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| Looking west through the Ottawa River's Baie de L'Orignal. This is seriously big water. |
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| With Ottawa visible in the distance we're sidetracked by the siren call of a casino. Their floating sign said go right. So we did. |
In the cruising world there are deals just too good to pass up. For example, back in the 1990s the Green Turtle Club in the Abacos (Bahamas) rebated slip fees with script useable in their restaurant. Friends who partook described the torture of stuffing themselves night after night... I'd gotten wind of a similar deal being offered by Casino du Lac-Leamy. An added benefit is the marina is perfectly positioned so the next day we can easily be on the Rideau Canal's blue line by 9 am. Unfortunately, last week when I called for reservations they had no room. With the hopes that today's inclement weather had deterred some fellow boaters I called the reservations desk again and violà, a slip was ours.
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| The $50 food coupon and our order spreadsheet to make sure we spent it all. |
The slips at Casino du Lac-Leamy are $50. And, sure enough, they gave us a $50 voucher valid for food and shows. The only catch, the whole $50 had to be used at once as no change would be given. That sounds like a challenge. We love challenges. With the menu in hand and a spreadsheet on the phone we managed to spend all but $0.75. If this had been an exam we would have scored a 98.5!
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| Dinner--and breakfast, and snacks for later. |
What does $50 buy in the Casino's cafe? Well, as the picture above shows, a lot!
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| 61 miles from Hawksbury, Ontario to Gatineau, Quebec. |
Today's blustery weather didn't slow us down much and even the Ottawa River's purported 1/2 knot current seemed sedate. The views from the wheel house were mostly pastoral and bucolic. On the approach to Ottawa large homes started appearing on the river's banks. Tonight Nellie is safely tied to the dock in Lac-Leamy and her crew can't eat another bite. DBH
