The more things open up, the more physically distanced real-world activities become available. This week, you can check out an art show in Dunvegan, live music in Carleton Place, a community yard sale in Cobden and vineyard yoga in Alexandria, for starters. In Ottawa, you could go to the new Van Gogh show at Lansdowne Park or bring the kiddos to the Log Farm. And online, there are ghosts to be hunted at Fulford Place in Brockville. Enjoy your long-weekend travels, whether they’re real or virtual!
Shop for art and take a self-driving tour in Dunvegan
A Collectif Art Show is the title of the latest art exhibition and sale featuring works by some of the more than 50 members of the Glengarry Artists’ Collective. It opens on Saturday, July 31, at the Glengarry Pioneer Museum in Dunvegan (about 80 kilometres east of Ottawa), and runs until Sunday, August 15. On weekends, there will be outdoor art demonstrations, too.
While you’re in the area, you could also take the museum’s self-driving historical tour. When you buy it online, you’ll receive an audio file and a printable map that includes several museums, a conservation area, walking tours of two towns and more.
Have a picnic in Perth
The Downtown Perth BIA has a detailed list of some two dozen restaurants in the popular Lanark County town currently offering picnic-perfect takeout meals. Stewart Park, pictured above, would be a wonderful place to spread out a picnic blanket. Some of the restaurants also have patios and/or indoor dining options.
Head to the Log Farm in Ottawa
The Log Farm, located off Cedarview Road in the Greenbelt near Barrhaven, is open throughout the long weekend. On Saturday, the usual farmers’ market runs from 9am to 2pm. There’s lots of free parking, and live music will be back at the market for the first time since 2019.
On Sunday and Monday, there will be multiple timed sessions when visitors can come to feed and pet barnyard animals, climb on play structures made of hay, check out the kids’ barn, and stroll forest paths edging this farm, which dates back to 1857. For those visits, you’ll need to prebook tickets online. As well as daytime sessions both days, there will be an evening session from 5pm to 9pm on Sunday, August 1.
Browse for bargains in Cobden
The Cobden Fair is hosting a community yard sale at the fairgrounds on Saturday, July 31, from 8am to noon. One person’s trash is another person’s treasure, right? And a word to the wise heading to any yard sale: Go early for the best selection. The rain date is Saturday, August 7.
Walk into Van Gogh’s art at Lansdowne Park
The new multimedia installation at Lansdowne Park, Beyond Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience, is great fun for art lovers. Basically, you walk among huge projections of Vincent Van Gogh paintings, as an almost meditative soundtrack plays. I swear, it’s the closest you can come to feeling as though you’re actually inside a painting. The show is running inside the Aberdeen Pavilion seven days a week until September 16; here’s my full report on the Ottawa Van Gogh show (with lots of photos).
Kick back to music by the lake in Carleton Place
Generations Market and Kitchen, a grocery store/restaurant on the shore of Mississippi Lake in Carleton Place, will be presenting free outdoor concerts every Saturday afternoon throughout the summer, starting this week. On Saturday, July 31, R&B trio The Vibes takes to the stage at 1pm, and the MTees will keep things shaking with classic rock starting at 5pm. You can nosh on hot food and cold beers as you enjoy the tunes and the view.
Do outdoor yoga in Gatineau or Alexandria
If I were to pick one noticeable trend in local tourism activities this summer, it would have to be vineyard yoga. It seems as though people are practising their pigeon poses and downward-facing dogs at every winery in Eastern Ontario—so I’m guessing it’s popular! (Hey, I love both yoga and wine, so I see the appeal.)
The latest such classes to come to my attention are happening at Stonehouse Vineyard in Alexandria, starting this Thursday, July 29. In all, five classes will take place on various Thursdays and Sundays until September 19; see the vineyard’s website for the full schedule. The $25 ticket includes an hour-long yoga class, followed by an hour-long patio tasting of three Stonehouse wines.
If you’d like to do outdoor yoga sans vin, L’Atelier Shiatsu-Do is offering classes in the park next to Théâtre de l’Ile in downtown Hull on Thursdays, starting at noon. The one-hour classes are free, but you need to register online so the studio can control the number of students for physical distancing purposes.
Attend a virtual ghost tour in Brockville
OK, if I were to pick two tourism trends, the other would be online ghost tours and hunts. This week, it’s Fulford Place in Brockville that’s inviting fans of all things spectral to learn about its otherworldly tenants. The one-hour virtual ghost tour on Zoom costs $10 and starts at 7pm on Thursday, July 29.
The grand old Brockville mansion was built by a man who made his fortune selling patent medicines. You can learn more in my post, “Do you know the cool stories behind these Eastern Ontario landmarks?”
Hear chamber music in person or online
Ottawa Chamberfest (July 22 to August 4) is one of the world’s largest festivals of chamber music, presenting works composed anytime from the 1400s to the present day. This year, fans can enjoy many of the concerts either online or via a limited number of in-person tickets for indoor and outdoor performances.
Performers this week include the Lemon Bucket Orkestra (two shows on Friday, July 30), La Nef on Saturday, July 31. Both ensembles will also be part of a unique “immersive walkabout experience” at Beechwood Cemetery on Sunday, August 1, which will see the audience strolling the scenic grounds as multiple artists perform.
Go for a hike near Kingston
Visit Kingston has pulled together a great list of hiking destinations in and around the Limestone City, including Lemoine Point in Kingston itself, Gould Lake in Sydenham and the K&P Trail. Lots of great excuses to lace up your hiking boots!
Enjoy live jazz and trivia in Ottawa (not at the same time)
Bar Robo, located in Ottawa’s Queen Street Fare food hall, is presenting the Sean Duhaime Trio for a night of jazz on Wednesday, July 28. Tickets are free, but you need to get them in advance so the bar can control numbers for distancing reasons. The video of the band above was recorded at another venue, the Art House Café, in early 2020.
(Disclosure: Bar Robo is one of the clients of my husband’s newly restarted—hallelujah!—bar trivia circuit, and you can play trivia in the bar on Monday nights, starting at 6:45pm. Here’s the whole schedule for the Ottawa Trivia League.)
And in case you missed it…
Here are just a few of my other recent suggestions for thing to see and do in Ottawa, Eastern Ontario and the Outaouais.
- See outdoor art and take a free walking tour along Gatineau’s Sentier Culturel.
- Try the new Interzip Rogers zip line across the Ottawa River between Ottawa and Gatineau.
- Enjoy beaches, wine, Upper Canada Village and a new travel app on a trip to Iroquois and Morrisburg.
- Take a self-driving trip along a food or beverage trail.
- Visit notable gardens, garden centres and greenhouses for some landscaping inspiration.
Looking for more tips? Subscribe to my free weekly newsletter and/or buy my guidebook, Ottawa Road Trips: Your 100-km Getaway Guide, from which this post is adapted.