mooney's bay beach | outdoors

It's been a scorcher of a summer, no question about it. And though that does mean Ottawa has had to deal with grass fires, droughts and morons leaving their dogs in cars*, we're also all rocking killer tans from our days spent by the water.

I don't think beach is what comes to mind when anyone thinks Ottawa. BUT, we do have some pretty excellent options when you're in the mood to slip on a bikini, lather on the SPF and frolock in the sand.

Here's the lowdown on the city's four public beaches (Brittania, Mooney's, Petrie, Westboro) will be open (read: lifeguard supervised) until August 19th:  http://ottawa.ca/en/rec_culture/park_facility/beaches/index.html 

A few weekends ago, Michele (aka Sista-Sista) and her boyfriend Phil (aka Bad Beef) invited me (aka Queen of the Universe) and my boyfriend (aka Tall Lanky One) to join them at Mooney's Bay. Didn't take any convincing for us to get on board.

You might be wondering, if we were in Orleans (we were) why didn't we go to Petrie Island which is infinitely closer than Mooney's? Good question. I don't know, didn't come up. Mooney's seems more exotic to us vs. Petrie where I have memories of going there for Canada with my kid cousins? For the record, both beaches are generally the same in terms of size, water access, etc.

Getting to Mooney's Bay is fairly simple. If you're taking the Queensway, you just get off at Riverside, go South until you see a beach on your right. Or a large Orthodox Church on your left. Alternatively, you can get there on the 87 bus.

Obviously, we didn't want to pay for parking (cause, you know, it would have been like $1.25 each or something). Easy enough, from Riverside we turned left on Ridgewood and parked on the first street on the right, Dupont.

Luckily, the beach wasn't too busy and we found a spot for our towels without any trouble. Soon we were snacking away on our packed lunch, throwing the Frisbee, reading books, spotting ugly tattoos and playing First Person To See Someone They Know Wins.

First Person To See Someone They Know Wins is a game I came up with (thank you very much). Basically, when I'm in a public place with someone (friend, family, whatever), the first person to see someone they know wins. The rules are: you must say hi to them (not just a polite nod), it can't be someone you're meeting there or someone you would expect to see there (example: if they work at that bar). So far, with Chris, I was 0 - 1. That's insane, I know, since we only play in Ottawa. But I had written the last time off as a fluke.

Except it wasn't.

He won again. He saw someone he went to high school with. IN FERGUS. Urgh, the worst. 0 - 2. I'll never live it down.

Anways. After a while, Chris and I got up and went for a walk to the park. On the river, you could see tons of rowers and kayakers and hear their coaches' whistles. There were tons of ducks and geese waddling on the grass. If you were so inclined, there were also picnic tables and a playground for kids.

 

 Finally, there was a giant taboggan hill that was begging to the climbed. I'm king of the world!

Eventually, the heat was getting to us and it was time to get going. On a beautiful sunny this was the perfect thing to do.

What do you guys do to beat the heat? Anybody ever been to Brittania or Westboro? Are they worth checking out?

xo
OC

*Unfortunately, being a moron in itself isn't illegal, but leaving your dog (or other animal) to suffer inside your oven of a car is. If you see that someone has neglected, abused their pooch or that it's in distress, please call the Ottawa Humane Society at 613-725-3166 ext. 224. More info here.