Today, we walked to the Canadian Canoe Museum. This museum displays all types of canoes from original dugout canoes to racing canoes used in the Olympics. Interestingly, the displays are intertwined with the history of the aboriginal people and the influx of Europeans. Many of the canoes are made of bark, and those in the arctic were mostly made of seal skins. The canoe was used as the major form of transportation for hunting, fishing and trapping. After the influx of Europeans, the canoes were used for trading and even for moving logs downstream. At the museum, there are craftsmen on site who continue to make canoes with bark and trees and hand tools. There were at least three classes of school children and all were fascinated.
In true Canadian fashion, they had a canoe paddle that was a paddle on one end and a hockey stick on the other.
The Art Museum is just up a small hill from the marina. Outside overlooking the small lake beside the museum is an interesting piece of art. It is a concrete sofa. From the sofa, you have a great view of the lake. Surprisingly, when I sat on the sofa, I thought is was amazingly comfortable.
For dinner last night, I tried two Canadian items that were new to me. Poutine is French Fries with cheese curds on them and them the whole thing is drizzled in brown gravy. It is very heavy and sort of salty. The second item was peameal bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich. It is made from pork loin, wet cured, and rolled in cornmeal. It reminded me of Virginia Ham in taste. It does have a pork loin texture. It was not as sweet or crispy as regular bacon.
Some experiences just take you back to your childhood. I grew up in New England where there are plenty of maple trees too, although, we did not have it on our flag. The maple seedpods are green now and fall from the trees. Below is a maple seedpod. When they fall from the tree, they rotate like little helicopters.
Lat 44 degrees 17.78 North
Long 78 degrees 19.09 West
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