Winter – the season we Canadians love to hate. Did you know that Canadians complain about the weather the most? Yes, it’s true. I heard it on the news and had a good laugh – I totally fit the bill!
A few weekends ago I decided to quit with the whining and just embrace it all at Winterlude – cold temperatures, ice, snow, layers upon layers of clothing. I put on a fake smile as we left our comfy and warm hotel room and headed outdoors with my family – my kids must get their love for winter from my husband.
Our first stop was the Rideau Canal. Seeing people skating home from work (briefcase in hand and wearing a suit with skates!) and hearing my kids say “Skate! Skate! I want to skate!”, “I told you we should have left our helmets on instead of packing them in your knapsack, Mommy! This is going to take sooooo long to get ready!” made me feel guilty about hating the longest season in Canada for 30+ years.
There’s something magical about being outdoors with hundreds of others celebrating all things winter.
Not going to lie, but these fried pieces of dough make dealing with freezing cold temperatures a bit easier. My fake smile turned into a real one as we skated towards the BeaverTails stall on the canal.
We consumed 5 in 3 days. YES! You do what you gotta do when your kids want to spend all day outside in the cold. Did you know there is a savoury one? The garlic butter and cheese BeaverTail wasn’t our kids favourite but it was a nice change from the other 4 sugar-laden ones we ate.
Some more sweet treats – Maple Taffy – 1 for $3 or 2 for $5. We chose to split 1 and Mr. C, our 2 year old, ended up eating half on his own and left the three of us to share the other half. You have to eat these quickly as they start to melt as soon as you pick them up off of the snow.
Ice sculptures lit up at night – beautiful to see in person and fun to watch them being made too.
On our second day, we spent most of our time in Snowflake Kingdom (the largest snow playground in North America) in Jacques-Cartier Park.
Kids get annoyed by Mom who makes them sit in a big bear chair for a photo. “I need it for my scrapbook!” I tell them. They don’t care, they just want to play. Snowshoes aren’t from Snowflake Kingdom and can be found at Confederation Park near City Hall and the ice sculptures.
My husband wanted to go the ziplining (I’m still working on conquering my acrophobia) but with an hour long wait we decide to hit the ice slides instead. We probably went down these slides 10 times with the kids.
We spent some time looking at the snow sculptures before heading back to the hotel. Ottawa is excited for the Olympics! Go Canada Go!
The next morning, we headed out for one last skate on the Rideau Canal – this time with a little red sleigh for the kids to sit in (you can rent them for $28 for 2 hours) so we could get to the BeaverTails stall quickly.
Love locks found on the bridge as we say goodbye to canal skating and Winterlude. My husband and I have seen these in Asia but this is a first in Canada.
Embracing winter isn’t difficult when there’s all this fun to be had at Winterlude. I’m not 100% sold on winter just yet but I am a teeny tiny bit closer to becoming a cold weather fan than I was before.
Now, when is Spring coming? 😉
Linking to: Travel Photo Thursday at Budget Travelers Sandbox, Travel Photo Monday at Travel Photo Discovery
I’m a Canadian spending the winter in Mexico, but these photos look like such fun.
I have seen love locks in Salzburg and also in Toronto on the bridge over the Humber!
Thanks for letting me know about the love locks in Toronto, Jackie! I will definitely have to find them one day — I didn’t even know we had them here at home. I always thought this was something they did in Asia — which is the only place I’ve seen them prior to Ottawa.
What an amazing way to spend time with your family. I have heard of Beavertails and how awesome they are, but I’ve never tried them!
I’ve never heard of the Winterlude!!! I sooooo need to go! I bet my family would love to go too!! Ottawa is only a couple hours away from here, I could easily make a nice weekend out of it!
Looks like a fun place to visit. I am not a fan of the cold. But if we had super fun stuff to do, I can tolerate it (briefly)
Beaver Tails are one of my all time favourite things…..EVER!! I have always wanted to skate the Canal. It looks like you had a wonderful time.
What a great experience! I’ve always wanted to go there and experience a real Canadian winter!! I love the beaver tails and maple taffy!
We have visited the Rideau Canal in Spring, fortunately leaving it way open for a return for Winterlude. Looks amazing. Love the snowy lovelocks for Valentines Day 🙂
I lived in Ottawa for ten years in the 70s and never skated once on the Rideau Canal – it was too cold! It always looked inviting though, especially from the warmth of my apartment. It still does look like fun and I’m glad you braved the cold to bring us these photos, and me some lovely memories of Ottawa.
So glad the photos brought back some good memories of Ottawa, Marcia. Smart move watching it from your apartment. I would have done that too if it had not been for my kids and husband!
I’ve been complaining all day about the heat, so I am cooling off just reading this. This wintry weather looks wonderfully refreshing. I love the snow on the love locks, and I am now craving a Beaver Tail. It looks yummy. I’ve always wanted to try Maple Taffy ever since I read about it in the Little House books.
I’m looking forward to the day I start complaining about the heat, Michele! 😉 Yes the food is part of the reason why I was OK with being outdoors for so long.
While it looks like you had an amazing time, you will never convince this winter hater to go there. =)
Your photos are lovely… What is it with the locks on the bridge?
Hehe 🙂 Yes winter does take a LONG time to get used to. Those are love locks on the bridge – couples lock them to the bridge and throw the key into the canal. They symbolize unbreakable love 🙂
Brrr! I didn’t think that Canadians every complained about anything, let alone the weather! But down here in the San Francisco Bay Area, we gripe when the temperature drops below 55F during the day!
I hate to admit it but I am one of THOSE Canadians who complain about winter. I just can’t stand the cold! Now, if I had somewhere fun like this near me so I could actually enjoy the winter then I wouldn’t complain so much! 😉
I’m from Ottawa and I LOVE your blog. You did a great article with all the fun things to do at Winterlude.
Great photos too.
Christine
Oh those sleds look like so much fun! And maple syrup on snow is delicious. Looks like you had a fantastic time:)
From a local Ottawan- well done on those beaver tails! They are super addictive, my favourite it the killalou sunrise (cinnamon and lemon).