St. Lawrence Market & The Distillary District

 Today we start our adventure at The St. Lawrence Market.  If you plan on going, do not go on a Monday as it's not open.  The best and most crowded day is Saturday when the full market is open and the farmer's market next door is also open.  Here you will find every kind of food you can imagine.  We saw all different kinds of meat, fish, cheese, fruits and vegetables.  They even have this great housewares store there too.  There are three levels of shopping. 

 Here are two part of a cool mural in the seating area of the food
court.






We took about a ten minute walk down the street to the Distillery District.  I love old buildings that have been preserved.  It's a great way for people to learn what when on in the olden times.

 Here are the old barrels that they made the alcohol in.  You can see how they were stacked up and in the photo above you can see down the long hallway above just how many they had stacked.

 Here is one of the old trucks that use to haul the barrels.

 Here you can see the Love Locks wall.  All sorts of people have locked their locks and signed their names on the locks.  It was really pretty.

 All in all it was a really fun place to walk around.  If you come to explore the various galleries, shops, restaurants and coffee houses make sure to wear comfortable walking shoes.  The old stone paths are unforgiving.  As you can see, it's a great place to take photos.

Port Perry

 Welcome to Port Perry.  This was our adventure today.  It was a beautiful old town with a rich history.  We walked down to the harbour and found out that you can rent all kinds of boats.  We also walked into all sorts of little shops.  We ate lunch at this great fish and chip shop called Captain George's Fish and Chips.  They had the best fish and chips I have ever tasted.  Very light and crispy and not greasy at all.  YUM!!!

Collingwood, Bue Mountain & Wasaga Beach

 Almost as soon as we got to Collingwood we headed off to Northwinds Beach for some kayaking.  We had a wonderful time and the water was very calm and clean.  The only problem was that it was very windy.  A great big gust of wind came and my hat went flying into the lake where it proceeded to sink.  I tried my best to get the kayak turned around and rescue the hat before it sank.  Unfortunately it didn't make it in time and now my hat is at the bottom of the lake.  Oh well!

The next day we went exploring at Blue Mountain Village.  They have many little shops and restaurants and adventure activities.  Neal was insisting that he wanted to ride the roller coaster.  Go right ahead is what I said.  He had the best time.  It takes you up the mountain and through the trees and then back down.  He had the best time.

Then we played one of the most challenging mini-golf courses we have ever played.  This course is exactly like a regular course except that the distance between holes is on a smaller scale.  We had a lot of fun here even though it was cold that day after a really bad thunder storm the night before.

Since it was Elvis Fest when we went up to Collingwood, and up to this point we hadn't seen a single Elvis look-a-like we decided to have an Elvis cookie.  YUM!!!  They were so tasty and the money went to the Hospital For Sick Kids charity.  After our snack we did end up seeing two Elvis impersonators, one in Walmart (where else) and driving by in a car.  It was too funny!!!

On our way home, we stopped into Wasaga Beach.  It was too cold for swimming in the lake, but we visited Skull Island for a round of mini-golf.  The fellow on the raft is Bart.  He likes to lounge around keeping people out of the water between holes.

All in all we had a great time on our short little vacation.  If you are ever in Wasaga Beach stop by and play a game of mini-golf.  You will have a lot of fun.  Should you get a hole in one on the last hole, you will win a free game.  Good luck!

Trip to Unionville

Hi everyone, Debbie's husband Neal speaking to you here today.  I am guest-blogging for Debbie. I appreciate the opportunity to do so.

Today we ventured out to picturesque Unionville, Ontario.  This small town is nestled just outside of Markham, Ontario.  Although rain showers were in the weather forecast for the day, we were still able to enjoy ourselves and provide some pictures. 

We both highly encourage you to visit Unionville.  It features little mom and pop stores, great restaurants and some smaller places that offer up ice cream, tea, coffee and pastries.  It offers some wonderful landscapes to look at, walk through, and take some nice photos.     

Today, there was also a farmer's market where we were able to buy some nuts and some fresh peas.  There were samples of tea, nuts, and snow peas.  It was great they had that today.

So come on by this nice little town and walk around.  Spend some time there and you'll definitely be coming back for more.

Chocolate Walking Tour

 Today we went on a chocolate walking tour with Muddy York Walking Tours.  Our wonderful guide was Richard Fiennes-Clinton.  We had a walk through Yorkville and learned a little history of  the area and had a few treats.  Richard took us to an amazing cupcake shop that sold the most amazing cupcakes.  I had a carrot cake cupcake that was out of this world.

 Here is Richard with Neal and I in the rain.

 Here we found a fire happening right next to the fire station.  You just never know what you will find downtown.

If you are interested in going on a walking tour and learning a little of Toronto's history, look up Muddy York Walking Tours online.  Their web address is:  www.muddyyorktours.com or give them a call at:  (416) 487-8017.  There are lots of different tours to choose from.

Edwards Gardens

Yesterday I went to Edwards Gardens (Toronto Botanical Garden) with my parents.  I've been visiting the gardens for many years.  As kids, my brother and I use to run along the various paths and trails exploring.  I remember crossing a bridge and watching the water cascade over a large paddle wheel.  We went back today and it just was lacking something.  There were still beautiful paths and trails.  The bridges were still there as was the paddle wheel, all be it a lot smaller than I remember.  There was still a lot of damage from the winter ice storm that hasn't been cleaned up yet.  I'm not sure what they are waiting for.  There weren't as many weird and wonderful flowers to look at either.  It almost seemed like the magic was gone.

I liked this the best.  The city skyline were all different kinds of flowers and grass.  The Toronto was a low laying plant.  It just looks really nice.

Wychwood Barns - How A Community Repurposed An Old Streetcar Barn

 For our adventure today Neal and I visited the Wychwood Barns.  Way back when they use to be where they parked the streetcars but now it's no longer in use for this purpose.

They totally renovated it inside to make artist studios and places for kids to play music and do art.  There is also a great playground and water feature park as well.  The kids were having a great time on this hot and sunny day.

 Here you can sort of see the old structure here.  They've merged the old with the new.

 If you go outside they have amazing community gardens that has all sorts of flowers and vegetables growing.  Each group of people seem to have a plot of land that they can grow whatever they want.

I really loved these flowers.  The colours are just so vibrant!

How We Celebrated Canada Day 2014

 Happy Canada Day 2014

What does one do on Canada Day - Canada's 147th birthday?  Neal and I went to visit the Evergreen Brickworks.  Here's a link to the Brickworks for some historical information: http://www.evergreen.ca/news-media/media-kit/backgrounder-evergreen-brick-works/

Neal and I are standing in front of what was the ovens where they baked the bricks.    

 Here I'm giving you he rainy day salute!  We've had some really nasty rain storms recently and the Brickworks suffered some very bad flooding.  The cleanup effort is underway but the children's area is hardest hit.

 Here is a really cool art installation that has live plants growing in it.

 In the pond we saw huge turtles, tiny fish and some bull frogs were signing up a storm.  Or trying to tell us that a storm was coming. 

 How much more Canadian can you get. dressed in our finest Canada Day shirts sitting on cottage chairs?  Ok we couldn't actually sit on the chairs because they were too wet.

Thanks to our friends for the sparklers!  We had so much fun just like the kids.  After we walked to the park to watch the fireworks.  It was a beautiful night.