Frentures- Day 2!

AKA Holy Sea of Humanity!!!!!!!


The day started off with a lovely cup of coffee in the vinyard, where the sun shone bright and the company was excellent!

Francois and Flicka, coffee and sunshine! Note that at 10am, it is 25 degrees in the shade!

Alexa then drove us over the river from Gatineau into Ottawa, and dropped us off at parliament hill. We got there in time to line up and see the governor general's little cavalcade parade.  It was full of horses and black official cars.

Anyone remember what his name is?

It was lunch time, so we went in search of food. There were about 50 (seriously!) food trucks all over the place, and the only thing available was POUTINE! Not that we have anything against poutine, but really? With all the options available out there, why have 50 places selling the same thing??  Maybe that is all that Ottawans will eat... Anyways, we did luck out and found a food booth manned by the chicken producers of Canada and got fine chicken burgers and chicken caesar salad.

See the plugged ears? That is because the snowbirds are coming!!!!

Now it is time to find some real crowds, so off to the main stage we went!  Simple Plan, Roch Voisin, Danny Parenteau were all there to entertain us.  Of course, we had to stop for a little Canada Day decoration.

So then we wandered a bit, watched some buskers and entertainment, Avery obsessed about ice cream a lot... and marvelled at the crowds and the heat.

So that was enough walking for awhile. We found a boat tour down the Rideau Canal, and eagerly bought tickets. The leisurely trip was lovely, and the tour guide had all kinds of interesting tidbits about the canal and city to share.

Mark even snuck in a little nap!

even with all the traffic on the canal, it was still a tranquil interlude in our day

Off the boat, it was time to prepare for the evening's concert. First stop- supper.  Poutine.  Bet you didn't see that coming! Then we staked out our place with plenty of time to just sit and relax. Avery finished her book, and I had a little nap.  The evening concert saw all the same performers from earlier, with the addition of Jully Black, Marie-Mai, and maybe someone else. 

The sun was starting to set, leaving all but the flag in shadow.

And then... off to see the fireworks. Along with the entire population of Canada. Holy crowds. Lots of intoxicated, cursing young men. Avery gave the report on the way home that she counted 32 men without shirts that day. Lineups for the port-a-potty were about a half hour. Once you got in, there was no paper left. And you didn't even care, because you made into the port-a-potty!!!

And that was the Canada-est Canada Day ever! Well played Ottawa. Well played.