If ever there were a justification for why urban freeway construction continues not to be a good idea in most cases, the Independence Freeway project in Charlotte is it. Construction of this monstrosity over the past twenty-five years has destroyed homes and businesses and neighborhoods and created a creeping blight that has devastated much of East Charlotte. And apparently the first phase wasn’t bad enough; the wasteland is now rapidly progressing farther eastward toward Idlewild.

I feel a little possessive about the east side of Charlotte, having lived and/or worked there most of the time I spent in the Queen City. It’s really sad to watch this happen. I wrote an article on the death of Independence Boulevard for another (short-lived) site five or six years back and I should drag that out and republish it here along with some photos I took for a photo essay on the same topic.

Stats:

Odometer start: 14164

Meals:

• Breakfast: Free at the hotel. Muffin, boiled egg, and coffee.
• Lunch: Continental Bagel at ByWard Market. Montreal smoked meat on bagel with Swiss cheese, Diet Coke. $9.00
• Dinner: Bombay Garden. Butter chicken, mixed vegetables, crepe/potato dish whose name I forget, dessert. I didn’t pay.

Notes:

Checked out of the hotel about 10AM and drove around Ottawa most of the day. I was on foot downtown for a couple of hours too, by Parliament, etc. and in the ByWard Market. Had lunch there and determined that Montreal smoked meat is a very acceptable substitute for pastrami. Shot many stores for Groceteria. Major routes traveled were Rideau Street, Bank Street, Carling Avenue, and Wellington Street/Richmond Road. Ottawa is a pretty interesting place with some very explorable neighborhoods.

Met up with Robin about 6:30. We had dinner at a rather amazing Indian place (Bombay Palace) where he knows the owners. Great food, great place. We came home afterward and watched The Poseidon Adventure and some random TV. Got to bed about 1:00 and slept really well, but I had strange dreams all night. I realized when I woke up that I’d been hearing migrating geese all night through the open window and just barely audible through my earplugs. That amused me.

Photos (flickr link):
For some reason, most of today’s photos aren’t displaying. Use the flickr link to see them all.

[flickr-gallery mode=”tag” tags=”trip2011,day12″ tag_mode=”all” sort=”date-taken-asc”]

Stats:

Odometer start: 14092

Meals:

• Breakfast: Fontenelle Restaurant. Two eggs scrambled, sausages, potatoes, “brown” toast, coffee. $6.75.
• Lunch: The Extreme Pita. Chicken shawarma takeout. About $6.00.
• Dinner: Burger King. Chicken sandwich, small fries, takeout. $7.09.

Sleep: WelcomINNS, Ottawa.

Notes:

Left the hotel about 9:20. There was warning icon on the dashboard; it was an exclamation point, which was no bloody help at all. Fortunately my mom had left the manual in the car and I was able to determine that ! = “low tires”. Filled up the tires at the nearby Petro-Canada and headed off to breakfast at Fontenelle, which apparently opened about fifty years ago and has never been remodeled. This was probably the cheapest breakfast I’ve had in Canada and it was really good.

Drove around Vanier and then around Gatineau this morning. Stopped in several stores, tried to converse in French with mixed success, and bought Mom some birthday presents. The rain came back this afternoon, so about 3:00, I grabbed a bus to downtown Ottawa and put in about three hours at the library doing Groceteria stuff.

Called Mom tonight for her birthday, then went for an evening drive. Mostly downtown, up Bank Street, and around Rideau Street in Vanier. Weary of looking for new and exciting places, I landed at Burger King for dinner. Came home and watched a bit of HGTV on its home turf, Global news, etc., and read my newspapers. Did some packing as I’m staying at Robin’s house tomorrow night.

Photos (flickr link):
For some reason, most of today’s photos aren’t displaying. Use the flickr link to see them all.

[flickr-gallery mode=”tag” tags=”17Oct” tag_mode=”all” sort=”date-taken-asc”]

Stats:

Odometer start: 14009

Meals:

• Breakfast: Free at the hotel. Muffin and coffee.
• Lunch: La Patate Dorée, Gatineau. Hamburger, poutine, orange drink. $17.48 for two.
• Dinner: Uncle Louis Restaurant. Baked spaghetti, water. $11.25

Sleep: WelcomINNS, Ottawa.

Notes:

Ventured out about 10AM after an uninspiring hotel breakfast. Picked up Robin at 10:45. We’d never met in person but knew each other because he’d been one of the first people ever to interview me about this website back in 1996. It was good to meet in person after fifteen years. We drove around Ottawa and Gatineau, stopping for a long walk downtown in the vicinity of the Byward Market, the Mint, and the National Gallery of Canada. Had lunch at a poutine place in Gatineau. I’ve done poutine now and I’m glad, although I have no significant need to do it again anytime soon. The curds were sort of off-putting, especially when it all got cold.

We also walked around the Canadian War Museum, primarily its roof–which is planted to resemble a battlefield and offers great views–and on Victoria Island, which is a pretty wonderful photo opportunity too. Later in the afternoon, we stumbled into the possibility of a tour of Rideau Hall, residence of the governor general, which was really quite interesting. I dropped Robin off, headed back to the hotel, and took another drive downtown and out Carling Avenue in the evening before landing at Uncle Louis Restaurant right by my hotel for a late dinner.

Photos (flickr link):

[flickr-gallery mode=”tag” tags=”trip2011, day10″ tag_mode=”all” sort=”date-taken-asc”]

Stats:

Odometer start: 13643

Meals:

• Breakfast: McDonald’s at Spadina and Queen. Sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit combo with hash browns and Diet Coke. About $5.00.
• Lunch: Wendy’s. Number 1 Single Cheeseburger combo with fries and Fresca. $7.22.
• Dinner: PizzaIolo. Pepperoni slices. About $8.00.

Sleep: Grange Hotel, Toronto.

Notes:

My day for eating crappy food because it’s quick and cheap and easy, and for generally being geeky. Quick breakfast at the McDonald’s near my hotel–which is pretty much the only breakfast in the immediate vicinity. Drove downtown to the CBC Broadcast Centre and museum and picked up some stuff in the gift shop. The drove north on Spadina, west on Dupont, north on Weston to Jane, and east on Shepperd. Shot several stores for Groceteria.

Visited the library in North York for several hours to do Groceteria research. Quick lunch across the street at Wendy’s. Back at the library, had to use microfilm, which was really frustrating and gave me inconsistent results. I was only able to research 1950-1980 and even that was a bit spotty. The parking was unexpectedly expensive and it never really rained today as predicted. I kind of wish I’d done walking and transit and skipped the library.

Drove home via Yonge and College. Did some laundry and walked to a pizza place on Queen Street for takeout slices that I ate with my Loblaw’s diet grapefruit soda back at the hotel. Packed a bit. Off to Ottawa tomorrow.

Photos (flickr link):

[flickr-gallery mode=”tag” tags=”trip2011, day08″ tag_mode=”all” sort=”date-taken-asc”]