I hadn’t been to Ottawa since August so I was really due for a trip and timed it beautifully to coincide with Winterlude.

I took Via Rail to get there, which is always a great way to travel for two reasons: 1. to avoid weather problems 1. to avoid traffic problems. #smart move

As always, I kept busy. Seeing as I didn’t have a car I was limited to how much I could run around but I still managed to discover a few new spots! (Thanks to my friend who drove me around on Saturday)

1. Maverick’s Donuts: This cute little spot located at 1500 Bank St. offers an array of fun donut options. I scooped up half a dozen to take back to my moms as I was having a few people over on Saturday night and they were a hit.

Maverick’s Donuts is in the same plaza as Farm Boy so it made sense to pop in and do some grocery shopping. Each and every time I visit this store, I’m impressed. Naturally I picked up some fresh curds from St.- Albert Cheese Co-op.

2. Citizen: This new restaurant (207 Gilmour) is brought to you by the same people at Town. I got there early to grab a seat which was a brilliant move as it quickly filled up. The menu offers a lot of vegetarian options and my friend and I had no problem ordering three  veggie dishes. (Charred Broccoli, Roasted Squash and Radicchio Salad, and the Five Leave Salad). Each and every dish was a winner.

 

4  Somehow I managed to squeeze in a quick visit to La Noodle (179 George St) which is Ottawa’s first hand- pulled noodle restaurant. I will be back for more!

I also managed to visit the Ottawa Farmers’ Market which is always one of my favourite activities to do in Ottawa.

Naturally the highlight of my trip was a visit to the Rideau Canal to put on my skates and spend $3 on my childhood treat (maple syrup on a stick). I briefly roamed around to see the beautiful ice sculptures and despite the snow that was falling heavily, I was a happy camper.

As always, I’m looking forward to my next trip to Ottawa which will be to visit the Tulip Festival (May 12 to 22). Please click here to learn more about Ottawa Tourism. 

My weekend in Ottawa consisted of the following elements: seeing family, eating great food, and  Winterlude! I couldn’t have picked a better weekend to visit. Seriously.

On Friday night – we checked out Confederation Square to see the ice sculptures. It was so impressive and so so pretty.

Here’s a breakdown of our day on Saturday:

10:00 am.  We went directly to Art Is In Bakery to eat a Cronut and their potato buttermilk donut with a maple glaze and maple bacon crumbs. There’s only one word to describe both of these items: WOW. I would not have discovered this treat had I not been following @AMWATERS on Twitter as I read a tweet that she had enjoyed  a Cronut the other day. (well, her 25 gram portion of the cronut!!)

 

12:00 pm We went to Flapjack’s  Pancake Shack which is located right behind Mrs. Tiggy Winkle’s in the Glebe. We ordered the JimBerrr! Watson – Double Smoked Bacon, Gouda & Egg between two original buttermilk pancakes. There is clearly a reason why Ottawa has embraced this new food truck!!

5:30 pm. For dinner, we checked out Prime Burger Bar. We inhaled our deep fried calamari, steak poutine and the Chipolte Burger  (double jack cheese, double smoked bacon, avocado and chipotle mayo). Not to mention we ended our meal with DEEP FRIED OREOS.  This restaurant opened in October and as always I discovered them on twitter. The owner took the time to chat with us and in that short chat, we could tell how he really does care about every aspect of his restaurant. I later asked my cousins if they had been to this restaurant and they also had a a great story to share about the owners amazing customer service!

Our day on Sunday continued with more yumminess!!

10:00 am – Black Pepper Biscotti and a Nutella Cannoli from Simply Biscotti.  Note: We were celebrating World Nutella Day early!! (it’s officially on Feb 5th)

11;00 am – Maple Syrup Taffy on a stick – which I enjoyed while skating on the Rideau Canal. Oh how I love this childhood treat and of course skating on the canal was a treat too!

12:00 pm – A veggie Zatar from Aladdin Bakery

1:00 pm – Eggrolls from Golden Palace.

As always, Ottawa is an amazing place to visit. I can’t wait to visit again in March!! In the meantime, I’m heading to Goodlife Fitness to hit the treadmill and burn off a few calorie..

For more information:

Winterlude – Jan 31 to Feb. 17, 2014

Art Is In Bakery 250 City Centre (613) 695 1226

Flapjack’s Pancakes Shack, 809 Bank St, (613) 355 2927

Prime Burger 780 Baseline Road, (613) 680 2051

Simply Biscotti 354 Preston St. (613) 234 5336

Aladdin Bakery 1801 Carling Ave. (613) 728 5331

Golden Palace 2195 Carling Ave. (613) 820 8444

A few weeks ago, I was reading the Toronto Star and came across an article about a new skating trail that opened up in Etobicoke. I immediately cut out the article and pinned it on the fridge.

I was kinda spoiled growing up, skating on the Rideau Canal in Ottawa.  However, an outdoor 250 metre figure eight loop, certainly piqued my interest.

So I told my daughter that on Saturday nite, we would be checking it out. She was thrilled!!

It took 20 minutes and 3 major roads (Hwy 401, Hwy 427, and the Gardiner)..but like I said, it was only 20 minutes and CERTAINLY WORTH IT. The skating trail is located at Colonel Sam Smith Park and can be found  south of Lakeshore Blvd, off of Kipling and is open daily from 9 a.m to 10 p.m

We loved the new skating trail.  The ice was perfect, the trail was well designed and it was great to be outside enjoying a winter activity. I kept asking the kids “is it time to leave?” and I kept hearing “no we are having fun”. So..we skated more.

There is lighting throughout the park and it’s got a state of the art sound system too. Plus there is  an indoor washroom and changing facilities.

We gave it a thumbs up and will be returning on another Saturday nite soon. The kids had a blast and even I was smiling as can be seen in the next photo.

Hope you get a chance to visit this new skating trail soon.

Happy Skating.