Jim and Kim's Travels: Playing Tourist and Finding our Roots in Ottawa

Day 2 of the family reunion continued with us ready to play tourist on the Hop On, Hop Off bus. Beautiful sunny day...we had been fortunate with the weather so far.

Jeff and Stephanie with Jim...

Ilona and grandson, Erik...he was going to see the city through a tourist's eyes, rather than someone who lives in Ottawa.

Doug...always game for whatever we're up to.

Sparks Street early in the morning...

The First Baptist Church, which was completed in 1878...

The Museum of Nature was currently hosting an outdoor exhibit of various owl species.

The beautiful Rideau Canal...lovely in the summer and spectacular as an outdoor skating venue in the winter. It is over 200 km long stretching from Ottawa to Kingston.

Another glimpse of the Fairmont Chateau Laurier, built in 1909-1912 at a cost of $2 million.

Awatto? Oh, never mind. It will make more sense coming the other way!

The ByWard Market, which hosts outdoor vendors from May to October, and indoor vendors year-round. It is known for its colourful street art and local crafts and clothing, along with restaurants and a vibrant nightlife.

Now it makes more sense!

Notre Dame Basilica...the guide mentioned that if you want to be married here, you should book your date and find a partner later.

New Brunswick!

Heading along Sussex Drive...

The entrance to the Prime Minister's residence on Sussex Drive. You cannot see the house from the street. It is apparently in such a state of disrepair, that PM Trudeau and his family live at Rideau Cottage close by.

Sir George-Etienne Cartier Parkway, formerly known as Rockcliffe Parkway, was renamed to honour one of the Fathers of Confederation.

The Aviation Museum...they were offering flights in a biplane. Maybe not today...

River House, a century old heritage building, offers food and beverage services and a free public dock. You can see that this Parkway is very popular with walkers and cyclists alike.

A view of Quebec on the other side of the river...

An equestrian monument of Queen Elizabeth II...it has been temporarily relocated to the entrance of Rideau Hall, while the Centre Block of Parliament renovation project is underway.

The Royal Canadian Mint's facility on Sussex Drive produces collector coins, bullion, medals and medallions.

The National Gallery of Canada is home to collections of Indigenous and Canadian art, not to mention Maman, the giant egg-bearing spider.

The Canadian Museum of History...no lack of museums!

A beautiful day for a double decker bus tour...

The Canadian War Museum...

The writing on the wing is in Morse Code and reads Lest We Forget in both languages.

Ottawa is such a beautiful city...

Terry Fox Monument created in 1983...

And back to the beginning of the tour at the National Arts Centre...

Our next outing was to the Philemon Wright monument in Gatineau, on the Quebec side of the Ottawa River. He was Jim's great great great grandfather. It's not the first photo we have of Jim in front of this monument, and we also have one of his mother.

The inscription reads "In 1800, American entrepreneur and colonizer Philomen Wright founded an agricultural settlement which later became Hull. Soon compelled to turn to the region's rich forest resources as a source of income for his settlement, Wright pioneered the timber trade in the Ottawa valley, floating his first raft of square timber downstream to Quebec in 1806. He later developed the first timber slides in Canada in order to bypass Chaudiere Falls. Wright's business and financial leadership ensured the dominance of the Ottawa Valley in Canadian timber exports during the second quarter of the 19th century."

The whole gang...

Me trying to take a selfie...couldn't even see the camera with the sun and my sunglasses. Damian gamely tried to get into the pic...Dominic just laughed.

From the monument it was on to Bellevue Cemetery in Aylmer, which is now part of the city of Gatineau. Thank heavens we had copies of the family tree with us. It was fun to try to find the graves of those on the tree.

Nice to see that cousin Judy and her husband, Bob, are alive and well. They came to Fredericton this summer and we had dinner with them.

Aunt Edith lived to be over 100, and I found some old pics of us at her 100th birthday party. Her son, Keith MacLellan, was a soldier, scholar and a Canadian diplomat.

Gideon Olmstead was also Jim's great great great grandfather. Gideon's daughter, Sarah, married Philomen Wright, Jr.

Nadine did a great job of taking people pictures! Doug and Jennifer...

Jim and I...

Stephanie and Jim...

Dominic, Randy and Damian...

Brothers!

It was a perfect afternoon...

Stephanie and Erik...

Pinks, Hunters and Olmsteds...all part of Jim's ancestry on his mother's side.

Jeff managed to get his dad on video...this time. 😉

We were busy...from the cemetery it was off to Champlain Lookout. It has beautiful views and is one of Erik's cycling routes (not for the novice, I might add).

Enjoying the scenery...

Very popular with cyclists...it's not an easy ride, but the views would be worth it.

The rest of the gang who were travelling in Jeff's vehicle...

We got back to the hotel around 3:00 and had time for a quick lunch...

Before heading out for our last dinner together...Ilona, Jim and I took a memorable Uber ride to the restaurant. The driver asked if Jim and Ilona were my parents. We all started laughing. I said that Ilona was Jim's first wife of 25 years, and I was his second wife of over 30 years. The silence that followed was hysterical. He will write that question in his book of things not to ask!