An afternoon ride, and an evening in downtown Toronto

I read about a multicultural festival in a park this afternoon on the other side of town. I thought it would  be a fun way to spend the afternoon! Google maps said it would take 2 hours to get there using public transportation and less than an hour to drive, so I opted to drive.

Unfortunately, when I got to the park there was no festival going on -- just families and friends enjoying the park. I'm not sure if I got the date wrong, or what, but it was a disappointment and a big waste of time!

I drove back to my familiar part of town and headed to the parking lot next to the subway station. Lucky for me, that parking lot doesn't charge for parking on weekends! I bought a 2 trip pass on the subway and rode the subway downtown. I had to transfer from the green to the yellow line.

I followed the signs to the CN Tower and hung out there for awhile, then walked for several blocks in the downtown area. The CN Tower is a landmark on the Toronto skyline. It is 3 times taller than the Seattle space needle. The CN stands for Canadian National, the railroad company that built the tower.

La Tour CN Tower, at the base of the tower, is where you can buy tickets to go up to the tower's observation deck.

Actually, the tower has two observation decks... the main one, and a smaller one higher up. You can buy a ticket for the lower one or both. Another option is to make a reservation for dinner at the restaurant on the lower observation deck. Restaurant guests must spend a minimum of $75 per person ($40 for children ages 4-12).

I didn't go up in the tower tonight. I just wanted to explore the downtown area. There were lots of other people walking around and I felt safe. The Toronto Blue Jays stadium is very close to the CN tower. In the photo below, I am standing between the tower and the stadium.

Marriott worked out a sweet deal with the stadium. The Marriott hotel is actually part of the stadium. The top of the stadium is lit up blue at night. Some of the hotel rooms have windows facing the ball field.  I wonder what this arrangement cost Marriott!

I went inside the Marriott lobby and looked into the restaurant on the main floor, which also has windows looking onto the field, as you can see below.

As I crossed foot bridge into the downtown business area, I saw and heard a man playing some nice music on a bowed string instrument.

The CN Tower is colorfully lit at night. The section of glass floor on the main observation deck is also visible from the ground at night.

Below is a photo of the colorful tower with the Blue Jays stadium in the foreground. The elevator light can be seen moving up and down the tower as the elevator ascends and descends. 

There are lots of trains in the area. Below are a couple of photos I took of the trains around sunset. The high rise buildings are mostly condominiums. The downtown buildings have businesses on the lower floors and condominiums on the upper floors. Many other high rise buildings in Toronto are just condominiums. As someone told me, Toronto is out of space so they have to build upwards.

An area below the CN tower used to be a train roundhouse. Some old engines and cars are still on display, and the roundhouse has been converted into restaurants. (Unlike the roundhouse I saw in Scranton, Pennsylvania, which is now part of a working steam engine museum.)

Below is how the area looked in the daylight and after dark.

The subway system here is quite nice. I rode the subway from near where I have been staying to the Union station downtown and back again today. Transferring between the green line and yellow line was simple. A lighted map inside the cars reports the trip progress, and there is always an audio announcement of the next stop.

I'm spending the night in the Planet Fitness parking lot again tonight. It is convenient and familiar.

Friday in Toronto

Today was pretty uneventful. I slept great last night, so I slept in a little. I got my shower, then wandered around in the nearby Costco. They have USB-c adapters on sale, so I'll probably go back tomorrow and buy one to replace the one I dropped that stopped working.

I spent some time updating my blog using the wifi in the Albion branch of the Toronto Public Library. I'm up to date on my blog now, yeah! The library is really nice. It is big and has a lot of desks and tables for studying -- and most of them have nearby power plugs! Sending thanks to my brother-in-law Kevin for giving me the bluetooth keyboard. It has come in handy this trip!

 

Tay gave me some ideas via email of things to do in Toronto. I thought about going up in the CN tower today, but it's a bit cloudy, so I'll save that for another day.

When I was in the Costco parking lot, a couple of guys gave me tips about how to get around Toronto on the subway system, so I'll do some exploring tomorrow.

That's all for today. I found out that Canada celebrates Labor Day this weekend just like we do in the United States, only they spell it Labour Day! The public libraries here are normally open 7 days a week, but this weekend they'll be closed on Sunday and Monday.

I tried calling around to find a place to sleep, but no luck, so I'm parking by the 24-hr Planet Fitness tonight. It should be fine.

The Border Crossing; Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada; and arriving in Toronto

-- The Border Crossing --

The guard at the canadian border crossing asked me the typical questions... my purpose for visiting Canada, if I had visited Canada before, what I had in the car, if I had any firearms or cannabis, etc. Then she asked me to roll down my back window, and told me I was being flagged for inspection and needed to pull over into a special parking area.

A group of officers asked me to leave everything where it was and get out of the car while they inspected it. They also asked me about firearms before proceeding to inspect my car and the overhead carrier.

One of the officers was really happy to see someone just traveling on a long road trip and seeing the sights. He asked me if I had visited Canada before. When I told him the last time I visited Canada was for a fishing trip, he told me if I had time I should go to Port Dover on Lake Erie, because they have the best perch -- and even have a perch fishing derby.

The officers cleared me, and wished me a good trip. Before proceeding to Toronto, I wanted to look at Niagara Falls from the Canadian side, so I drove into town and found a place to park.

-- Niagara Falls, Ontario --

I enjoyed the natural setting of the Falls on the American side. I found the Canadian side to be much more commercial. To be fair, I didn't spend any time in town by the falls on the American side, so maybe it's not a totally fair comparison. But I don't remember seeing any amusement park rides on the American side.

The Canadian side has a ferris wheel, arcades, zip lines, and lots of tourist shops. I didn't get on any of the rides, but the Canada side definitely has more fun things to do besides look at the falls. You can still get your taste of nature when you walk down by the falls.

The Canadian side has the best view of both sets of falls, because instead of looking at them from the side, you can view them straight on as they cascade towards you from across the river. Just like yesterday, The Canadian falls had the largest cloud of mist.

The Canadian falls could also be viewed from a side view. There was so much mist in the air in this area that it felt like a light rain.

The area around the falls was landscaped with some pretty flowers.  

-- Flashback... before crossing the border --

Quick flashback... before I crossed the bridge from New York into Canada and got inspected, I decided I should do some laundry. I wasn't out of clothes, but I wanted to avoid the whole Canadian coin thing in a coin laundry across the border. I found a laundromat with good reviews and wifi, so I did a load before leaving for Canada.

The machines were clean and a good price. While waiting for my clothes, I did an Internet search to find the safest neighborhoods in Toronto, so I knew where to drive after crossing the border.

By that time, I was hungry. I stopped at Wegman's grocery store and bought a deli sandwich. I had been in the store last night and noticed they had a good deli. Their grilled lemon chicken sandwich was loaded! I took a photo when I was half way through eating it.

On the way to the grocery store, I passed a house whose occupants are obviously super democrats, based on the flags flying in their front yard! Their flags were a stark contrast to all the Trump signs I saw in rural Pennsylvania.

Even though I haven't been paying much attention to political news lately, it will be good to escape to Canada for a few days.

-- The Drive to Toronto --

The drive to Toronto was uneventful. Because I spent so much time wantering around Niagara Falls earlier today, I arrived in Toronto just before dark. My "safe neighborhood" was the town of Etobicoke. The manager of the Walmart allowed me to park overnight in their parking lot for one night, tonight, even though the sign says no parking is allowed betwen 11 pm and 7 am.

Niagara Falls, NY, and the "Maid of the Mist" boat

The highlight of the day today was taking the Maid of the Mist ride on the niagara river past the American Falls, to the wet and misty "horeshshoe" Canadian Falls, and back again.

It was a great experience! When I boarded the boat, I asked a worker if there was abest place to stand. She told me the best place was the front of the boat, left side, on the lower deck. She said the boat passes by the American Falls on the left, first, so that is the best view, and the lower deck is best because you can duck under the overhang if it gets too wet! So that is where I stood.

After the boat ride, I walked up to a place called the crows nest, where I could get close to the mist spraying off the American Falls.

Then I rode the elevator up to the observation deck, where I got an American-side overview of both falls. It was a popular spot for selfies!

The drive through Pennsylvania this morning to get to the falls took me mostly along smaller highways instead of the Interstate, which was nice. I passed through the cities of Erie and Buffalo along the way.

When I got to Niagara Falls, I drove straight to the state park, and pulled off into a small parking lot by the rapids, above the falls. A paved trail led along the river from the rapids to goat island and the falls.  I didn't realize how lucky I was to pull off there, because that parking lot was free, and the parking closer to the falls was expensive!

The water was turbulent above the falls.

I crossed the foot bridge to goat island, where I got a good view of both the Canadian and American falls. This was all before I took the Maid of the Mist boat ride.

When I was done at the falls, it was time to find a place to sleep for the night. On the way, I saw this colorful house. I'm not sure if the sign had anything to do with the decoration theme, or if it was just a biblical side message. (The neighborhood must not have an HOA! 😂 )

I had a hard time finding anywhere in town that allowed overnight parking, but thankfully the man who answered the phone at the Tractor Supply store said I could park in their lot.