Exploring PEI :: Province House, the Birthplace of Canada

This weekend, Charlottetown celebrated its 157th birthday. We attended the celebrations at Victoria Park. We had a lot of fun there. We visited the library and then sat in front of Province House to have a quick snack and noticed it was open, so we went in!

We love exploring new places and playing tourist when we move to a new area.

Province House is a national historic site of Canada and is known as the birthplace of Canada. The building is beautiful and spacious. There are two main rooms you can visit, and a library.

The photo below shows part of the library:

 

The Province House is still used today for the Legislative Assembly:





Province House is known as the birthplace of Confederation. In September 1864, 23 political leaders from the British Colonies of Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Canada (Ontario and Quebec) began the discussions that led in 1867 to the creation of the Dominion of Canada. (text from the Parks Canada).

The Parks Canada staff told us that the table and chairs (in the photo below) are the original ones from 1864. Andre noticed the spittoons right away! The staff member also explained that no one sat in the preferred seat (with the red curtain around it) during the historical meeting. That chair was used before during the Prince Edward Island Legislative Council. I thought it was very interesting to visit this room, especially since we learned about Confederation in our Canadian History last year. We will come back again this summer and see the sound & light show and historical vignettes.

If you would like to learn more about Confederation, you can visit the following site:

Confederation for Kids 



Doors Open Ontario :: Windsor

Adrienne and I spent Sunday visiting several locations in the city of Windsor that were participating in the Doors Open Ontario event. Throughout Ontario, some private homes, businesses, schools, churches and others open their doors so that the community can learn about its history, culture and architecture.

We had a wonderful time and visited nine different places. I am sharing with you a few of our favourites.

Our first stop was at the Windsor Airport. There is one remaining World War II hangar there. It was the home of the #7 Elementary Flying Training School from 1941-1945. This hangar is now the location of the Canadian Historical Aircraft Association.

Our next stop is a very square two storey building built in 1914. It served as Walkerville no. 1 Hydro Sub Station until 2003 and now is home to an architectural firm. The highlight of that building was the iron staircase!

I couldn't manage a full photo of the front of the building, but it looks very similar to the back shown in the photo above.

We went to Willistead Manor next. Adrienne and I were really looking forward to seeing the inside of this Edwardian mansion (you can see the outside here). We were not disappointed! There were guides in most rooms sharing interesting details about the history of the manor. We were told about Yuletide Festivities at Willistead and we'll make sure to come back for them!

We thought maybe this opening was a secret passage to another room, it was actually a safe!

 There were many wood carving details all throughout the house.

All the furnishings from Willistead were moved out when Edward Walker's widow moved to the USA,

but the restoration of the manor included acquiring pieces that would reflect that time period, along with the choices of wallpaper.

Below is the master bedroom:

More wood carving details can be found outside too:

On our way to the next site, we noticed the house in the photo below. Adrienne took the photo. We were both amazed at the roof and how it curves on the ends, where the eaves normally are.

We went to a few other places after that, but we didn't take many photos. We visited a school built in 1927 that is still open. They kept a few areas with original flooring and chalkboars. We also visited a Tudor style home that, after being a private residence, was once a convent and is now a private school and retreat centre.  

We also went to a private home (that happened to be for sale). It was built in 1915 and has an Arts and Crafts design. We both really liked the entrance.

Our next stop was the Francois Baby House which is now the Windsor Community Museum. This Georgian-style home was built in 1812. The house is surrounded by tall modern buildings, it looks out of place, but I am glad it has been preserved.  There was a small exhibition inside called Windsor Weddings.

We also visited a church. This church started as a mission to the Hurons in 1728, the current building in the Gothic Revival style was built in 1842-45, the tower and sanctuary in 1870-74. We couldn't take photos inside, but it was gorgeous. The stained glass was amazing. It is nice to see these style of churches, they reminded me of the churches in France. I took a photo from the front entrance.

Adrienne and I really enjoyed our day learning about the local history

and looking at the architectural details of some of the buildings.

If you live in Ontario and are interested in this event, you can read more on the main site Doors Open Ontario for locations and dates. This yearly event starts in April and continues until October.

Medieval Village and Street Fair

We went to a street fair this weekend in the city that included a medieval village as well. It was great! The medieval village part had a lot to see and do, crafts, costumes to try on, and weapons to hold! Andre loved the weapons tent and we all learned more about them.

We also spent a lot of time at the street fair, watching a couple of street performers, and even participating in one for Celeste and I. We saw BMX guys jumping ramps and doing tricks. A new Canadian centre had a show with several artists, our favourite was a traditional chinese dancer. There was even free food! 

Air Show ~ part 3 ~ CF-18 Hornet and Lancaster Bomber

Continuing with the Air Show posts...If you missed the first two, you can see them here and here.

Another part of the air show, was the demonstration of other planes, besides the aerobatic kind. We saw the CF-18 Hornet fighter plane fly by a few times. It was amazing!

Another awesome plane was this Lancanster Bomber. There are only two left that are air worthy, and this one from the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum was at the Air Show!

..

Air Show ~ part 2 ~ Brazilian Smoke Squadron and Canadian Harvard Aerobatic Air Team

To continue with my posts on the air show, I am now sharing a series of photos from the Brazilian Smoke Squadron, also known as the Brazilian Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron.

These guys were amazing!

The photos below show the Canadian Harvard Aerobatic Team . These 3 little yellow planes, the Harvards, were built in 1941. The announcer explained that these planes were called the "Pilot Maker", meaning that if you could fly one of these you could fly anything. They were used as advanced trainers by the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Their show was amazing, and the clouds had lifted by then.

Can you see the heart shape they made in the sky? That was a heart for all the volunteers for this air show!