Love Park

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address:  96 Queens Quay W
Date:  July 2023
Website:  www.waterfrontoronto.ca

  Love Park in Toronto opened in June 2023.  The park is focused around a large tree in a heart shaped pond.  It is tucked into the corner of business towers and condos at Queens Quay West and York Street.

    The park was built in an area that used to be an off ramp for the Gardiner Expressway.  For years the concrete pillars were all that remained of this ramp.

 

    The pond in the middle of the park is shaped like a heart except it has no pointy edges.  The heart in the park is best appreciated from above.  We hope one day to find ourselves high enough up in one of the buildings that surround the park in order to look down at the heart.

     The red glass mosaic that curves around the edge of the pond is being called a "love seat" by the city.  It will give 165 meters of seating for people to enjoy the park.  The water in the pond is meant to be natural and uses no chlorine of other chemicals to filter the water.  When the pond first opened, people were concerned about the bright green water. 

     One feature of the park that may go unnoticed by some, is that there are nine bronze cast animal sculptures hidden around the grounds.  Don't worry, we won't spoil your fun and tell you exactly where each creature is hiding.  We have included photos of the animals below so you know what you are looking for.

 

  

  A sculpture of a beaver sits on its own private island.

 

  A fox sculpture can be found next to one of the benches.

   A rabbit sculpture also likes to hang out near the benches.  It had better watch out for Mr. Fox.

    A polar bear sculpture is supposedly based on Juno the polar bear from the Toronto Zoo.

      A chipmunk sculpture is busy filling its cheeks with golden hearts.

    A raccoon sculpture wanders the park.

    Most Toronto residents should be familiar with the photo above.  A raccoon prowling around looking for trouble in the middle of the night. 

 

    A blue jay sculpture sits up in a trellis.  There are quite a few Blue Jay fans in Toronto.

    Another bird sculpture of an owl sits perched looking over the square.

    The final sculpture is a woodpecker hunting for a meal in the concrete jungle.

      The sun shines through the buildings and falls on the big tree in the middle of the pond.  We suggest you also spend a little time enjoying what Love Park has to offer.  Love Toronto.  Love animals.  Love Park.

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Map of Our World
Love Park

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Post # 327

Lake George

 

Location: Lake George, New York, USA
Address:  2 Canada Street
Date:  September 2010
Website:  tikiresort.com

  Lake George is located in the northern part of New York state. It is located beside the Adirondack Mountains. The area is a popular tourist destination to enjoy the mountains and steamboat rides on the lake. After falling in love with Maui, Hawaii, we visited Lake George for the Polynesian dinner show. If you can't make it to Hawaii then you might want to head to Lake George in New York state and visit the Tiki Resort.

   We enjoyed a dinner, a few drinks and the show. It featured Hawaiian dancers and drummers all the way from Schenectady.  One of us even got to participate. A few lucky dancers were chosen to shake their stuff based on the fruit shouted out by the band. "Coconut" to the right, "Pineapple" to the left and "Papaya" to the rear. By the time we were done we had danced up a fruit salad.

     We were only in Lake George for one night to catch the Tiki show. The next morning we decided to see what else was going on in town before heading to New York City. As we approached the waterfront this duck quacked out to us.

 

 

  Across the water at the pier we could see the Mohican and Minnie Ha Ha steamboats getting ready to take tourists out for a relaxing trip around the lake. We hear that in the fall, the colours are lovely.

    As we headed out of Lake George, we were in for one last treat. We noticed a giant Uncle Sam in a parking lot. We pulled over and went to check him out. This Uncle Sam is 38 feet tall. He was designed for an Ohio restaurant called fittingly, Uncle Sam's. He then stood outside of the state fairgrounds in Danbury, Connecticut until coming to Lake George to stand in the parking lot of the Magic Forest amusement park.

  Behind Uncle Sam we noticed someone else very special. It was Santa Claus! What more could you ask for in a town? A Tiki Resort and Santa are two of our favourite things.

  Sadly, Uncle Sam has returned once again to Danbury and Santa has disappeared. The Tiki Resort is still doing shows so that is more than enough reason to spend a day in Lake George.  Coconut!!

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Map of Our World
Tiki Resort , Minnie Ha Ha

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Post # 323

Gullfoss

Location: Iceland
Date: Sept 2015
Website: visiticeland.com

  The landscape of Iceland is unlike any other place in the world.  It is often referred to as the land of fire and ice. It has been formed by the power of nature. Volcanoes, glaciers and waterfalls have shaped it into what it is today. We visited one waterfall that is unlike any other in the world.

  Gullfoss translates to mean the Golden Waterfall. We are uncertain how it came to be named, but it is part of what tourists call the Golden Circle.  The Golden Circle of Iceland includes the geysirs of Haukadalur, Thingvellir National Park and the Gullfoss waterfall.

  The Olfusa river flows down to Gullfoss.  The water first flows over an 11 metre drop.

    The water then takes a turn and goes for another 21 metre drop into a canyon.

  Brave and properly dressed tourists can head along a pathway into the mist of Gullfoss to get an even closer look.

    Tourists can go right up to the edge of the falls and watch the water plummet into the earth. 

  The walls of the canyon where the Gullfoss water flows stand even taller than the falls themselves..

 

  Somewhere down under that cliff the river continues to flow.  So we have been told.

  Iceland in the winter is a dark cold place.  Days may often only have about 4 hours of daylight.  The band Echo & The Bunnymen chose to film the video for their song "The Cutter" at Gullfoss in the winter. The cover of their album Porcupine features the band in front of the falls.

   The Gullfoss waterfall left us amazed as to its beauty and shape and the mystery of where all that water goes.  Icleand never disappoints.  As we looked around from the road near Gullfoss we could see the Langjokul Glacier in the distance.  More adventure awaits.

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Map of Our World 

Gullfoss Waterfall

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Post # 322

Tobermory Ferries

 

Location: Tobermory, Ontario, Canada
Address:  8 Eliza St
Date:  September 2022
Website:  www.ontarioferries.com

  There have been ferries travelling between Tobermory and South Baymouth, Ontario for over 100 years.  Tobermory is at the top of the Bruce Penninsula and sits between Lake Huron and Georgian Bay.  If you wish to travel further from here you will have to either take a boat or else head back and go the long way around.  On a trip from Sault Ste Marie, Ontario we travelled south by ferry to Tobermory.

   The ferry service started in the 1920s with the SS Hibou.  Later came the MS Normac which could hold up to 16 cars.  There were a couple of other ships before the SS Norisle came along in 1946.  You can still find the Norisle docked at Burns Wharf in Manitowaning on Manitoulin Island.

     The Norisle was capable of holding up to 46 cars as it made its journey from Manitoulin Island to Tobermory and back again.  In 1958 the Normac returned to help share the work load. When the Normac retired, the MS Norgoma joined the Norisle in making the 46 km voyage.

     In 1974 the Chi-Cheemaun arrived and replaced both the Norisle and the Norgoma.  The Chi-Cheemaun can hold 143 vehicles and over 600 passengers and it is still running to this day. 

 

   The Chi-Cheemaun can also hold large transport trucks like the truck full of livestock in the photo above.  You can get an idea of the size of the Chi-Cheemaun as it prepares to dock.

  Like the Norisle and Norgoma that came before it, the Chi-Cheemaun was built in Collingwood, Ontario.

     The beautiful indigenous art, like the turtle pictured above, gives the Chi-Cheemaun a bright colourful look. 

    The sides of the ship also feature birds and fish. 

    In South Baymouth we entered the ship through the stern.  We first had to wait for the vehicles that had arrived from Tobermory to leave from the same opening at the back of the ship.

    Upon arrival in Tobermory, the bow of the ship flips up to allow the vehicles to exit and a new group to enter.  If you see the Chi-Cheemaun in the harbour with its front flipped up you have not yet missed your ferry, but you better hurry.

    It was a beautiful, clear day when our ferry left South Baymouth to head south to Tobermory.

 

    The Ontario flag at the front of the ship blew in the breeze as we started our one hour and 45 minute journey.

    The Chi-Cheemaun passses by the famous Flowerpot Island.  The flowerpot formations made from the rocks are shown in the mural above. Unfortunately as the Chi-Cheemaun passes, these rocks are on the other side of the island.

    The ferry does pass Cove Island and you can get a good view of its lighthouse.

    At some points during the journey you can see nothing but water as you look from the deck of the Chi-Cheemaun.

 

   Before we knew it, the time came for us to head back down to our vehicles and get ready to drive through the Chi-Cheemaun and out into the town of Tobermory.  Just like the artwork that graces the sides of the ship, a voyage on the Chi-Cheemaun will brighten your day.

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Map of Our World
Chi-Cheemaun Ferry
SS Norisle

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Post # 317