Blair's Blog

Marineland! Today we were in Thorold at The Inn at Lock Seven.   A great little motel where all the rooms face the Welland Canal. After our breakfast we head to Niagara Falls and went to Marineland.   It was overcast and drizzly on the 20 minute drive there so we stopped at Walmart on the way to buy umbrellas and ponchos. For the first couple of hours, it looked like we would be ok and that we would stay dry.

We saw the beluga/seal/dolphin/walrus show, fed the deer, saw the killer whale and got a bite of lunch. Then we decided to make the long trek to the rides. It’s quite a walk. The park was pretty quiet so we had no lines for any of the ride and would get off & right back on again.   Thst was actually a bit rough for me, I just don’t do as well on the spinny rides as I used to!  Our fortunes started to change on the 2nd trip on the Sky Screamer – the intermittent drizzle turned to a steady rain. By the 3rd run on the Dragon Mountain coaster (4 loop the loops!), it was pouring. The ponchos and brollies just weren’t enough so we sploshed back towards the main gate – just in time for the final dolphin show of the day. By the time it was over the rain had stopped, so the kids legged it back to the rides. By the time Brenda and I caught up with them it was really pouring.

That was enough – we splashed our way back to the rental van, cranked up the heat and head back to the motel. Picked up a pizza on the way and ate on our balcony watching the lakers “climbing the mountain”  on the canal.

It was a pretty fun day!

No Comments »

Today we took a trip down memory lane on a moped- with stops at the drama club, McDonald’s on Memorial and Montego Bay.   After arriving in Toronto late last night we were off to Orillia for the day. Brenda lived in Orillia during high school (grades 9 to 12).  So it was a bit of a trip down memory lane – Brenda hadn’t been back since the summer after she graduated.

We started off dropping by ODCVI, the Orillia District Collegiate & Vocational Institute and were able to tour the building which hadn’t changed appreciably.  It was so cool to see Brenda recalling some of the events & things of that time, and even chatting to the current drama teacher. It was fun for the kids to imagine their Mom in school! We even got a brief rendition of Brenda’s “Montego Bay” performance on the stage of the girl’s gym.

The next stop was out of town to Weber’s for burgers then we drove past the two houses where Brenda had lived with her family – Lankin Blvd in town then out by Lake Simcoe on Orkney Beach Rd. Brenda told the kids about how she had to use a moped to get back into town whenever she had work or youth group – and, because the top speed was less than 50 km/hr, how she had to take the long way on side roads.

We spent an hour walking around downtown – to the Opera House where Brenda was an usher, past the old Sam’s record store location. Finally, on the way out of Orillia, we stopped at the McD’s where Brenda worked for 4 years and got drinks for the road.

Once the nostalgia tank was full we headed for St Catharines where we will be for the next few days.

No Comments »

We are on our way to Ontario for holidays. A family reunion, Canada Day on parliament hill, a few days in Montreal. Gonna be fun!

No Comments »