Victoria day is the 3rd Monday in may, not the third day
Canada's holiday is over and the US holiday is here
Canada Victoria Day US Memorial Day Holiday Events
Moderators: Bergy, Derf, QueenBea
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Kchurchill5
- Posts: 16044
- Joined: Fri Oct 07, 2011 11:55 am
Re: Canada/United States Holiday Weekend Event
I think this is one Holiday that really differs depending on where you live. Growing up in MI, it was a big deal. One I moved to FL, NO. Up north it was the beginning of spring/summer; warm temps, we got all the patio furniture out, spring cleaning, school was almost over, boating started (since the ice melted, lol), and gardens were planted.
In FL, we do that year round, school is already out; and, it is just another weekend where the beaches will be packed, and we are better off staying home.
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I do have a a couple of friends who throw a BBQ every year for family. They are not the best cook -- sorry Danny and Linda; but; they do throw a great party. It is pretty much pot luck; and, they provide beer, brats and burgers. Danny's brother comes over to grill ... Danny can burn water,
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A few of my friends and I have got together in the past; but, we always seem to do a seafood boil.
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Now, in the past ...
Memorial Day was a BIG DEAL! Our schools had an extended weekend; so, that was the weekend we really "summerized" our second home. We spent weekends there all all winter; but, obviously it is northern MI, you can't keep your dock out, boats, lawn furniture, etc. So, Memorial weekend was the weekend we prepared everything. We put the dock in (although a few times, there was ice floating). Brought out the lawn furniture, moved the grill to the front, turned on the outside water, had the boats delivered, lifts were put in etc.
Then the FOOD! We worked all weekend to get everything done. So, Fri through Sun, Mom, Grandma, and I; in between loading dock portions, lifts, boats, etc cooked grub for everyone. During the day ... it was always - brats, burgers, dogs, chili, soup, tuna sandwiches, spud salad, slaw, chips, etc. At night; nothing special; everyone was too tired. Maybe spaghetti, pot roast, or roast chicken. Basic meals.
Then came Monday! MEMORIAL DAY
Finishing up the dock, lifts, boats, etc. - But, we always had a big BBQ.
It was always the same every year - never changed.
Our menu for all the people who helped us get our dock in and get everything ready for the summer was:
- A big veggie platter with dip, celery stuffed with cream cheese and peanut butter for the kids; pickled herring for the adults; our friend always brought smoked salmon
- A carved watermelon with fruit
- Of course, cheese and crackers, a couple of spread of some kind
- Deviled eggs
- Grilled rib eyes; topped with a mix of grilled onions and mushrooms; blue cheese too (Dad's favorite)
- Baked potatoes; back then, Mom just cut them in half and topped with cheese and bacon
- Classic salad
- Ambrosia salad
- Jello salad of some kind
- Strawberry shortcake or apple pie with ice cream
- Lemonade and ice tea, beer too
I can still remember the menu to this day. It never changed. I can still see it on the table. We fed about 20 some people. My family (mom, dad, me, grandma, aunt, uncle) and the rest were neighbors and friends.
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I can say, I probably won't be doing anything here, so no special menu; but ... it is nice to remember special moments of the past.
In FL, we do that year round, school is already out; and, it is just another weekend where the beaches will be packed, and we are better off staying home.
-----------------------------
I do have a a couple of friends who throw a BBQ every year for family. They are not the best cook -- sorry Danny and Linda; but; they do throw a great party. It is pretty much pot luck; and, they provide beer, brats and burgers. Danny's brother comes over to grill ... Danny can burn water,
.A few of my friends and I have got together in the past; but, we always seem to do a seafood boil.
-----------------------------
Now, in the past ...
Memorial Day was a BIG DEAL! Our schools had an extended weekend; so, that was the weekend we really "summerized" our second home. We spent weekends there all all winter; but, obviously it is northern MI, you can't keep your dock out, boats, lawn furniture, etc. So, Memorial weekend was the weekend we prepared everything. We put the dock in (although a few times, there was ice floating). Brought out the lawn furniture, moved the grill to the front, turned on the outside water, had the boats delivered, lifts were put in etc.
Then the FOOD! We worked all weekend to get everything done. So, Fri through Sun, Mom, Grandma, and I; in between loading dock portions, lifts, boats, etc cooked grub for everyone. During the day ... it was always - brats, burgers, dogs, chili, soup, tuna sandwiches, spud salad, slaw, chips, etc. At night; nothing special; everyone was too tired. Maybe spaghetti, pot roast, or roast chicken. Basic meals.
Then came Monday! MEMORIAL DAY
Finishing up the dock, lifts, boats, etc. - But, we always had a big BBQ.
It was always the same every year - never changed.
Our menu for all the people who helped us get our dock in and get everything ready for the summer was:
- A big veggie platter with dip, celery stuffed with cream cheese and peanut butter for the kids; pickled herring for the adults; our friend always brought smoked salmon
- A carved watermelon with fruit
- Of course, cheese and crackers, a couple of spread of some kind
- Deviled eggs
- Grilled rib eyes; topped with a mix of grilled onions and mushrooms; blue cheese too (Dad's favorite)
- Baked potatoes; back then, Mom just cut them in half and topped with cheese and bacon
- Classic salad
- Ambrosia salad
- Jello salad of some kind
- Strawberry shortcake or apple pie with ice cream
- Lemonade and ice tea, beer too
I can still remember the menu to this day. It never changed. I can still see it on the table. We fed about 20 some people. My family (mom, dad, me, grandma, aunt, uncle) and the rest were neighbors and friends.
--------------------------------------------------------
I can say, I probably won't be doing anything here, so no special menu; but ... it is nice to remember special moments of the past.
Re: Canada/United States Holiday Weekend Event
KC what great memories - I love your set menu Num Num. Your weekend in MI is very much the same as mine were here in Western Canada - It was the start of Summer - Always a fun weekend! 24 May open summer Labour Day close down everything.
Were there any ceremonies to commemerate the Fallen soldiers?
I don't think too many here raised a glass to Queen Victoria but we sure enjoyed the 3 days off.
I think it is going to be fun to hear the differences and similarities of how we celebrate depending where we live.
Were there any ceremonies to commemerate the Fallen soldiers?
I don't think too many here raised a glass to Queen Victoria but we sure enjoyed the 3 days off.
I think it is going to be fun to hear the differences and similarities of how we celebrate depending where we live.
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Kchurchill5
- Posts: 16044
- Joined: Fri Oct 07, 2011 11:55 am
Re: Canada/United States Holiday Weekend Event
There was always a parade and events in Dearborn/Detroit; but, we were at our summer home, and nothing in our town; it was very small. 800 residents during the winter, 2,000 in the summer - but tiny. Manistee MI, was the next biggest town, and they did have a parade, etc.
In FL, yes ... parade and a few music events; I have never gone. My ex, being police usually had to work those events; so, I would normally just stay at home; or visit a couple of friends whatever they did.
I do know, it is a boating nighmare down here. Every idiot and wanna be boater decides to take out their boat or rent one. It is seriously dangerous; so, I avoid the water that weekend. Lots of BBQ and Boating injuries that weekend.
In FL, yes ... parade and a few music events; I have never gone. My ex, being police usually had to work those events; so, I would normally just stay at home; or visit a couple of friends whatever they did.
I do know, it is a boating nighmare down here. Every idiot and wanna be boater decides to take out their boat or rent one. It is seriously dangerous; so, I avoid the water that weekend. Lots of BBQ and Boating injuries that weekend.
Re: Canada/United States Holiday Weekend Event
With our family Victoria day always meant the begining of summer and always a big city parade (I grew up in Victoria, the capital of British Columbia, named after Queen Victoria), it was a big deal day of celebration, and the begining of the camping season which we loved.
Re: Canada/United States Holiday Weekend Event
When I was a kid, my mom and dad would take the family to the cemeteries where our local relatives were buried. That was kind of somber.
Other than that the weekend was filled with a cookout and swimming if it was hot enough, which it usually was.
Sometimes we went camping, and if we did that, the cemeteries would be another time.
Other times we would go on day trips to parks, which Missouri has some awesome parks. Did you know? There is a beautiful place called Johnson's Shut Ins where over time the river coming down the mountain wore away softer material and left huge boulders that the water would run through, called shut-ins. There would be weird cavernous holes gouged out by the force of water, and other areas different, so one could wade through ankle deep water, stand on a boulder, and jump straight down into water over their head. I loved it there, but in recent years, a dam on top of Proffitt mountain broke and washed out the entire park, taking huge boulders with it. The park rangers family were killed in their sleep. I don't want to say, but they found them some time later. Trees were scoured from the granite and have left bare rock. The soil washed away with the trees. Had the disaster occurred during summer, hundreds of people would have been killed.
Since that time, they moved the camping area to higher ground, should something similar ever recur. And rebuilt the park, although it will never be the same.
Interesting, however, and why I bring it up is because since that time, during the rebuilding, they discovered some things.
It used to be thought that the Appalachians were the oldest mountains in NA, now wearing down. Now Johnson's is not *really* a mountainous area, not in the sense of the kind of mountains out west and north. It is not even part of the Ozark chain, which is a couple hundred miles away. But it was still *hilly* in spots. But they found out from things that came up from under where the soil used to be and looking at the granite rock that became exposed, that it had once been the highest mountains in NA, and towered over the area during the time the Appalachians were being formed. And now, these are just the roots of the mountains.
This really interests me, as it gave me pause to think that for many Memorial Days, I swam around and touched the roots of mountains that were part of the land perhaps as far back before this continent even looks as it does, or even lies where it does on the planet.
The land has MEMORY, and it gives my holiday new meaning, that out of sadness comes new understanding.
Since that time, when I go places and look at things, like, for example, Hot Springs around NW Arkansas, where many of my forebears lived, the springs were probably once part of a massive volcano, that now sleeps, a caldera dangerous and deceptive to the eye. We see warm inviting spa-like waters, but underneath, the land remembers. Kind of like the horror of realizing what Yellowstone is and its power.
The land remembers, and we must never forget.
SO while my holiday has new meaning, we still do the things we used to do- cookout, picnic, go to parks. I don't really have relatives buried here in Ohio to visit that date any sooner than the early 1800's. And they were further east, towards Pennsylvania, where they settled after the Revolutionary War. They were German/English French settlers moving west. The other half of the family hails from the south. All English/Welsh/Irish/Scottish blood. They owned plantations. Had slaves, All that evil crap. Probably fought the northern branch of the family during the civil war. It gives me pause to think and remember them (what I know of them- their history, their pictures)
The holiday for us now is all about fun and food! We like to grill- my heritage calls for ribs, pork steak, southern fixins like collards and potato salad. Bill's heritage calls for sausages- he's the cheesehead! We like most things so don't usually cook all the same things twice.
If we picnic we might take a portable grill. Or pack precooked foods. Wine and tourtiere are good for me, but most parks won't let you bring wine in. Sandwiches and cold chicken are okay. With lots of cold sides.
Bill and I don't really camp, but when I was a kid we did and we would fish- back when it was still ok to eat the fish. I remember being delegated to clean whole buckets of fish with my cousin. Disgusting.
We liked the fish though. Several families of relative would usually camp with us, and it was pot luck and fish. The kinds of fish were lake fish- small mouth bass, catfish, that kind of thing. My cousins and I would get our first serious sunburns of the season if we camped at the lake (the dammed Kaskaskia River/Carslisle Reservoir in Southern Illinois). We didn't really fish when we went to Johnson's Shut-Ins. Just campground cooking there.
Would you like to read a bit about Johnson's Shut Ins and the St. Francois Mountains? Just remember when you see the photo of what looks like a dry river bed, it's not. That's where the dam waters took out the forest, going down the mountain like a freight train.
http://www.dnr.mo.gov/geology/docs/gcsummer8.pdf
Other than that the weekend was filled with a cookout and swimming if it was hot enough, which it usually was.
Sometimes we went camping, and if we did that, the cemeteries would be another time.
Other times we would go on day trips to parks, which Missouri has some awesome parks. Did you know? There is a beautiful place called Johnson's Shut Ins where over time the river coming down the mountain wore away softer material and left huge boulders that the water would run through, called shut-ins. There would be weird cavernous holes gouged out by the force of water, and other areas different, so one could wade through ankle deep water, stand on a boulder, and jump straight down into water over their head. I loved it there, but in recent years, a dam on top of Proffitt mountain broke and washed out the entire park, taking huge boulders with it. The park rangers family were killed in their sleep. I don't want to say, but they found them some time later. Trees were scoured from the granite and have left bare rock. The soil washed away with the trees. Had the disaster occurred during summer, hundreds of people would have been killed.
Since that time, they moved the camping area to higher ground, should something similar ever recur. And rebuilt the park, although it will never be the same.
Interesting, however, and why I bring it up is because since that time, during the rebuilding, they discovered some things.
It used to be thought that the Appalachians were the oldest mountains in NA, now wearing down. Now Johnson's is not *really* a mountainous area, not in the sense of the kind of mountains out west and north. It is not even part of the Ozark chain, which is a couple hundred miles away. But it was still *hilly* in spots. But they found out from things that came up from under where the soil used to be and looking at the granite rock that became exposed, that it had once been the highest mountains in NA, and towered over the area during the time the Appalachians were being formed. And now, these are just the roots of the mountains.
This really interests me, as it gave me pause to think that for many Memorial Days, I swam around and touched the roots of mountains that were part of the land perhaps as far back before this continent even looks as it does, or even lies where it does on the planet.
The land has MEMORY, and it gives my holiday new meaning, that out of sadness comes new understanding.
Since that time, when I go places and look at things, like, for example, Hot Springs around NW Arkansas, where many of my forebears lived, the springs were probably once part of a massive volcano, that now sleeps, a caldera dangerous and deceptive to the eye. We see warm inviting spa-like waters, but underneath, the land remembers. Kind of like the horror of realizing what Yellowstone is and its power.
The land remembers, and we must never forget.
SO while my holiday has new meaning, we still do the things we used to do- cookout, picnic, go to parks. I don't really have relatives buried here in Ohio to visit that date any sooner than the early 1800's. And they were further east, towards Pennsylvania, where they settled after the Revolutionary War. They were German/English French settlers moving west. The other half of the family hails from the south. All English/Welsh/Irish/Scottish blood. They owned plantations. Had slaves, All that evil crap. Probably fought the northern branch of the family during the civil war. It gives me pause to think and remember them (what I know of them- their history, their pictures)
The holiday for us now is all about fun and food! We like to grill- my heritage calls for ribs, pork steak, southern fixins like collards and potato salad. Bill's heritage calls for sausages- he's the cheesehead! We like most things so don't usually cook all the same things twice.
If we picnic we might take a portable grill. Or pack precooked foods. Wine and tourtiere are good for me, but most parks won't let you bring wine in. Sandwiches and cold chicken are okay. With lots of cold sides.
Bill and I don't really camp, but when I was a kid we did and we would fish- back when it was still ok to eat the fish. I remember being delegated to clean whole buckets of fish with my cousin. Disgusting.
We liked the fish though. Several families of relative would usually camp with us, and it was pot luck and fish. The kinds of fish were lake fish- small mouth bass, catfish, that kind of thing. My cousins and I would get our first serious sunburns of the season if we camped at the lake (the dammed Kaskaskia River/Carslisle Reservoir in Southern Illinois). We didn't really fish when we went to Johnson's Shut-Ins. Just campground cooking there.Would you like to read a bit about Johnson's Shut Ins and the St. Francois Mountains? Just remember when you see the photo of what looks like a dry river bed, it's not. That's where the dam waters took out the forest, going down the mountain like a freight train.
http://www.dnr.mo.gov/geology/docs/gcsummer8.pdf
Re: Canada/United States Holiday Weekend Event
Derf I was at a Victoria, Victoria day parade many many moons ago! I think I was standing in front of the Empress Hotel or in that area - I was quite young.
Lucky you growing up in Victoria - beautiful city
Sue, Johnson's Shut sounds like a wondrous place - It would be just the place any kid would love and the history of the area is so interesting. I like the thought of standing on the root of a mountain. I hope you are doing a lovely cook out this holiday so we will see some great photos!
Thanks both of you for sharing
Lucky you growing up in Victoria - beautiful city
Sue, Johnson's Shut sounds like a wondrous place - It would be just the place any kid would love and the history of the area is so interesting. I like the thought of standing on the root of a mountain. I hope you are doing a lovely cook out this holiday so we will see some great photos!
Thanks both of you for sharing
Re: Canada/United States Holiday Weekend Event
Great stories all.
Victoria day has always been the official opening day for camping season here in Ontario. All the provincial parks are at full vacancy and that is usually when we spend our first full weekend at the summer camp. This year we have to wait until next weekend as we didn't get to hook up the water as the lines were all still frozen last week when we were there. It has been a very long and cold winter here, but, we have had beautiful weather so far this weekend, lets hope it continues on.....
Victoria day has always been the official opening day for camping season here in Ontario. All the provincial parks are at full vacancy and that is usually when we spend our first full weekend at the summer camp. This year we have to wait until next weekend as we didn't get to hook up the water as the lines were all still frozen last week when we were there. It has been a very long and cold winter here, but, we have had beautiful weather so far this weekend, lets hope it continues on.....