ScottMcLeod.com

Because of Victoria Day today, Canadians have enjoyed a long weekend these past three days. My parents and sister came down to Windsor to spend the day on Saturday and Dan and I hit up the casino on Sunday. I cashed in big; Dan didn't...

Luckily we got some decent weather Saturday and weren't rained on, as it's been really erratic during the three weeks I've lived in Windsor. My housemate Dan tagged along (since he had nothing better to do ;) ) so we showed them Windsor's riverfront and happened to catch the tail-end of a military Victoria Day parade. There were historic military vehicles (tanks, jeeps, APCs, and a few others I'm not sure of) from WWII and perhaps even WWI. We just missed a Scottish bagpipe band.

We walked through the downtown district but Windsor's downtown attractions boil down to bars and clubs that cater to peeps my age (21ish), so not much appealed to my parents. But we showed them the casino and then a bit more of the riverfront. My Dad and I played some tennis during midafternoon which was very nice because I hadn't hit in over three weeks (I play varsity tennis at my uni). My parents and sister took Dan and I home and they left for Waterloo. It was good to see them.

Later Brent (other housemate), Dan, and I hit a downtown Irish pub by the name of Patrick O. Ryan's (doesn't every city have an Irish pub by this name?). The live bands were awesome and the beer selection superb. I tried a Scottish beer called St. Andrew's which was the first Scottish beer I've had; think Guiness but a bit thinner. So that was Saturday.

Sunday the weather sucked so Dan and I put off our plans to check out Point Pelee national park, Canada's most southerly point (wow!) until today. We relaxed most of the day and 'prepped' for a night of hardcore gambling. Well, hardcore on the 25c slot machines. After the perfunctory double id check at the door we decided on a couple of machines. Dan blew his first $20 in about 10 minutes and almost his second $20 shortly after until I cautioned him to slow down. I cashed out with $25 after beginning with $10. We moved onto a few other slots where Dan ended up losing $10 more and I lost $5. So I netted a $10 gain and Dan a $50 (!) loss. A good night.

Today the weather was still a little iffy but we drove down to Point Pelee on Lake Erie, anyway. The drive through the country was quite pleasant and we saw quite a few enormous plantations. They were almost a kilometre long and perhaps half that in width. The wind was near 30 or 40 knots and the swells near 5 feet. The water was a disgusting brown colour (hopefully just because the floor was churned up, but it could just be good ole' Lake Erie pollution...).

The Point is a marshy, triangular spit of land that narrows to a point at the southern tip. We walked through a marsh boardwalk and a few trails through the bush until we drove down to the 'tip.' A short shuttle ride later and we were at the tip itself. The windward side was difficult to stand on because of all the flying sand but the leeward side was quite calm, seemingly much more so with only 20 feet of land between the sides. It was a good trip and the $5 admission is worth the price and experience. Just remember to bring a camera (eh, Dan!).

So back to work tomorrow. How long till the next long weekend?

Posted at May 24, 2004 08:40 PM