Around 15°C in the morning with somewhere around 18°C in the afternoon. We had a georgous fall day on September 24, 2015. Perfect to go for a flight. It could hardly be better for that time of year. Calm winds, no turbulence and a free day. I was feeling truly blessed.

It is on this blessed day that I visited for the first time the town of Westport, Rideau Lakes, Ontario (CRL2).

It is a grass and gravel runway less than an hour south-west of Ottawa. The small airport is interesting to land on with its 3118 x 60 turf and gravel’, minus 900′ for runway 07 as the threshold has been displaced. It is surrounded by trees at 140′ of threshold 07 at approximatively 50′ heigh (CFS). Being sharp on your short field techniques will get you safely in and out.

The town of Westport is located a nice 10 minutes walk from the Rideau Lakes airpark. It is bordering the lake and is one of the most charming places I have visited in a long time. Downtown has an authentic cachet with the well maintained country houses, and offers all a tourist is looking for in rural areas: bed & breakfast, restaurants, clothes & gifts shops, and if you are religious, 7 churches.

Walking through town, we succeeded in our Church Rally to find all 7! As well as finding the Tangled Garden Café where we enjoyed a delicious lunch. A charming little place with good food at a reasonnable price. That tops nicely an aviator’s perfect day.

If you don’t feel like taking the walk downtown, a full board located by the airpark runway invites you to call one of the local businesses for a friendly pickup.

I am looking forward to visit Westport again, maybe as the pilot in command with my own airplane next time. Meanwhile, here are a few pictures to remember it by.

If you have visited other such charming places, please share them below, in the comments.

Note: the generous pilot who invited me is not confortable with cameras. I respect that. Next time, I will make sure to set up my GoPro, and take lots more pictures. This post might be updated later on. Stay tuned.