Car Modern 2011

I wanted to remember what the water looked like when it wasn't full of ice: The cute little tugboat the M.R. Kane rests on Lake Ontario at Queens Quay during summer. I was surprised to know there is a Tugboat Festival called Tugfest (no not a rub and tug fest) that happens annually in Georgian Bay, Lake Huron. Across the harbour is the Cherry Street lift bridge all green and strong metal.

This happy fun time annual festival takes place at Harbourfront Centre down at Queens Quay. The Day of the Dead Festival just begs the question - what is this thing all about? Like our Remembrance Day, this Spanish festival seeks to honour and remember departed friends and family members.
There are no zombies in this celebration - just plenty of skulls and skeletons. A big part of the event is alters with gifts and offerings to the loved ones that have passed on. There was Mexican food, songs and dance available at the Centre and the event is free.

There were some actors promoting the upcoming Legend of the Guardians movie down at Queens Quay. The movie is about owls and battles and other exciting stuff and I am not sure if they actually have human soldiers in the film. The 3D movie is coming out September 24th. They were in an alcove trying to avoid the rain that never wanted to stop.

Lake Ontario beckons when the weather heats up around the Big Smoke. Toronto's new sandy park (or urban beach) was recently opened right beside Redpath Sugar at the base of Lower Jarvis Street. In honour of the sweet, smelly plant next door they have called the park Sugar Beach. It is very similar to the HTO Beach out west along Queens Quay with pink umbrellas in place of the yellow ones at HTO and the addition of big, granite, candy-striped rocks. Sugar Beach also has comfortable Muskoka chairs where you can watch the boats go by - just remember no swimming is allowed.

Further to the east Cherry Beach was the temporary set for the YTV television show The Next Star. Camera crews were set up as four musicians blasted out some tunes. I believe it was Brandon from Stoney Creek who was the lead singer. The Cherry Beach Baywatch lifeguards were on hand to help keep swimmers safe while the filming was going on.

At Lakeshore Blvd and Cherry Beach I found a rock that was drawn up to be Stewie from Family Guy.

I have looked for the new public automated pay toilet (costs 25 cents to use) built at Queens Quay but I never actually noticed where it was. This time I looked it up on the internet and armed with the knowledge that it was just south of Rogers Centre at the northwest corner of Queens Quay and Rees Street I managed to find the elusive $400,000 plumbing facilities. This thing really is a thing of beauty and you can even fit your bicycle inside which comes in handy, especially if you want to ride around after you use the facilities. when you leave (or after 20 minutes when the door opens, ready or not) the bathroom automatically cleans itself.

At the Exhibition grounds preperations are underway for the upcoming Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) or as it is commonly known, the EX which runs from August 20th to September 6th, 2010. The CNE Casino is already open ahead of the fair but some of the game booths are now in place. You can also check out the Horse show for free which is running from August 3 to the 19th (noon to 3pm) and until September 6th as part of the paid admission CNE.

I came upon a bunch of kayakers sitting on the dock of the bay, just sitting, waiting for the water to rise I guess. No, I am sure they were just getting used to how to sit and what to do before they got into the water. Watching kayaks roll during white water competitions suggests that practicing before you have to get wet is a great idea.

The location was on Queens Quay at the Harbourfront Canoe and Kayak Centre. You can even learn to paddleboard at their school.

When you can't get enough sand in those out of the way places you can always bring your thong over to HTO Park's Urban Beach and lie under some umbrellas.

You can find more pictures of the 2009 event on my blog entry here. And here is information on the upcoming 2010 event.