a peek inside the fishbowl

My youngest asked me for some mother-daughter time on Sunday afternoon. And when one of my kids asks if she can spend time with me, just me, I can’t say no. I struggled to think of something special to do that didn’t include (a) hanging out at a mall or (b) spending money, or something (c) food-related. (So many of the special things we do involves money and/or eating, and does mother-daughter time always need to involve those things? I wondered.)

So I offered up a bike ride and floated the idea of biking to Quebec.

Bingo. Sarah was thrilled.

We packed up some supplies and biked towards the Champlain Bridge. First stop, Bate Island, smack dab in the middle of the Ottawa River, right between Ontario and Quebec. Have you ever been there? It falls under NCC jurisdiction, and it’s a very pretty little park… 10 acres, very woody and green, with quite a few residents to make it interesting:

And there are plenty of views. It’s bisected by the bridge, but it is, after all, an island. I think Sarah was impressed that we biked to a REAL ISLAND.

Bate Island is only about 4km from our home in Westboro, so as far as bike rides go, it’s totally manageable.

Bate Island is at the intersection of two very different kinds of streams. (1) the Champlain Bridge, a never ending North-South stream of cars, day in and day out and (2) the Ottawa River below, an East-West stream of water that carries with it some pretty noteworthy history of a young Canada. More about that later.

Bate Island hovers on a plane between those two streams. I might be so bold as to liken it to some kind of quiet oasis:

Sarah and I pulled off the bridge and coasted down to the parking lot. We left behind a throng of noise and concrete and replaced it with shady respite for our eyes and ears.

Bate Island seems to be a launching point for local kayakers. There are plenty of spots to picnic (lots of benches and tables) and there’s a lovely view all around.

I was curious about the history of this little spot, so I did a bit of googling to see what I could find out about it. Here’s the NCC page about Bate Island (often mistakenly referred to as Bates Island). It is indeed a popular place for a canoe and kayak launch, as well as a spot for fly-fishing (although we saw more of that on the Quebec side of the river).

Once upon a time there was a series of different restaurants located here, but the building was eventually torn down and visions for this patch of green were eventually reigned in and it became what it is today. I found a neat little article about it written by Kelly Egan. His describes the demolition of an old restaurant on the site in a most excellent way. Can you picture it?

“Inside every civilized, accomplished male lives a bored, 12-year-old scamp who would dearly love to take the controls of a Case excavator — the kind on tank tracks, with the massive shovel on a powerful, yellow elbow — and, WHAMMO! — absolutely crush some great ugly thing that, for far too long, cried out for a licking!

What a pleasant hour it was on Bate Island, watching the National Capital Commission begin to demolish the eyesore that was Alexander’s On The Island, a once-posh restaurant in the middle of the Ottawa River.

Good riddance, you wreck of a thing.

It looked like a cardiac patient, mid-surgery: big wound in the roof, wires hanging loose, pink and yellow insulation between the studs, pipes all askew.

With the back wall ripped off, I could see the stainless steel backsplash in the old kitchen, the right angle of the bar, the fake stone motif by the washroom door. The ghosts could only be imagined.”

It almost seems wrong to have a restaurant or dance club here. I’m not sure if Bate Island could be improved upon, or if it even needs improving, and what that supposed improvement would look like. Regardless of what might eventually become of this place, I’ve resolved to come back, but this time pack up car with the dog and a picnic lunch and make a date with the family on a sunny Saturday, so we can throw sticks in the water and watch them float down stream.

We’ll quietly observe the kayakers and the other Ottawa wildlife. Maybe we’ll even wait around until the sun sets. I bet it’s pretty when the sun sets.

Coming up next: part two of our bike ride!