Sunday, February 24, 2008

A skate on the world's largest ice rink

Patterson creek

Sunday morning we gathered up some snacks and our skates and headed down to the Rideau Canal for some fresh winter air and exercise. Before leaving I was sure to check out the ice conditions to make sure we had a green flag. Ice was rated good to very good and better yet the sun was shining and the temperature was a perfect -10°C with the wind chill.

Fun times on the Rideau Canal

From Pretoria Bridge, we skated south as far as Dow's Lake and then back north again to Pretoria and beyond. It was still early enough that the crowds had not yet been released from Sunday church so we had no problem finding open ice which is not always the case during Winterlude.

Beaver Tail breakfast crowd

The Beaver Tail line-up at Fifth Ave was a mile long but that was no surprise seeing as I'm sure it's the only reason about 90% of the weekend skaters come down here. Here's a link to a Beaver Tail recipe in case you haven't found the time to sharpen your skates yet.

Skating the Rideau
Royal Oak Enjoying a skate break

At the end of our journey we opted for the Royal Oak pub over the Beaver Tails which we'd already enjoyed earlier this month. At the pub, we enjoyed the classic eggs, sausage, toast, and home fries breakfast. Always a hit on a Sunday morning.

Finally here's a map for those of you wanting to plan your skating route. Enjoy.

Rideau Canal skate map

1 comment:

Michael said...

I think the folks in Winnipeg would dispute your claim of longest ice rink