Travel Review: Toronto in Summer

I traveled to Toronto for an extended weekend getaway.  Normally for summer, I like to go to the Caribbean, but I went in the opposite direction because the flights were insanely cheap, and the hotels were willing to throw in so discounts and extras to the point that it would be idiotic to not go.

But I went into it thinking, meh, I’ll go, it’ll be “nice” weather, and it’ll be one of the cheapest vacations I’ll regret.

I can tell you that the phrase “book by it’s cover” is ever present in everything we do.

Toronto was a blast!

For one, don’t let the weather stereotypes fool you, they have real summer in Toronto.  Low 80’s, high UV Index, and enough humidity coming off Lake Ontario to make it reminiscent of a day on the Delaware coast.

For the record, I went in mid-August, in case you decide to plan your own trip.

Toronto has some ‘typical’ tourist attractions, CN Tower, Hockey Hall of Fame, baseball at the Rogers Centre.  But here’s something that Toronto does far better than some US big city counterparts: themed weeks.

A type of festival that is left to certain corners of the US, and New Orleans, the idea of an succinct themed week, at any time of year, seems to be a celebration of yesteryear in the US in the modern era.  Instead, we get one type of event for a weekend, at one location.  The days of multiple businesses and venues getting together to host one, or even two themes that support one another is something “relegated” to small towns for the most part.

Well, based on how Toronto does it, we’re missing out in the US, and I hope at least one person in a community looking to fill a void reads this realizes that they are missing out on serious tourist potential.

Now here’s the great thing about Toronto: they are combining multiple elements to make up a party atmosphere, out on their boardwalk mainly.  That’s right, Toronto has a fantastic boardwalk, meant for biking, walking, running, dogs, oh, and midnight pirate boating….more on that later.

It turns out that combining spicy food, second line bands, and straight funk, you’ve got yourself one of the liveliest street festivals.  Seriously, you missed out!  August 19th to the 21st, the Treme Brass Band (one of my personal favorites!) was beating those drums, and playing the soul out of those horns.  Yuka, a Stax Records-influenced funk band played as well, and all the spicy food, from barbecue to middle eastern.  And it was all very great!

But here’s the best part….while most communities that host themed festivals will host once a year, Toronto does a continued stream of them!  You get about 24 hours of break in between (probably called a “hang-over” day by locals, but you didn’t hear that from me), and then they right back to business, all summer long.

In the days before I got there, they have a Tapas festival, and brought in chefs from all over the world to “compete” by making unique takes on tapas to pair with, you guessed, craft beer.  Look, you may not be a foodie, and you may not like craft beer.  If you show up to a town that has a tapas and craft beer festival going on right outside your hotel lobby, something tells me I find you there, ten times out of ten.

And they had so many different kinds of tapas, it was impossible to try them all, along with all the beer.  But hey, no one’s stopping you from trying!

So we’ve talked tourist stuff, the boardwalk, now let’s talk about the beach……yea, Toronto has a beach.  Prepare yourself.

Toronto Harbour (their spelling, not mine) is created by mainland Toronto, and the Toronto Islands.  Yes, there’s islands out in the water of Lake Ontario, and it’s a beach goers paradise!  When I was there, the locals described the place as three islands, but as I walked around, I found several distinct islands, but some locals don’t refer to all of them.  There’s Centre Island, which maintains the major beach on the island.  There’s the area known as Ward’s Island, which is the far east area of the islands.  There is also a few hundred residents living there, but the Canadian government is working to put that to a halt (so much for freedom!)

There’s Algonquin Island, and then the much smaller islands of Mugg’s, Forestry, Snake, South Chippewa, South, and RCYC.  They all serve island specific activities like forest preservation, wildlife habitation, yacht clubs, and rumor has it, nude beaches…..I was told this goes on at Ward’s Island, but I didn’t check.  I say, enter at your own risk.

What I can tell you is that Toronto has put in a lot of effort to maintain clean beaches, and to create an inviting locale to beach it up!  I was thoroughly impressed.  They have built rock walls into the lake that form a calm atmosphere along the beach, but also have created see-to-the-bottom waters that any Caribbean spot would feel threatened by.

The only thing missing is bars and attendant service.  But, that’s no reason not to go, and there is a small spattering for huts to grab plenty of food, and of course beer.

It’s easy to get to the islands, you purchase a ferry ticket, take the 15 minute ride across the harbor, and you’re there.  An equally timed walk gets you to the lake side of the island, and subsequent beach.  It’s way too awesome to pass up, especially since many tourists don’t consider Canada for summer time!

Back on the mainland, there’s plenty of night excursions to get involved in, like the endless stream of boats that cruise the harbor, encourage terrible singing, and laughs all the while.

Also, you’ll probably meet some really cool Canadians, who aren’t fussy about cheese, or socialism, no matter what Justin Trudeau tries to do.

All in all, Toronto is a fantastic place to vacation, especially in summer.  Don’t short-change yourself, get in on the fun now while you can.  At some point, the rest of the world is going to hear about how cool the Canadian NYC is!

Independence Day: What are we Celebrating?

It’s hard to imagine the US without Independence Day.

But many people in this country, conscious of it or not, would love nothing more than to remove this historically sacred holiday from our social and cultural norms.

Deleting it of course is far from possible.  It’s more likely they’d have to revision the purpose of the holiday, as a way to continue their agenda of painting the US as the bad guys, the world over.

While many of our heroes, and triumphs have been mired in relabeling, redefinition, (I’ll say it again, revision), one of the few things we actively connect  to from our roots in this nation to our modern era is Independence Day.  It is the day our forefathers finalized the declaration that would sound to the world that a new life, in a new world, had been born, no longer tied to the burdens of European Socialism of the era, July 4th 1776.

The most common activity tied to this monumental day is fireworks.  The idea of fireworks as a method of celebration originates from a letter that John Adams wrote his, Abigail, where he recounted a dream he had where the day was honored by sport, firearms, fireworks, and many other far-gone concepts that equated into community celebration of the highest intensity.

One could assume that John Adams was not acutely aware of the barriers that people put between themselves and social activity, but that is more unlikely, if you were to read more deeply into Mr. Adams’ entire thought catalog in his writings.

Regardless, the question presented is how is the Fourth being dismantled, if at all?

The idea of independence is a strong, vibrant concept.  It burns brightly in most people’s mind when thinking of people who draw a line in the proverbial sand, and refuse to give in anymore.  Whether we are discussing the formation of the US, Mahatma Gandhi  and the fight for independence that he organized against British rule in India, or the disturbing path of people and cultures in the former Yugoslavia, that despite the atrocities visited upon them, they continued on their path and formed their own life, identity, and country.  Of course, each of the three examples have starkly different stories of violence, resistance, hope, loss, and grief, but overall, when people recount the fight for independence, and think of the idea of independence, it is a strong idea, imagined or realized.

It seems strange that we would call it the Fourth of July, instead of what it is, which is Independence Day.  Why the Fourth of July?  Well, it just so happens that the day in question is the 4th day of the month of July.  So it makes perfect sense.  But perhaps somewhere along the way, someone thought saying Independence Day was too controversial.  What is clear is that many newspapers of the time slowly removed the term “Independence Day” or “Independent Day,” as some called it.  But in much of the media, by and large, journalists called it “The Fourth of July.”  And even still, when Congress created the first federal holidays, they named New Year’s Day, and Christmas, but left the “Fourth of July,” as well, just that.  A deeper look at the history of newspapers shows that this was not the only word game played by journalists, and in this case the effort was blatant, but the reason for it goes unanswered.

Getting back to Adams, in his letter to his wife, never was their a mention of marrying the event to commerce, of any kind.  Sure, we could argue that his suggestion of “shews (an older spelling of the term ‘shows‘), and games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and Illuminations…,” assumes one would pay money for these items at a store or other business, but that was not what Adams was getting at in the meaning of the statement.

His written spectacle was about community coming together, despite what differences they had, and celebrating their togetherness, no matter what their manner of celebration was.

How do you celebrate Independence Day?  Do you buy lots of “Fourth of July” labeled and themed products?  Do you travel far from your home to be with loved ones?

Not that either of these things is wrong, but it flies in the face of the most tender idea on this particular day.  I strongly believe that family matters, but if the concept of Adams’ is the truest form of the intent behind this day of Independence, I, and everyone else owes a moment to men and women who fought and sacrificed everything they ever had for this country I live in.  Instead of treating Independence Day as another holiday, we should be celebrating it as intended.  With our neighbors, with the efforts of our own two hands.

Many of the original “Staters” were without their family beyond their immediate household.  I certainly am not against families getting together to celebrate the fourth, but to close off your entire community from your presence is counter to what the intent is.

I’m not saying don’t go grocery shopping, I’m not saying being anti-business.  But instead of relying on commercial products, why not make your celebratory goods from scratch?  Some people do this, be it baking, or cooking, or even more so, grilling.

Why not get together with the people on your street, and make a block party out of the occasion?  Surely, for the intended outcome of one day, we could put our differences aside concerning that parked car in their front yard, or that they borrowed your weed whacker, leaving the trim line empty upon return.

Adams, and all of our forefathers had a big, beautiful dream when they formed this country.  And they also had an even bigger, but more intimate dream when it came to us.

We should surely consider their intent this holiday, and what it means to be truly independent.  Be it hand making our goods, reconnecting with our closest allies, but more to the point, remembering that our independence was because of the magnificent words of our forefathers, but it was more so because of a great sense of community among all.

Happy 240th Birthday, USA!  And happy Independence Day to all!