click here.
And I finally got to wear my flamingo summer frock I picked up from Tatyana Boutique on WQW, Toronto.
It got oh-so many compliments from strangers all throughout the meal and beyond 😀
I found a delightful shop called Workshop Studio & Boutique – who had so many fab unique pieces!! I definitely wanted to support the local handmade loveliness.. ❤
Check out a few trinkets I picked up for myself 🙂 If only the frocks they carried were larger I would have spent a fortune in there. Le sigh… #plussizeplease
I had excellent summer weather the first half of my trip…which meant there needed to be a dedicated Lazy, Hazy, Beach Day!!! 🙂
Mooney’s Bay Park seemed to be a super popular summer destination for swimmers, rowers, and volleyball players.
The beach is located on the east shore of the Rideau River just south of Carleton University. There appeared to be a lots of set-up happening for Dragon Boat Racing when I was there too.
If you’ve been following me on Instagram, then you know that I’ve been on A BABY TOUR the last few months.
Nearly all of my long-time friends have coupled off, started having babies and often moving far, far away.
The first half of my trip was spent catching up with a gf AND her adorable little fella ❤
Mornings were spent with Dora the Explorer. The Wiggles. Elmo & friends. Thomas the Tank Engine. Bubble Guppies.
Bubble Guppies…Bubble Bubble Guppies.
Oh yes…that tune was my jam … this song kept playing in my head all week and beyond friends. It’s so freakin’ catchy 🙂
And I was lucky enough to have him as my beach date!!
Look at him in his stylish swimwear and whale-printed matching sun hat ❤
Swing Dancing. You know I needed to checkout the lindy hop scene in this city! There seems to be two big nights of swing dancing weekly in Ottawa:
FRIDAY NIGHT
Every friday the The Ottawa Swing Dance Society (OSDS) holds a Swing dance. Admission is $5 (unless there is a band) and it includes an introductory lesson. Social dancing till 12:30 am. No partner required For more details and events calendar please visit http://www.swingottawa.ca/_home.shtml
SATURDAY NIGHT
Hosted by Swing Dynamite, SNS features two lessons (an introductory lesson and a specialty lesson) and social dancing till 1:00 am. Doors open at 8:15 pm, lessons start at 8:30. Social dancing starts at 9:15 pm. For more info please visit http://www.saturdaynightswing.com/
Did you know that there are many FREE passes to various Ottawa sites and museums that can be checked out at the local library?
YUP!!! Its true. That’s how me and a gf explored the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum one afternoon.
Want the experience of flight but prefer to keep your feet on the ground? Here is your chance to sit at the controls of an aircraft without taking off! Friendly, knowledgeable Museum staff will assist you in boarding one of three cockpits:
- the Tutor (CT-114)
- the CF-18
- the MIG-21
Don’t ask me which one is which. I have no clue. I just wanted to sit in as many cool planes as they’d let me!
We chose to explore the Museum’s amazing collection at our own pace and moved from aircraft and exhibitions as throughly as we wanted. Which meant we had plenty of time for cheesy tourist photo ops like the below shot 😉
You really do need an entire day there.
So maybe the below plane was in a roped off section … but I managed to sweet talk one of the volunteers to let us into the area 😉
I really, really, really wanted to sit in this wee plane.
Learn how an ejection seat can save a pilot’s life. Listen as the Museum’s enthusiastic guides describe the ups and downs of ejecting from a fighter jet.
Then, sit in an authentic ejection seat and learn how pilots use this essential piece of equipment. Like I did below 🙂
It was pretty cool discovering Canada’s contributions to aviation from the days of early aviation to the jet age and on into space exploration.
I highly recommend visiting this museum if you get a chance!
Niner-niner. Charlie. Foxtrot. Bravo. Pew! Pew! Pew!
No “Irene vacation” is complete without a day-o-SHOPPING!!! 😉
With the Canadian Dollar doing so poorly these days, I’ve been avoiding my cross-boarder shopping trips.
But I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Ottawa has an outlet mall: Tanger Outlet
Now…the shops selection was decent, but there weren’t too many “deal-deals”, if you know what I mean.
But I did find a few gems that followed me home:
CANADA DAY-o-Fun!
Oh man! As a proud Canadian…I was super excited to be spending Canada Day in my Nation’s Capital!!!! The crowds and crowds of people dressed in all kinds of patriotic get-ups ALL DAY LONG. The concerts on Parliment Hill. The close up fireworks! It really is something to see and be apart of ❤ ❤ ❤
Naturally, that meant there was outfit planning to be done…and here’s what I put together for my Canada Day look:
Now….it should be noted that the below look lasted exactly 22-mins 😦
As soon as we got out of the car, picked up our Starbucks and began heading for Parliament Hill —- it began to POUR!!! Raining cats and dogs, and squirrels and raccoons and the like. It was madness.
We did our best to get ourselves back and hid under a giant patio umbrella, until my gf’s hubs could turn the car around and pick us up again. #wettshirtcontest
Did you know that on Canada Day, entry to museums are free? Thank goodness for that…cuz we needed somewhere to spend the day drying off so we could be ready for the evening fireworks!
So, our day was spent in the Canadian War Museum
There was a special exhibition called: Gladiators and the Colosseum – Death and Glory.
What would you have seen at the gladiatorial games, nearly 2,000 years ago? Maybe you would have seen an emperor, a helmet, or a crocodile?
You can see it all in this special exhibition, complete with a guidebook to help you find all the stops along the way and collect the stamps to discover what you would have seen at these ancient games.
For dinner, we stopped for a proper Canadian dinner: POUTINE from Smoke’s Poutinerie
As dusk approached, we made our way to Parliament Hill, to be amongst the crowds …
We even got to watch a few musical performances Canada Day Concert on the Hill. Pretty good sightless, considering 🙂
And last but not least, there were fireworks and impromptu group singing of O’Canada ❤
Are you following me on INSTAGRAM? If so, you’ve likely seen a few more pics and video clips as I took them during my trip.
Search for the hashtag: PPMeowTravels to see more of my adventures there. Thanks for following and reading 🙂
If you’re planning a summer city getaway, hope you’ll check out this beautiful city!
Thanks for reading and re-living my trip with me!
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