Things Ottawa…including Nelson Eddy singing at the Capitol Theatre

Things Ottawa

This is a bit of a reminiscence of memories of my hometown Ottawa that have somehow seeped up from the brain, in no particular order, for no particular reason.

The number 61 Elmvale Acres bus.  It was the 61 Bayshore until it got the other end of city, when it became the 61 Elmvale.  It took almost two hours for the bus to do the whole loop through the downtown core, east to Elmvale Shopping Centre, back around Urbandale Acres, through Elmvale again, to downtown, then out to the wilds of the West End:  Westgate Shopping Centre, Carlingwood and eventually a loop of Bayshore Drive, before there was a Bayshore Shopping Centre.  You could see almost the whole city for 50 cents.

Tiny Tom Donuts in the Pure Food building at the Ex.  Every year mystery people would bring a convoluted machine that would poop out tiny donuts by the hundreds at the Central Canada Exhibition.  They would be hot, greasy and lightly sprinkled with white sugar and if you paid extra, cinnamon and sugar.  There were also Shopsy Hot Dogs, Pizza, and Back Bacon on a Bun.  Why it was called the Pure Food building, I’ll never know, as the only thing that was ‘Pure” in there was the grease.

Hobbyland.  Downtown for a thousand years.  As all the small buildings downtown were bought up, then razed to make way for huge office buildings, Hobbyland survived.  If you needed Testor’s Candy Apple Red and some new brushes for your Eldon slot car, Hobbyland had it in stock.

The Capitol Theatre was a monster classic cinema and theatre originally built in 1920 with Thomas W. Lamb as the architect.  The Capitol was an old-fashioned movie palace that sat 2530 patrons in luxury.  The stage hosted everyone from Nelson Eddy to Jimi Hendrix over its’ fifty-year life.

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13 Facts about Rhode Island…including Nelson Eddy

  1. The Rhode Island state bird is a Rhode Island Red. A chicken. For some reason, this cracks me up.
  2. The state flower is a viola. Pretty little Johnny Jump Ups make me smile in the spring.
  3. The state tree is the Red Maple, and the state has 14 state parks. Damn, there must be a state park around every corner!
  4. Rhode Island was the 13th state to join the United States, and their state flags is 13 stars (to symbolize the original 13 colonies) around a gold ship’s anchor. Beneath the anchor is a banner that reads “hope.”
  5. The Industrial Revolution in the United States began in Rhode Island, after the first successful water-powered cotton mill began operation in Pawtucket in 1793.
  6. It’s nickname is the “Ocean State” – yep, that’s why I’m going there!
  7. The state has a population of just over 1 million people. In contrast, the metro area of Chicago has almost 3 million people in it.
  8. It is the smallest state in the union, and one of the most densely-populated.
  9. The population is 52% female, 48% male, and a whopping 85% Caucasian. The median age is 37, with only 15% of the population over 65.
  10. James Woods, Harry Anderson, Nelson Eddy, and Spaulding Gray are some famous native Rhode Islanders.
  11. Tourism generates over a billion dollars a year in revenue for the state, but jewelry making is one of its largest non-maritime industries. Who knew?
  12. One of the “places to see” in Rhode Island is Block Island, a 7 mile long island off the coast at the eastern entrance to Long Island Sound. The ferry to Block Island and seeing the famous Block Island Lighthouse is one adventure I hope to take on my vacation.
  13. The best clam chowder I’ve ever had was during last year’s vacation, when Mags took me to Iggy’s Doughboys and Chowderhouse, the Clam Shack location on Point Judith Road. The doughboys were awesome, too. Definitely a stop planned there for me this year!!!

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