Now on a southeasterly course, Tillie Tours opted to bypass the Dione Quints Museum in North Bay and the Canadian Clock Museum in Deep River in favor of a day in Ottawa. Ottawa has a nice municipal campground & the local library (don’t forget to support your own!) sold us bus tickets to the heart of the city. Walked around the market area & walked to lunch at a Mexican restaurant (a first for Mary – the food, not the walk); walked across the bridge (John stuck one last heroic pose - can you see John cast in bronze in the park in Earlville?), anyway walked to Quebec (one more province under Mary's belt) to the Canadian Museum of Civilization; walked back over the bridge to Ontario & the Parliament buildings; did a walking tour of the Parliament offices & chambers; walked around some more; walked to dinner at a Thai restaurant (another first for Mary); walked back to Parliament for the evening sound & light show (worth staying for); & finally walked (not too briskly if you hadn’t guessed) to the bus stop. If you’re over 40 & want to feel old, ride the evening bus – Patty, John & the bus driver raised the median age to about 12. Anyway it was a great day in Canada’s capital. Mary got several chuckles from the Canadian version of the French language. And we managed to avoid that Canadian delicacy – French fries & gravy, but regretted not getting a “beaver tail” for Mary to sample.
Yesterday, Tillie was reluctant to leave Canada so decided to have another flat tire a mile from the border. (What was her problem???!! We did all the walking the day before while Tillie rested her feet. Anyway, once again, thank you Cousin John for that N.J. air in the spare!) John & Mary made quick work of changing it as did our friendly Canadian neighbors in fixing it. Goodbye Canada, hello USA.
Who said Europe has to have all the castles? Boldt Castle on one of the Thousand Islands is beautiful & you can’t get a moat much prettier than the St. Lawrence. It was our last tourist stop and also our last night camping in Tillie this trip. (If you think that sounds sad, we’ll be happy to have you come & camp in her for a few days.)
Where can you eat breakfast these days for $7.16 – that’s not per person but for 3 people with table service? The answer is the Crystal in Watertown. The décor, menu & prices haven’t changed in at least 50 years – and we keep going back ever so often to check!
And now Tillie has brought Patty & John full circle & Mary almost. Check the blog tomorrow for a few assorted tidbits from the trip.