New Experiences – The Levees

Now, I realize right off the top that this post has little to nothing to do with roadschooling or travelling, but I think we can make some tenuous connections based on the fact that it relates to new experiences, and also includes a war museum. And a person might want to take their kids to visit this war museum on a different occasion, one that does not include alcolholic beverages, obviously. And as so often happened while we were travelling, this new experience has inspired me to write. So, relevant or not, here goes!

According to Wikipedia, the definition of a New Year’s Day Levee is this: The levée is a New Year’s Day social event hosted by the Governor General of Canada, the lieutenant governors, military establishments, municipalities and other institutions.
I had never actually been to one until this year, and I really didn’t know what it was all about, except that people seemed to get all dressed up and drink a lot, neither of which really appeal to me, if I’m honest. But this year, I went. And what a strange and surreal experience it was. The first establishment we entered, I was surprised that there was a line-up of name-tagged “officials” we were to shake hands with on the way in – very much like a wake, really. Except more cheerful. And obviously the “Sorry for your loss” greeting was replaced by “Happy New Year”. After the line-up, there was a table stacked with cookies and squares and other little treats, followed by another table well-stocked with non-alcoholic punch, and very alcoholic “moose milk”. Delish. And this is about 10:30 am – not my usual moose-milk-and-square-eating time, but hey, who’s complaining?
Then, it’s off to the Armouries. Now this one was a hoot. I laughed inside my head the whole hour we were there, because where else could a person enter a large hall, shake hands with military officers on the way in, be served seafood chowder by camouflage-clad soldiers, and drink rum and coke, while listening to Eighties classic hits (like Thrilller!?!) played by a live military band? Oh, and also peruse war memorabilia in the museum while still sipping on the afore-mentioned rum and coke? Bizarre.