Good morning Canada

Good Morning America sure knows how to make an entrance.

Descending an outdoor staircase yesterday at the Museum of Civilization, amid hundreds of cheering, flag-waving admirers and to the blare of trumpets, ABC's Joan Lunden, Charles Gibson and Peter Jennings enjoyed a welcome usually reserved for royalty or rock stars.

At the bottom, Jennings noted the peculiarity of the scene.

"This is almost un-Canadian. We're usually more restrained," the Ottawa native said to his American co-hosts.

The audience didn't need much cajoling from GMA handlers. They were unabashedly keen and happy to clap on cue.

Some fans were even Americans.

Virginia-native Donna Cermak dragged her family to Ottawa from a vacation in Niagara Falls when she found out GMA was headed here. It paid off -- she was singled out by weatherman Spencer Christian for a one-on-one chat.

"I was hoping for it. It was beautiful. He's so genial," she cooed after her brush with fame.

The two-hour show, which began at 7 a.m., unfolded with military precision.

The audience, crew and stars moved swiftly to set up each shot during commercial and news breaks, or during the many pre-taped segments.

Christian began the show moored in a hot air balloon on the shore of the Ottawa River. Lunden, Jennings and Gibson alternated between park benches and various museum locales. And Lunden spent a segment on an RCMP horse.

For another, Kurt Browning and Elizabeth Manley were nestled into the crowd with Gibson, who grilled the ice skating heroes about our national obsession with ice.

Browning had fun with his role as ambassador-for-a-day.

"They're up here trying to figure out who we are. And little do they know it but there's a bunch of us down there masquerading as Americans already -- Michael J. Fox, Wayne Gretzky," said Browning, surounded by autograph-seeking women after the segment.

After the show, Gibson and Lunden talked with reporters.

"I had several people walk up to me yesterday (here in Ottawa) and say to me 'I'm learning a lot about my own country on your show,' " said Lunden.

And, while the show won't be back any time soon, don't be surprised if you see familiar GMA faces on the streets.

"We see less of where we visit than the viewer does, so we always talk about 'comebackers,' " said Gibson.

"We've already determined that this is a comebacker," Lunden agreed. In fact, she even has a personal invition from the RCMP.