One of the awesome things about living in Ottawa is that it is such a green city—full of and surrounded by parks, rivers, hills, woods, trails and more. It’s 3 minutes to a big beach, 15 minutes to the gates of a national park, and 30 minutes or less to any number of fall fairs. But the real treats Ottawa offers up combine the best of urban and country life in fun ways. Case in point: Movies on the Beach.
Thanks to a couple of local sponsors, Movies on the Beach is free family entertainment that is reminiscent of the drive-in movies of days gone by. Every other Friday, the organizers set up a huge inflatable screen on a beach or in a park and show a popular feature length film at dusk. The program kicked off this year at the nearby Westboro Beach on June 25—the last day of school—with a screening of Avatar. Staying up and outside wayyy past bedtime? What a perfect way to mark the end of grade one!
We grabbed our beach chairs and packed our bags with sweaters, blankets, p
opcorn, and iced tea, heading off to Kitchissippi Point at about 7:30. It being darned close to summer solstice, we knew it would be a good while before dusk. But loads of other people were heading that way, too, so, for one, it was smart to stake some decent viewing territory. And, for two, the chance to play on the beach for a couple of hours on a warm early summer evening nearly eclipsed the movie itself for Sam and Carter.
They made fast friends with a couple of boys who were constructing sand dams and sluiceways at the water’s edge. The little group must have ferried hundreds of buckets of water while we lounged in the beach chairs well back from the water. Does it get any better than a sandy shoreline and no hovering parents? Every now and then, Sam would look up, scan the growing crowd, pick us out and wave, and then get back to it.
After the sun set right into the Big Rideau itself, we bundled up and settled in for the film. We’d all seen it before, so we half expected to be ducking out partway through, once night fell for real and the chill and fatigue set in. And the boys were in their Mickey Mouse camp chairs, which had us wondering how much of the screen they could see over the crowd in front. But their attention never wavered. It was after midnight when the credits rolled and the large crowd made its orderly way to the parking lot. When Sam caught site of the clock in the car, he exclaimed, “Carter! We stayed up until tomorrow!” That’s a good summer memory, right there.
Thanks to a couple of local sponsors, Movies on the Beach is free family entertainment that is reminiscent of the drive-in movies of days gone by. Every other Friday, the organizers set up a huge inflatable screen on a beach or in a park and show a popular feature length film at dusk. The program kicked off this year at the nearby Westboro Beach on June 25—the last day of school—with a screening of Avatar. Staying up and outside wayyy past bedtime? What a perfect way to mark the end of grade one!
We grabbed our beach chairs and packed our bags with sweaters, blankets, p
opcorn, and iced tea, heading off to Kitchissippi Point at about 7:30. It being darned close to summer solstice, we knew it would be a good while before dusk. But loads of other people were heading that way, too, so, for one, it was smart to stake some decent viewing territory. And, for two, the chance to play on the beach for a couple of hours on a warm early summer evening nearly eclipsed the movie itself for Sam and Carter.They made fast friends with a couple of boys who were constructing sand dams and sluiceways at the water’s edge. The little group must have ferried hundreds of buckets of water while we lounged in the beach chairs well back from the water. Does it get any better than a sandy shoreline and no hovering parents? Every now and then, Sam would look up, scan the growing crowd, pick us out and wave, and then get back to it.
After the sun set right into the Big Rideau itself, we bundled up and settled in for the film. We’d all seen it before, so we half expected to be ducking out partway through, once night fell for real and the chill and fatigue set in. And the boys were in their Mickey Mouse camp chairs, which had us wondering how much of the screen they could see over the crowd in front. But their attention never wavered. It was after midnight when the credits rolled and the large crowd made its orderly way to the parking lot. When Sam caught site of the clock in the car, he exclaimed, “Carter! We stayed up until tomorrow!” That’s a good summer memory, right there.
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