Patrick Langston on spring adventures around Ottawa

Theatre, murals and summer fun: 9 things to do

By Patrick Langston

The Oeno Gallery Sculpture Garden, pictured here, is located on the Huff Estates Winery’s property in Bloomfield. It’s a changing display of 60 steel, granite and bronze sculptures, all of which are for sale.

No question: It’s high time to rediscover the pleasures of local travel . Many public safety restrictions remain in place, but at the time of writing, opportunities for day and overnight trips were opening up in Ontario and Quebec . Our nine suggestions emphasize the outdoors (it is summer, after all) and even include a bit of time travel . Before setting out, remember to check on interprovincial travel regulations, masking requirements and whether the destination is open for business .

Sexy Laundry and the Queen: COVID-19 means live theatre is still mostly a no-go in the Ottawa area . Thousand Islands Playhouse, in leafy Gananoque about an hour and a half south of Ottawa, is an exception . It has scheduled four indoor, socially distanced shows by Canadian playwrights . They include, in August, Michele Riml’s Sexy Laundry, a light but funny show about a long-married couple trying to reignite their marriage . More substantial is Serving Elizabeth by Marcia Johnson (a different production of the same play is part of the Stratford Festival this summer) . Opening in early October, the show shifts between 1952 Kenya and 2015 London as it delves into colonialism, monarchy and inclusion . 1000islandsplayhouse .com

Where sculptures grow: The Oeno Gallery Sculpture Garden at Huff Estates Winery in Bloomfield, Prince Edward County, is the outdoor home for a changing display of 60 steel, granite and bronze sculptures in a 1 .6-hectare setting of walking paths, maple and poplar groves, gardens and more . Some of the sculptures are monumental and they are all for sale . About 90 minutes west of Oeno and near Peterborough is ZimArt, where dozens of stone sculptures by Zimbabwean artists sit in a park-like setting overlooking Rice Lake and the Northumberland Hills . Like Oeno, admission is free and the sculptures are for sale . Visitors to ZimArt can picnic on the grounds, and evening outdoor concerts are planned for this summer . zimart . ca . Bonus: Prince Edward County is home to wineries, art studios and beaches . oenogallery .com .

Easy hiking in the west end: Salamanders, wildflowers, a red-tailed hawk (if you’re lucky) and gorgeous views of the Ottawa River and the Quebec shoreline beyond — Sheila McKee Park is an underappreciated gem in Dunrobin, just north of Kanata . The two kilometres of trails are an easy hike, even for youngsters, and the woods are a balm for the addled mind . And here’s an insider’s tip: The park is close to Pinhey’s Point Historic Site, a green space that rolls down to the Ottawa River and features a nearly 200-year-old manor house (now a museum) and surrounding ruins . The site is a fine spot to picnic and relax for free . The manor house has admission by donation . ottawa .ca

The 18-metre observation tower, with its view of a dozen lakes and surrounding forests, is a highlight of Mont Morissette Regional Park.

Time travel: If you’re on a road trip this summer, why not take along Tom Russell? The American singer/songwriter’s 1999 album, The Man From God Knows Where, makes a dandy travelling companion with its musical portraits of 19th- and 20th-Century immigrants and working class families in places such as Missouri, Iowa and California . One of the U .S .’s best songwriters, Russell, along with a bevy of guest artists, blends the universal and the particular in vivid stories of farm wives, an Irish kid arriving at Ellis Island, a father with big dreams, and others . Buy the album at amazon .com if you can't find it in local record shops .

Taking the long view: The 18-metre observation tower, with its view of a dozen lakes and surrounding forests, is a highlight of Mont Morissette Regional Park in the Quebec municipality of Blue Sea, 115 kilometres north of Ottawa . What else can you do there? How about hiking (12 kilometres of marked trails), access to the small beach at Lac Blue Sea, a tour of the art gallery in a former Blue Sea manse and an overnight stay at the enticingly named Camping Insolite CarpeDiem on Lake Edja? tourismeoutaouais .com

Gardens galore: Public and community gardens in the National Capital Region are about more than just tulips . The manicured grounds of Rideau Hall — home to the governor general of Canada, a role currently unfilled — feature traditional British rose gardens and rockeries as well as an Inuit garden, while the rooftop garden on the Canadian War Museum is one of the largest in North America . The expansive Central Experimental Farm includes ornamental plantings and the Fletcher Wildlife Garden . In Westboro, the national historic site of Maplelawn boasts a 19th-Century walled garden . A drive to Gatineau Park’s 231-hectare Mackenzie King Estate, the one-time summer home of Canada’s longest-serving prime minister, rewards you with luxuriant gardens and walking trails . See gardenpromenade . ca for more on this year’s riot of colours, textures and fragrances .

Beach time: With forecasters calling for a steamy summer in Ottawa, Petrie Island in Orléans will be popular . The extensive conservation and recreation area on the Ottawa River includes sandy beaches with swimming, along with canoeing, kayaking and hiking . A mix of wetlands, forests and open areas, it’s also a favourite spot of naturalists and anyone who enjoys birding or watching turtles laze away the hours sunbathing on logs . Also, the village of Cumberland is a 10-minute drive east of Petrie Island along Highway 174 . Highlights include the Black Walnut Bakery at the corner of Highway 174 and Cameron Street and the Cumberland Heritage Village Museum at 2940 Old Montreal Rd . The 100-acre museum showcases rural and village life in the 1920s and 30s with dozens of heritage and reproduction buildings, including a fine old church, a fire hall and homes . The pandemic may limit access to building interiors . ottawa .ca

Mural mania: Ottawa buildings and other paintable surfaces are home to an array of murals and graffiti that celebrate neighbourhood histories and offer artists broad canvasses for their imaginations . Westboro — always a great place for a stroll — is especially rich in murals, many of them painted by former Ottawa artist Shaun McInnis . Westboro murals include McInnis’s panoramic tribute to his nephew and the joys of boyhood on the Scotiabank building at 388 Richmond Rd . and a multiartist celebration of youth at the Granite

Curling Club, 206 Scott St . Buildings get knocked down and weather takes its toll on outdoor art, but the map of local murals and graffiti at houseofpaint .ca is still an excellent guide to what’s viewable .

Eco-tourism in the Outaouais: Over the past 24 years, Michel Leclair has fashioned Eco-Odyssée, a 70-acre water maze and canal system in marsh land just outside Wakefield, a 30-minute drive north from Ottawa . He wanted to give visiting paddle-boaters, paddle-boarders and canoers a beaver’s eye-view of nature, which Leclair grew to respect during his career as an animal conservation officer in Gatineau Park . The family-friendly water labyrinth may include beaver sightings and there are night sojourns, including observation from a boat of the Perseid meteor shower in August . Paddle boats, boards and canoes are available . Open until the end of August . eco-odyssee .ca

Patrick Langston is an Ottawa writer who’s had both of his COVID vaccinations and has gassed up his aging vehicle for another summer of adventuring .

This mural by Shaun McInnis is on the side of the Scotiabank in Westboro.