Canada Day 150 in Ottawa
The last time I celebrated Canada Day in Ottawa was 2012 and it was then that my best friend Omar and I agreed to make a return for Canada’s upcoming 150th birthday.
Well, five years have since passed and this year marked that special Canada 150 weekend! Omar, my new fiance Jessica and I drove from Hamilton to Ottawa to partake in the sesquicentennial festivities.
We started our July 1st celebrations by walking down the Rideau Canal toward Parliament Hill but not before detouring through my favourite part of Ottawa — the historic ByWard Market. If you aren’t familiar, ByWard Market is Ottawa’s famous collection of local shops and restaurants with over 600 small businesses operating out of this tight-knit community. It’s location is in the heart of Ottawa’s oldest commercial and residential neighbourhoods.
From here, we walked over to the Royal Canadian Mint which was open for free today and giving tours of the facility to all visitors. While we waited for a tour, we were entertained by the Royal Canadian Air Force who were flying vintage aircrafts from WWI & WWII right over our heads. There were also contemporary fleets in the air show including the CF Snowbirds, who put on a spectacular show.
The long line into the Royal Canadian Mint was worth the wait since we got a fascinating insight on the coin making process including machinery, distribution and we even viewed raw coils of gold worth hundreds of millions of dollars (yes, you read the right).
Interestingly enough, the Royal Mint in Ottawa is primarily used for collector coins, silver dollars and Olympic medals. The coins we use as everyday currency are actually manufactured in the Winnipeg Royal Mint location where they not only create coins for Canada but as a result of their reputation, have made coins for over 75 countries around the world!
From here, we walked to Wellington Drive and worked our way to Parliament. By this point of the day, the city core had reached critical mass and the streets were packed with people decked out in Canada gear. It was humbling and patriotic to experience this first hand.
We didn’t stay long though as the security check to Parliament Hill was several hours long and as most people from Ottawa will tell you, this isn’t even the best place to view the firework show anyway. The ideal lookout point is from the hill on the Gatineau side by the Canadian Museum of History.
As such, we decided to turn around, walk through Major’s Hill Park which had buskers, face-painting and food stands, and then cross the Alexandra Bridge to the Quebec side late-afternoon to check out the Canadian Museum of History. This was a special day for the museum as July 1st fittingly marked the opening of their new Canadian History Hall and we were among the first to see the new exhibit!
We spent hours here and it felt like we had barely scratched the surface when it came to the number of artifacts, stories and history the exhibit had to offer. The layout of the museum and curation of the sections were spot-on and I loved brushing up on my Canadian history, especially on our country’s 150th anniversary of confederation.
Our timing to view this exhibit couldn’t have been better for us as for a brief hour outside, rain started to absolutely pour down (good thing we decided not to stay in line outdoors at Parliament!). But by the time they closed the exhibit (and kicked people out), the rain had come to a stop.
It was now time to make our way down the grass and hunt for a spot on the Gatineau hill overseeing the Ottawa River and the back of Parliament. Despite the heavy rain that cleared up only an hour prior, the firework show did start on time and man, what a show it was! There were fireworks being unleashed from five different locations; the main ones in our view being Alexandra Bridge and Parliament itself. The show lasted 20 minutes and 17 seconds. Here are a few of my favourite shots I captured from that night.
The following day, we retraced our steps back to ByWard Market for lunch. We stopped by the popular Zak’s Diner for an awesome meal and milkshakes. And there’s no way I wouldn’t let myself have a poutine on Canada Day weekend.
After picking up some beaver tails and maple treats from the market for dessert, we worked our way back to Parliament Hill. The line was considerable shorter today and so we decided to check out WE Day, who were running the stage all day with rotating performances and speeches from various Canadian icons including musical acts by Nelly Furtado, Barenaked Ladies & Hedley as well as appearances from P.K. Subban, YouTube celebrities and even PM Justin Trudeau himself!
But it was during the Barenaked Ladies’ performance that I experienced the most Canadian moment of my life. As the Barenaked Ladies performed their song “If I Had $1,000,000”, commander Chris Hadfield appeared on stage strumming his acoustic guitar and sang along. Let me repeat that. Chris Hadfield. Barenaked Ladies. Together on Parliament Hill. Canada Day 150 playing “If I Had $1,000,000”. This was the epitome of Canadian. We reached it.
Hedley closed out the night with an awesome performance and not a moment too late as the heavy rain from the night before made its reappearance just as the show ended, as if the weather held off just to let us Canadians enjoy the final act. Walking away from WE Day in the rain couldn’t put a damper in our Canadian hearts, however, as a spontaneous chorus of the national anthem broke out among the crowd as we exited. Singing O Canada on Parliament Hill was probably the second most Canadian thing to happen this weekend!
Before trekking back home Monday morning, we managed to catch a walking tour around Parliament and learned several neat (and entertaining) stories about the characters of the early days of Ottawa. And with one final walk along the Rideau Canal, our Canada Day 150 weekend came to a close.
I have to say that spending Canada’s 150th birthday in the country’s capital was every bit as patriotic and eventful as I had hoped. My blood turned its deepest shade of red that day and my identity as a Canadian has never been stronger.
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This blog entry is part of the publication Robert Cekan Travels
Robert Cekan is a young entrepreneur and proud Hamiltonian. He is the founder of the Hamilton discovery website True Resident, as well as Cekan Group, a property management group. He is also a Hamilton REALTOR® with Ambitious Realty Advisors Inc., Brokerage and an active blogger.
For all of Robert’s projects, please visit robertcekan.com
