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Post by Bthumme on Jan 21, 2020 12:51:27 GMT -5
I'm excited to cross off three more arenas from my list as Saginaw heads to Peterborough, Kingston, and Ottawa.
I've been to Ottawa before, and only to the mall in Kingston, so would appreciate if anyone has suggestions for things to do (places to eat) in PBO and KGN.
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Post by donjohnson on Jan 21, 2020 13:17:51 GMT -5
I would recommend The Only Cafe for a great beer selection...not sure if you can eat there or not. There's not a ton to do there...the town was really proud of the Lift Lock so we drove by that on the way to Ottawa. There is a cool little museum/HOF type thing in the Peterborough arena...I believe I saw a Saginaw Gears jersey there but I can't remember for certain....it was probably close to 10 years ago that we went there. The coolest thing truly about the trip to Peterborough is the "squared" rink that's just so unique.
Let me know if you're still not allowed to drink in the stands...when I was there I think you had to be sitting in certain sections to be able to drink in the stands.
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twinsdad
2nd Liner
Rocky Hockey
Posts: 166
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Post by twinsdad on Jan 21, 2020 13:32:22 GMT -5
I'm excited to cross off three more arenas from my list as Saginaw heads to Peterborough, Kingston, and Ottawa. I've been to Ottawa before, and only to the mall in Kingston, so would appreciate if anyone has suggestions for things to do (places to eat) in PBO and KGN. These places are not in Peterborough nor Kingston, but can be reached in between. Wheelers Maple Products north of Kingston and southwest of Ottawa has a great pancake house and wonderful syrup, and a decent price to take some home. Slapshot Bar & Grill in Belleville has had the reputation for having great wings, but I ordered something else and it was still good. Do make an effort to see the Peterborough Locks. They are likely not in use this time of year though. |
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Post by bpfox on Jan 21, 2020 14:12:52 GMT -5
I thought Ottawa has a pretty unique arena as well. It's build under the stands of the Football teams stadium. Makes for a very interesting roof line.
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Post by Bthumme on Jan 27, 2020 8:59:33 GMT -5
I would recommend The Only Cafe for a great beer selection...not sure if you can eat there or not. There's not a ton to do there...the town was really proud of the Lift Lock so we drove by that on the way to Ottawa. There is a cool little museum/HOF type thing in the Peterborough arena...I believe I saw a Saginaw Gears jersey there but I can't remember for certain....it was probably close to 10 years ago that we went there. The coolest thing truly about the trip to Peterborough is the "squared" rink that's just so unique. Let me know if you're still not allowed to drink in the stands...when I was there I think you had to be sitting in certain sections to be able to drink in the stands. The museum in the rink was pretty cool. I didn't see a Gears jersey, but did see a Jim Johnston Flint Generals jersey, who was the 1979-1980 IHL scoring title winner. I saw drinking in every section - including the family section at the end. These places are not in Peterborough nor Kingston, but can be reached in between. Wheelers Maple Products north of Kingston and southwest of Ottawa has a great pancake house and wonderful syrup, and a decent price to take some home. Slapshot Bar & Grill in Belleville has had the reputation for having great wings, but I ordered something else and it was still good. Do make an effort to see the Peterborough Locks. They are likely not in use this time of year though. Timing didn't really work out for belleville, but we did go on an adventure to Wheelers, thanks for the suggestion. The weather was pretty snowy, and some of those backroads made it feel like I was driving on a snowmobile trial and not a road, but it was fun, and the food was great. A fun story, driving from Peterborough to Kingston, we booked our room in Napanee which is about a half hour west of Kingston. We got down Friday evening no problem, dropped our stuff off at the hotel, and then went to merge back onto the 401 and it was closed eastbound, which was creating a lot of confusion. Nothing was showing the road closed, so I had to find my way to another smaller on ramp east, where it was also closed, creating a huge problem since semis had to try and turn around in tight spaces, and lots of people were just confused. I had to take a backroad into Kingston which caused us to just miss puckdrop. Turns out, there was an accident with a vehicle towing cows, and apparently after the accident the cows got loose and were able to cross the median (or lack of median), so the 401 had to be shutdown both ways around 6-9pm - you can probably imagine what that did for traffic. Some other thoughts: Parking situation in PBO was awful. One intersection with tons of people trying to merge in, and cars turning blocking the lanes. I was really excited to see the rink but it turned out to be my least favorite of the rinks this weekend - I just didn't like the seating and the views. I liked Kingston - I liked the large glass panes they used too. Downtown Kingston also seemed really lively. Limited food options though. I happened to run into 3 WMU students (my alma mater) who were visiting a supplier out here and got free tickets to the game - it was pretty cool to see a WMU hockey jersey at the game and find some people from Kalamazoo. Crazy. I really liked Ottawa - it felt like I was going to an AHL game. The concourses were open, food prices were reasonable, and the seating was comfortable with great views. Fans were loud too, and the video board is gorgeous. I didn't like that there was a fan allowed to use a megaphone - I was told he has a couple disabilities so they let it slide, but we did get a bit of heckling from him, and it always does irk me when people yell "he's faking it!" when someone gets hurt. |
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Post by donjohnson on Jan 27, 2020 11:09:15 GMT -5
One thing I liked about Ottawa was the announcements in French and English...just something different that you don't get unless you're near Quebec.
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Post by eric8199 on Jan 27, 2020 13:05:13 GMT -5
Sounds like it was a fun trip. I've always hoped to do one of these. Maybe one of these years! I'm keeping options open for a possible championship series somewhere though, so maybe I'll get a chance to go to Ottawa this year :-)
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twinsdad
2nd Liner
Rocky Hockey
Posts: 166
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Post by twinsdad on Jan 27, 2020 18:09:43 GMT -5
If you want a more aggressive international experience, stay and eat on the Quebec side of Ottawa. It is French first and foremost. Several things, like a McDonald's menu, do not have English to one side or below the French words. And not all people in the service industry over there are bilingual. So, without going over an ocean, it is like being in France. I thought my two years of high school French could carry me for two nights and I would impress my kids. Yeah...that didn't happen. But it sure made it more obvious that we were not in the United States.
If one decides to go, I recommend touring Parliament Hill and visiting the Canadian War Museum. If you have kids, the Canadian Museum of History (interactive presenters/actors) and skating on the largest skating rink, the Rideau Canal. However, check ice conditions before making that commitment.
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Post by aj0512 on Jan 27, 2020 20:09:23 GMT -5
I went to Ottawa around this time last year to see the Red Wings play the Senators and while we stayed on the Ontario side, we ventured into Quebec for a little bit and it's crazy how a quick stroll across the bridge makes you feel like you're in a different world. Hopefully one of these years the schedule lines up so Saginaw plays in Ottawa one night and Gatineau (QMJHL) has a home game the night before or after.
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Post by Bthumme on Jan 27, 2020 23:28:35 GMT -5
We did stay in Gatineau for this trip, it wasn’t our first time there.
We really like the doubletree right across the border (bonus: their local USA channels are Detroit feeds).
My fiancée and I are also rouyn-noranda supporters, so we’ve been to plenty of smaller cities in the Q towns for games as well, and really enjoy the experience they offer (aside from R-N, Val D’or and Baie-Comeau i really liked).
I do like hearing the bilingual anthem, it was also sang at Peterborough for the game.
Skating on the rideau wasn’t an option this week due to the storm that rolled through, but that’s a really cool option as well for anyone who gets the chance.
We did get to skate at TD place after the game however, as Sundays are post-game skate days.
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Post by Bthumme on Jan 27, 2020 23:36:50 GMT -5
Duplicate
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Post by donjohnson on Jan 28, 2020 9:10:49 GMT -5
We brought our skates to do the canal but the high temperature when we were there was minus-10 so we bailed but that didn't stop the locals from skating who were more seasoned for the cold. It reminded me a little of the Mystery Alaska movie where people would skate to get places.
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