a peek inside the fishbowl

Click here for part one of this post about our road trip to Arnprior.

So we left Macnamara Nature Trail and decided to continue our journey. We had no plan, no schedule, no nothing, which is how we ended up at a tiny beach down the street from the trail entrance. A lone picnic table on a stretch of grass was nothing to write home about so I consulted the interwebs and saw something about a local park. I wasn’t able to find much about it quickly enough but we decided to forge ahead anyway after I read the magic words: SNACK BAR and BEACH.

Robert Simpson Park (at the end of 400 John St N. in Arnprior) is located where the Ottawa and Madawaska Rivers meet. It was only a five-minute drive away from Macnamara Trail and – SURPRISE – totally worth the visit.

Robert Simpson Park is very well maintained. There’s ample parking and plenty of green space, picnic tables, a small playground, a splash pad, a guarded beach, and a snack bar and washrooms. Basically, everything a family needs to hang out for an afternoon in the summer! Woot!

I was so taken aback that I only took minimal photos, so you will have to imagine stately trees and soothing shade, well-tended lawns, pretty flowerbeds, families spread out with blankets on the grass, older folks playing bocce, and kids scooting around on their bikes.

This is a glimpse of the beach. Note there are two levels of parking. The lower level makes the beach area easily accessible for those with mobility issues:

There’s a large covered gazebo at Robert Simpson Park too, which is where we shifted ourselves when it started to rumble and thunder. It would have been really cool to see the storm roll in, but it skirted us and the rain never did come. We did, however, have a pretty view of the water and the boats floating by while we waited:

It was mostly peaceful there. Mostly. I wrongly thought we’d left all the bugs behind us on the trail, but I was mistaken. This geedee moth WOULD NOT LEAVE ME ALONE even though I stank of bug spray. Was it playing chicken or what? It came close to fluttering up my shorts a number of times. Gah.

After awhile the girls had been in and out of the water and in and out of the splash pad and done cartwheels all over the park and Mark and I had just had the Best Coffee Ever, so it was time to finally pack it in.

Sidebar: I’m fascinated by menus for some reason. I always picture my grandkids reading them in disbelief. (“What’s a POGO and why was it only $2.00 grandma?”) Of note, there was homemade pulled pork to be had at the snack bar. Oh well. Next time!

Speaking of menus, I sent out a tweet about being in Arnprior and within seconds there was a change of plan. Mostly because of this tweet from local food writer Paula Roy:

@missfish oooh – are you going to Wes’ Hot Chips while there?

— Paula Roy (@paulajroy) August 4, 2014

So that’s how we ended up at Wes’ Hot Chips, en route back to Ottawa:

… with a large one of these to share:

Conclusion: twitter didn’t lie and the fries were pretty darn good. It was a great way to end a good trip to Arnprior.

Maybe next time we visit we’ll poke around the main strip. What else is good to see and do in Arnprior?