Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Highlights from Ottawa...


I arrived in Ottawa Thursday evening, after spending eleven hours 'on the road'...and left Monday morning... to do more of the same...but add on a FOUR HOUR wait in Vancouver!  But it was all good because my daughter and I packed in so much fun during those three days that I needed that extra travel time home just to process it all!

Here are some of the highlights...no I'm not on the boat tour (maybe next time?)...I'm riding my rental bike down the bike lane that followed the beautiful Rideau Canal...to a small lake and park. 

Here I am starting us off on our adventure.  Well, it was an adventure for me...my daughter rides a bike everywhere around Ottawa!  They have wonderful bike paths all over this scenic city.  Friday, after spending the morning in Parliament, we had lunch downtown, then went shopping in the little shops at the heart of the city.  Then we road our bikes to an area of town where we had dinner and went to the movies (Bridgette Jones' Baby...don't laugh, I really enjoyed it!!), then took an Uber (taxi) home!
As you can see, there were no leaves turning colour...but it was a warm beautiful day. Ottawa hasn't had any cold weather YET...so there were no signs of Fall.

Highlights on Saturday~two outdoor markets, a Church Fair, TWO quilt shops, an Etsy Craft Fair in Kanata, a trip to Ikea, shopping in another part of town that was AWESOME...(I can't remember the name of the area but it reminded me of Robson St. in Vancouver!)  We vegged on the couch, ate pizza and watched 'chic flicks' in the evening..
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Here are some pictures of our day...Markets' highlights-




Loved this booth...those are carrots...yellow and white stacked so artfully!


Off to a Quilt Shop in Kanata....it's called 'The Running Stitch'...it was a quick trip but I managed to spend a bit...in the book department!

Here are a couple of pictures of the quilts in the window...



And some shots of inside the shop...






The other Quilt Shop that we visited wasn't really a 'quilt shop', more like a Fabric Store...It's called 'Fabrications' and I really didn't have high hopes for this shop.  In fact, I told my daughter that we should skip this one but she insisted.  I am SO glad that I raised a persistent daughter...haha... because I LOVED this shop!  
The shop had a huge classroom...they teach sewing skills...making clothes, jeans, etc..and yes, quilts!
To the left is the classroom and to the right is the shop...there is Curtis, the nicest sales person!
This was the wall of fabric...doesn't look like much but it was just what I was looking for...Japanese fun prints and unusual modern prints...perfect fabric for baby quilts!
Yes, I quickly put Curtis to work cutting Fat Quarters!  (I will share my loot tomorrow)!  AND YES I will definitely be going back to this shop on my next visit!  If you like fun prints and linens then this is the shop for YOU!

Hayley and I spent the morning in Parliament watching Question Period!  Alas our PM, Justin Trudeau wasn't there...we found out later that he was in BC entertain Kate and William!  What? He should be entertain US!  :o))  A tour of the Parliament Building should be on every tourist's list of things TO DO while in Ottawa!  It's a magnificent building!

An Etsy Craft Fair...everything that you can order from Etsy Craft sites under one roof!  WOW!
Very 'Qute'!

It was packed so I was surprised when I saw this picture!  I didn't take any close-up picture as there were signs saying not to...but you get the idea!  Lots to see and lots to buy...and lots of IDEAS to 'file away'.... (I need a Pinterest site in my brain so that I can retrieve those ideas at a later date!)
Sunday we took a REALLY long bike ride...until my legs turned to rubber...we even carried our bikes over the canal's locks!  I bought a basket of strawberries at the market to eat for a picnic on our ride only to discover that I had been leaving a trail of berries behind me!  The five remaining berries were DELICIOUS and I'm sure the birds were thanking me for their berry-lishous lunch !  Then it was off to the GLEBE (an area in town where there are the cutest shops and restaurants)... we put on over 20,000 steps...this is after our bike ride around the lake and looping back to the city!
 
Back at Hayley's apartment, as we vegged on her couch, I commented that the ONLY thing that we didn't do on this visit, was eat a 'Beavertail'...Me and my big mouth!! It was up off the couch and back to the city center (yes, we walked) because we HAD to  complete our visit with a Beavertail... even it meant ruining our dinner!

For those of you who have never eaten a Beavertail here's what they look like...they are like a huge flat doughnut with different toppings and they are served warm and gooey!  Mine was the traditional Maple and Chocolate...OMG GOOD... while Hayley had the Nuttela topping...which is just plain WRONG...but she said it was delicious!  Dinner was light...very light!

To say that we had a FANTASTIC visit was an understatement...but the dogs' were barking (code for my feet were killing me!).  I knew it was their way of saying that it was time to go home! 

Sewing?  Nope...nada...nothing!  Not one stitch...didn't even get it out of the suitcase! :o))

BUT... I hoped you enjoyed my visit to Ottawa...:o)

Have a wonderful Wednesday and Happy Stitching! 

18 comments:

  1. I'm heading out there tomorrow for a few days. There are one quilt shop close to where we will be staying but I will have to check out the location of the two that you visited.

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  2. Missed reading your posts, but glad you had a lovely time and some great weather!

    Looking forward to your stash report!

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  3. Sounds like you had a wonderful time. You sure got your exercise in for the month.

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  4. What fun P, your heart must be full.

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  5. Such a wonderful trip...a little of this, a little of that, and a whole lot of bike riding! Love your travel log. Perfection!

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  6. oh great. Now I have to put Ottawa on my list. We had a fantastic visit to the Canadian Rockies and Vancouver, though, so I'm good for now. Glad you had such a lovely visit with your daughter!

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  7. Wow! I'm exhausted just reading this post. I guess all that hiking you do has really paid off. And what a fun visit with your daughter, wonderful to spend time together, just the two of you.

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  8. Such a full and fun post! But my favorite thing was that great photo of you!

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  9. I am so jealous. I live in Victoria now, but Ottawa will always be home. We lived in the Glebe - the best place ever.

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  10. What a great time you had! Loved seeing those fabric shops!

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  11. Oh, it looks like you had just the perfect trip to Ottawa, and fantastic weather. I live about 90 minutes from the city so I will definitely need to look for Fabrications. And by the way, Beavertails were invented in Killaloe, my home town.

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  12. My aunt directed me to your blog as I'm the owner (and sew-er) of Qute Creation! I love that I look hard at work at the Etsy show. Sounds like you had a fabulous trip to my fair city! :) Come back soon!

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  13. Looks like you had a great time visiting your daughter and the weather cooperated! And, you found a some fun fabric!

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  14. It looks like a wonderful time, Paulette. I am exhausted just reading it, you must have been happy to put your feet up at home! With the gorgeous weather, I think it was about as perfect as it could be! Thanks for sharing. :D

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  15. What a beautiful place and so fun to be able to ride a bike around town. It looks like you had a wonderful time with your daughter.

    Debbie

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  16. you certainly crammed in a lot on your visit I feel exhausted reading about it, such a great time you had with your daughter and it was great to see all your saw and did

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  17. What a delightful visit with daughter. So wonderful that you both enjoy the same things. And good for you, being so fit to be able to keep up with daughter. ;)

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  18. I enjoyed your visit to Ottawa and the time spent with your daughter. Now I'm really looking forward to visiting my daughter in Tempe, AZ in February! Of course though, she'll be here to visit me at Christmas. Blessings, Gretchen

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