I went to Ottawa

I went to Ottawa this past weekend. My friend's friend's friend was getting married there so a few of us decided to hop into a car and make a road trip out of it.

We left Friday morning and got to Ottawa in the early afternoon. Upon arrival we promptly crossed the border into Quebec where we grabbed lunch at St. Hubert. It's a French version of Swiss Chalet. They used to have a lot of them here in Ontario, but in recent years they've disappeared.

In the early evening we headed over to the ByWard Market for a walk through, then crossed the Rideau Canal to check out Parliament Hill. We snapped a few pictures outside before finding out there was a 6:50 p.m. guided tour. The tour was pretty neat. Being that it was the end of the day we were able to see some things that the general public rarely get a chance to view. One such thing was the library. I have to say it was quite fantastic.

After the tour we headed back to the ByWard Market and grabbed a bite at Wonton Mama. It's a "Pan-Asian restaurant featuring simple yet delicious dishes from China, Thailand, Vietnam and Japan" (according to their website). The food was fine there.

The next day was the wedding. DY and Diane attended it. I went to Doors Open Ottawa with Daphne. It's an event held in many cities around the world (including Toronto) where "residents and visitors are invited to discover first-hand Ontario’s hidden heritage treasures, some of which have never been open to the public."

Daphne and I checked out about 8-10 buildings including the former Union Station (train station), the National Capital Commission and Cartier Square Drill Hall. We also dropped by Notre Dame Cathedral (which wasn't an official Doors Open participant) across the street from the National Gallery of Canada. I have to say it was really nice looking inside.

Since Diane and DY were busy the whole day, Daphne and I had dinner on our own. We picked a diner called Zak's in the ByWard Market. The food was under par and overpriced. I suppose that's what you get for eating in a tourist spot.

The weather on Sunday morning wasn't that great. It was raining lightly, but steadily. We took Diane and DY by Notre Dame because they hadn't seen it yet. Afterwards we walked across the street to the National Gallery which was also part of Doors Open Ottawa and spent a couple of hours there.

After the gallery we decided to get lunch. Diane wanted to drive back over the border into Quebec to eat again. We gave it a go, but the GPS system that she bought the previous day after she got lost after dropping Daphne and I off downtown kept telling us to drive into the river. Since we didn't feel like going for a swim we decided to head back to the highway and drive towards Toronto. When we felt like it we would stop somewhere and grab a bite along the way.

Not long after we hit the 401 we stopped in a town called Prescott. We found a place on Diane's GPS called Wok House Restaurant which served Westernized "Chinese" food. It had things like chicken balls with phosphorescent red sauce and things like that. We shared dishes of beef and broccoli, beef "chow mein", battered deep fried shrimp and friend rice instead.

After lunch Daphne took the wheel as I figured I needed a nap. She drove a little while before asking DY if she wanted to stop by Kingston as we were driving through. I wasn't so keen on the idea because it was getting later and we probably wouldn't be getting into town until after 10:00 p.m. as it was. That would be a bit late for dinner as far as I was concerned. But, they decided to stop anyway.

Kingston isn't the most interesting town as far as I'm concerned. It's kind of quaint. We didn't really get to see too much as our time was kind of limited. We stopped by a nice coffee/dessert shop for a bite. That ended up being our dinner. By the time we hit the road again it was probably 9-10:00 p.m. I was the first to be dropped off and I got home at just after midnight.

All in all it was a good trip. Nobody in our room snored. I have to get Daphne a walkie talkie so we can communicate though. Sometimes she wanders off without telling me. Then I have to look all over for her.