Toronto, ON — INDEPENDENCE CHRONICLES

Ok…I was thinking that the New York Harbor was busy. Well let me make note that the Toronto harbor is definitely a runner-up for winning the award for busiest harbor. We pull into the harbor after a nice cruise on Lake Ontario (56NM) to find tall ship cruises, water taxi’s, ferry’s, and small pleasure crafts all out for a summers’ jaunt, along with planes landing at the local airport…talk about sensory overload. We are thankful to dock at a waterfront marina without incident (right in front of a local brewery!) and head out to explore this amazing city. Larry and I tour the CN Tower on this gorgeous day, so high above the city it is breath taking. We even spot our next place to have a cold one…at the Roundhouse historic railroad outdoor museum. The Canadian Pacific Railway originally built these stations in 1897 to clean, inspect and repair steam rail cars and engines, then turn them back to rotation for their next run. Now it is an outdoor museum, restaurant and brewery. Toronto is one of the most diverse cities I have experienced. To hear 10 different languages as you transit from one spot to another is nothing…they are truly multicultural. The Pride celebration was in full swing as we walked around town and culminated with a multitude of choral performances held right at the waterfront. What an amazing day. The following day we make it past the waterfront and Roundhouse Park to the Distillery Historic District, back tracking through Old Town and the Financial District to the trendy North York and back to the waterfront. A most successful, but too brief visit, we head toward our next adventure…The Welland Canal.

How did I manage to get a picture with out a boat or ferry or plane?…impossible!

Water front docking right in front of the Amsterdam Brewery

Thanks to dock master Maurice Landry, who took this great image of the Independence at her posh spot in front of the Toronto city skyline.

The local airport and the channel we will use to exit Toronto

The Roundhouse from above and the Independence in front of the second tower to the right

The channel we transited coming in from Lake Ontario to the city front

Larry checks on the Plymouth Cordage Compressed Air Locomotive, built in 1906

The Roundhouse stations and historic trains and cranes

Had to have a beer at the Steam Whistle Biergarten

A choral concert at the waterfront at twilight

The Hockey Hall of Fame in the Financial District

The older buildings in the Historic Distillery District

The front of the Gooderham Flatiron Building built back in 1892

Toronto City Hall as seen from the Financial District

These sandstone carvings look so similar to the carvings in the Albany NY City Hall

Bye, bye Toronto…hope to be back some day.