We had a nice breakfast at Jon’s Cafe next to the train tracks in Brockville. On the other side of the tracks is the old train station that is still servicing Brockville. As we got out of our car, we could see people waiting at the station dock in conversation with others. The cafe was old but it didn’t look old or new, just well taken care of. It had many old train artifacts; pictures, oil cans, and oil lanterns. It had counter sitting, booths and tables. The counter was the most popular as it was full. We sat at a booth. We could tell we were the only out-of-towner. Our waitress was nice and provided us with a very nice Ontario hospitality with a touch of a french accent. On the way out, we heard the train crossing bells and a five car train pulls up. We watched and enjoyed the moment.
We drove the hour drive to Ottawa with the help of the GPS. Most of it was a straight shot except for the last mile which had construction and detours. We (I) got lost. We decided to just park and walk. Major construction was going on everywhere around the Parliament grounds. It was a mess.
I guess it is the time of year but there was no crowds, no activities, actually it was dead. We walked the grounds, took a couple of pictures and we called it a day. I was hoping to watch the changing of the guards, but there wasn’t any. We had a nice drive back.
When we returned back to the hotel, I did check on the internet about Parliament Activities including Changing of the Guards. Summer activities are from June 28 – August 22, 2015. We missed it by a week!
