An extra day off for many on Victoria Day leaves ample time for work and play, but police are reminding relaxing residents to keep their safety in mind.
Boaters often use the weekend to clean up and cruise out on their vessels.
"Wax on, wax off, do some vacuuming, put it in the slip and hopefully be done by tomorrow morning," said Tim Crawchuck Friday.
However, eager watergoers wanting to travel a bit farther south on the Rideau Canal will have to hold off, as high water levels means most of the locks from Ottawa to Kingston are closed.
Also water-related and closed are the city's baseball and softball diamonds, as they dry out from the rain earlier this week.
That rain did benefit the tulips at Commissioner's and Major's Hill Parks, which are in full bloom for the final weekend of the Canadian Tulip Festival. Also happening is the Victoria Day Festival, ending with fireworks over Dow's Lake Monday night.
Some people are simply choosing to take care of things around the house and yard.
"We're going to do a lot of gardening actually; we've got a lot of sod to lay," said one resident on Friday. "It's not very exciting, but maybe we'll be out at the tulip festival as well."
"I'm going to mow the hayfield in my front lawn if I sharpen the mower, and hopefully if the weather's good we'll see some of the sights via bike," said another.
Whatever the activity, police are asking people to stay safe on what can be one of the most dangerous weekends of the year for accidents.
"Everything from distracted motorists with cell phones, making sure they're wearing their seatbelts and certainly the speed limits," said Const. Cathy Lindsey with the OPP.
Quinte West OPP fined one driver who was more than a little distracted on Saturday.
The driver of a car pulled over for not wearing a seatbelt might have been trying to get a start on making a playlist for the cottage, as he was found picking songs from a laptop on his passenger seat.
With reports from CTV Ottawa's Katie Griffin and Melissa Lamb
View our list of Victoria Day closures here
