Toronto Islands

One afternoon we hopped on the ferry and made the short ride over to the Toronto Islands, which sit out in Lake Ontario near downtown. The islands are peaceful, with beaches and parkland. It was a nice change of pace after being in the traffic and crowds in Toronto. It also felt about ten degrees cooler there too, which was a huge bonus.

Some people do live on the islands, which seems like it would be an amazing place to live. I imagine the ferry rides might be a little chilly in the winter though. But the views are probably well worth it.





We went by one beach and watched sailboats move across the lake, and then went to get some drinks at a little café nearby. After that we headed to this beach which had a great view of the Toronto skyline (there is a clothing-optional beach on the Islands, but this wasn’t it. I didn’t visit that particular beach – you’re welcome, Toronto!). On the other side of the islands there is a small but fairly busy airport, so it was a little strange to see airplanes flying low as they went in to land.



The sun was starting to set, and it slipped right behind the CN Tower.



And a wider view of downtown, with some small waves lazily hitting the beach.



It turned out to be a pretty good sunset too.



One good thing about being out there at dusk was that there didn't seem to be many mosquitoes out. If I was taking pictures back home I would have been devoured by bugs.



It was starting to get late so we got on the ferry and headed back. Luckily the ferry also provides some great views of the skyline as it heads back.





And one last shot, looking towards the CN Tower.



This is the last of the shots from the Toronto trip, thanks for reading this far! It was a fun little vacation, although I admit that I'm still a bit confused about poutine.

Toronto

After Niagara, we spent a few days exploring the city of Toronto. With a population of about 2.7 million, Toronto is the largest city in Canada. It’s also described as being one of the most multi-cultural cities in the world. We were staying downtown, just off of the always busy Yonge Street, but we did manage to visit a few other neighborhoods in the city. It was a fun trip, but honestly it was just refreshing to take a little break from US politics and spend a few days in a country that is much saner at the moment.

One of the first places we visited in downtown Toronto was the Allen Lambert Galleria, which is descrbed as the “crystal cathedral of commerce.” It’s a large shopping center with a parabolic arched roof that was designed by the architect Santiago Calatrava (who also designed the new train station by the World Trade Center in New York). I liked how the design incorporated some historic buildings.



The shopping center felt Canadian – it had a Tim Horton’s, a Roots store, and it was right next to the Hockey Hall of Fame.



Another stop was the Distillery District, which as the name suggests was once the home of the largest distillery in the world. The first whiskey distillery opened here in 1832, and it soon grew large enough to produce over two million gallons of whiskey per year (mostly to the US during Prohibition, thanks Canada!). The Distillery District is now home to 13 acres of historic buildings, including the largest collection of Victorian-era industrial architecture in North America.



The buildings in the district were renovated and repurposed, and are now home to all sorts of eclectic shops, boutiques, galleries and artist's spaces. There is a good microbrewery there, and even a Mexican restaurant that was amazing (one of the best dishes I’ve ever had at a Mexican restaurant was at this place in Canada. The cheese dip, however, was fairly lackluster).





Later on we visited the Harbourfront area and went to a place for drinks, which got really busy with people streaming in after the Toronto Blue Jays game. But it was by this nice view looking towards the harbor and the CN Tower.



Another day, we went and walked around the Old Town. One of the definite highlights was this large two-tier fountain in Berczy Park that features 27 life size sculptures of dogs (and one cat). I’m sure our two pups back home would have appreciated it.





The fountain and park are surrounded by a row of neat old buildings…



The park is also right by the Gooderham Building - the Flatiron Building of Toronto. The Gooderham was built in 1882, and is one of the iconic buildings in the Old Town area.





The modern buildings of the Financial District tower over the Gooderham and the other old buildings along Front Street. There is a pretty eclectic mix of architecture here.



From there we wandered over to the Cathedral Church of St. James, which opened in 1853. The cathedral’s tower and spire were not completed until 1874, making it the tallest structure in Toronto and also Canada. It held that distinction for 25 years. And while there are much taller buildings in Toronto now, the cathedral still boasts the tallest church spire in Canada, and it's among the tallest church spires in North America.



And a view of the interior, where the choir was practicing.



And some stained glass inside the church.



We headed back out and walked out of the Old Town, and then headed past the glass towers of the newer downtown.



This is the view of the Dominion Public Building, which was completed in 1935. Towering above it is the 58 story L Tower, which was built in 2015.



It was starting to get late in the afternoon, and the sun was reflecting off of the glass towers and bouncing back onto the other buildings nearby. I think the older building here is the Royal York Hotel.





Next we headed across the street to Union Station, which is the largest train station in Canada. The station sees more than 250,000 people a day, many of whom are passing through on Toronto's inter-city rail service.





The exterior of the station is dominated by 22 Roman Tuscan columns, which are each 40 feet tall and weigh 75 tons.



Inside the station is the massive Great Hall and Ticket Lobby, which runs 250 feet long and 88 feet high. Carved just below the cornice are the names of Canadian destinations that were serviced by the station when it was built, stretching across the country. Since this happened in the days before spellcheck, the people who carved the names of the cities accidentally misspelled one - Sault Ste. Marie.



On a different day, we did more walking through downtown Toronto. At one point we passed by the old Toronto Stock Exchange Building, which was built in 1937. The stock exchange has since moved into a more modern location, and the old building is now home to the Design Exchange, which promotes arts and designs by Canadians. But it is interesting how the modern skyscraper was built up and around the old building, like a Tetris piece sliding into place.



It started to rain on us as we walked closer to the CN Tower.



Although we didn't go to the top, we did walk by the base of the Tower. The CN Tower opened in 1976 and stands 1,815 feet tall. It held the record as the world's tallest structure and the world's tallest tower for a few decades. It is now the ninth-tallest structure in the world, and it still holds the rank of the tallest free-standing structure in the Western Hemisphere.



And while we didn't make it to the top of the CN Tower, we did make the most of our visit to the area by visiting the Steam Whistle Brewery. The brewery makes just one beer, but it is a pretty good beer. We went to grab a pint, but it was crowded and there were no tables open. One table only had one guy sitting at it, and he was kind enough to invite us over and offered to share the table with our group. We got to talking to him - he was visiting Toronto from Mexico. He told us his story, which including him flying in to meet some friends here. But those friends were too caught up watching the Mexico-Germany World Cup game that they managed to forget to pick him up at airport. Since Mexico won that game, he didn't seem too bothered.

But while we were talking he went to drink his beer and got choked, and then managed to spit a mouth-full of beer out on everyone at the table (which was like one of those spit-takes that only happen in TV shows and movies). He felt really bad about it.

The brewery sits just below the CN Tower in the old roundhouse that was once used by the Canadian Pacific Railway. The building is also home to the Toronto Railway Museum, and there are several old trains sitting out on display.





And one last shot, which I liked since it looked like the CN Tower was shooting out of one of the train cars.



I'm still working on the pictures from the trip, including shots from the Toronto Islands. That visit was one of the highlights of our trip.

Niagara Falls

I guess I just don’t get out that much, since traveling still seems so bizarre. We woke up very early in the morning in Memphis and headed to the airport to fly to New York. We hung out for a few hours in LaGuardia, and were then deposited in Canada. It’s a strange feeling to wake up in one time zone and then put your feet down in a different country a few hours later. But it was a good trip – we all traveled to meet some friends from England who were also visiting Canada.

On our first full day in Toronto we ended up driving right out of the city and headed to Niagara Falls. We rented a minivan, since it seemed like the best way to transport all six of us. So after some shenanigans with the rental car agency, we made it past the traffic jams in Toronto and made the relatively short drive south to Niagara.

We passed through the touristy town of Niagara Falls, which was reminiscent of Pigeon Forge with its string of tacky stores and kitschy attractions (although we were tempted to stop at the wizard themed mini golf course). But you immediately forget all that once you get close to the falls. As soon as you approach, you can hear the loud thundering roar of the water. The spray and mist kicked up by the falls hangs above the river like a fog. It’s a pretty amazing view.



Niagara Falls aren’t the tallest waterfalls in the world, but they are among the most powerful. About six million cubic feet of water goes over Niagara Falls every minute.



There are actually three waterfalls here, the largest and most famous is Horseshoe Falls which sits entirely on the Canadian side of the border. Horseshoe Falls are 167 feet high, but stretch for 2,600 feet.



It’s hard to grasp how big the falls are. People on the opposite side of the gorge look like tiny ants (you can only tell there are people there when they’re wearing bright ponchos). Sightseeing boats below the falls look like bath toys floating in the water.



Just downstream is the American Falls, so named because the falls are located across the border in the US. The American Falls are smaller than Horseshoe Falls, stretching 1,060 feet across. It is also shorter thanks to the pile of boulders that have accumulated at the base of the falls.





Next we went on one of the sightseeing boat tours, which departs after they hand you a stylish bright red poncho. The tour cruises up the choppy waters of the river, right by the waterfalls. This was the view of the American Falls and the third waterfall, Bridal Veil Falls. Bridal Veil is the small waterfall that flows just to the side of the American Falls.



And a close-up view of the boulder pile at the base of the American Falls:



Just across the river is a large abandoned stone building, which is the old Ontario Power Company's generating station which was built in 1905.



And the view from our sightseeing boat heading towards Horseshoe Falls. This is one of the most popular things to do for visitors at Niagara Falls, and there have been boat tours to the falls dating all the way back to 1846.



The tour gives a pretty spectacular view of the falls, and I tried to get a few shots before hiding the camera under the poncho so it wouldn't get too soaked by the mist.





The boat eventually headed back, passing back by the American Falls again. The boat had a recording of a tour guide who pointed out that several people have gone over Horseshoe Falls and have survived the plunge. But not surprisingly, no one has ever tried to take a barrel over the American Falls.



And the view again from the edge of the gorge, looking back at all of the waterfalls.



And a few more shots from the edge of Horseshoe Falls. If you look closely, in the rapids above the waterfall there is a little dark square sitting in the water. That's actually a barge that broke loose and almost ending up going over the falls way back in 1918. The two crew members managed to ground the boat in the rocks above the falls and were rescued, and the boat has remained there ever since.



And one last shot from Niagara Falls, with part of the crowd of people perched on the edge overlooking the falls.



After that we headed back towards Toronto but made a detour to visit a few wineries around the town of Niagara-On-The-Lake. We stopped at one that was owned by Dan Aykroyd and another one owned by Wayne Gretzky. Unfortunately we didn’t see any of the owners there, but we did get plenty of samples of wine.

We needed to return the rental car by 7:00, so we drove off with what we assumed would be plenty of time. But we soon caught up with the traffic jams in Toronto, which slowed our progress to a crawl. With only about 30 minutes to spare, we exited the freeway and tried to take what seemed like a promising short cut to downtown. I had Google Maps going, which said that we would arrive at the rental car agency with just minutes to spare. We would just barely make it, as long as traffic wasn’t that bad.

Well Toronto had other ideas. We were less than a mile from the rental car place when the road we were trying to take was blocked off for a huge street festival. We tried to detour around it, including barely making it through an alley that was probably about the size of the mini-van. But it wasn’t meant to be. We missed the drop-off time. But we just parked and got pizza instead, so it wasn’t all that bad.

Memphis

Last week we took a quick vacation and headed up to Canada to spend a few days with some friends. We managed to score a great deal on the plane tickets to Toronto, but we would have to fly out of Memphis. Which seemed like a good deal, the cost was about half of what it would have been to fly out of Little Rock, and we got to start the trip out with a visit to Beale Street.

We drove to Memphis and went downtown for dinner and then walked along Beale Street. It was a Wednesday night but the street was absolutely packed with people and motorcycles. There must have been a bike convention or gathering going on, since they had pretty much taken over the street. I had to zoom in a bit while taking pictures - just below this show there were hundreds of bikes and thousands of bikers in leather crowding the street.



We walked by the famous Peabody Hotel and went inside to take a look. The hotel opened in 1925 and is one of the iconic places in downtown Memphis. This is the view of the lobby (we didn't stay here, we were at a place close to the airport that was nowhere near this fancy).



And one last shot from downtown Memphis. We didn't linger too long here, we had to wake up very early the next morning for our flight. But this is a view looking towards the Peabody and also to Huey's (the best burger place in Memphis, by far).