Wednesday morning brought another beautiful sunny day. The TV news revealed the fact that I.O. and I were not the only out of towners visiting Toronto as Bill Gates and the Rolling Stones had shown up too!
After breakfast at the hotel we set off for Toronto around 9am. Traffic wasn’t bad and we got off the QEW at the Spadina Street exit. I think we were supposed to go right but couldn’t for some reason so wound up going around the block and trying again. Whatever we did we were where we were supposed to be to see the Queen’s Wharf Lighthouse (1855). For some reason I was looking for it on the right side of Fleet Street
and it wound up being on the left. They say it’s in a small park but it’s just a sort of triangular block. If it’s a park it’s not much of one and the combination of brown grass and a lighthouse painted brown made it difficult to spot. Once we did see it it was apparent that the best place to photograph it would be to go to a real park which was located just south on the other side of the busy Lakeshore Blvd.
All you have to do then is walk across a lawn, filled with grazing Canada Geese while carefully avoiding their droppings to the sidewalk opposite the lighthouse. You then have to patiently wait for the traffic to clear so as to not get car tops in your pictures.
http://a9.cpimg.com/image/B7/81/12312759-d14b-028001E0-R.jpg This lighthouse is one of what by 1861 had been a pair of range lights located on a pier some 450 meters away. This light had a fog horn and red glass in the lantern while it’s companion light shown a white light. The lights were taken out of service in 1911 when a new western harbor entrance was created. The previous harbour was filled in and the other light destroyed. The remaining lighthouse was relocated to it’s present location in 1929.
This is quite near to one of the gates to the exhibition grounds. The CNE or “Ex” began August 16th and continues to September 2nd. I’d wondered if this would have caused traffic problems for us but thankfully it did not. The electric trolleys that ply Toronto’s streets end their run on Fleet Street and I saw a number of them while we were there.
We now left the park onto Lakeshore and went one block south to Queen’s Quay and drove west to Younge Street. We parked the car in a lot for $10 and spent $8 for tickets for the ferry over to Center Island to see the Gibraltar Lighthouse, I.O. having an old age $3 fare while we younger folks have to pay $5!
Facing the lake Centre Island is a crescent shaped main island plus a few smaller islands
towards the middle of the topmost section of Centre Island. These islands were sandbars
and at one time connected to the mainland. After a while the area was left to do it’s own thing and the connection with the mainland was severed and not filled in. For many years it was a resort community. On the western end of the crescent were ball fields, one of which was the site of Babe Ruth’s first major league home run. This area now serves as a metropolitan airport for small planes. The eastern section of the island is home to some year round residents while the remainder of the island is park land.
Now directions in the Penrose book tell you first of all to park on either side of Queen’s Quay. Well you don’t park on the side of a busy street in downtown Toronto unless you never want to see your car again. They also tell you to take the ferry to Hanlan’s Point. This is fine if you don’t mind walking. If you want to rent a bike or be able to get anything other than water or a soda from a machine take the ferry to Centre Island (the middle section). Ferries also run to the eastern end called Ward’s Island.
It’s just a short ride to the island, just time enough to take a few photos of Toronto’s skyline, including of course, the CN Tower and it’s newer neighbor the Skydome.
http://a2.cpimg.com/image/74/7F/12312692-9b26-028001E0-.jpg When we got off the ferry we asked one of the ferrymen about the shuttle. He stated that
you don’t see them too often unless they know someone is coming. We then asked him
how long a walk it was to the lighthouse and he told us 10 minutes. (I.O. later said, “10
minutes, did he think I was Roger Bannister?”)
We set off walking, stopping for water a few times as well as making separate “pit stops”
to use the facilities. We did however, pass up the opportunity to swim at the “Clothing
Optional” beach. I suppose this would come in handy if you forgot to pack your bathing suit. Well it seemed as though our walk would never end and eventually I.O. parked himself on a bench in the shade and said he’d just wait there. I trudged on and before too long spotted the lighthouse peeking out between some tree branches.
http://a4.cpimg.com/image/9E/80/12312734-0aec-028001E0-.jpg Just ahead was a mown area that led down to the lighthouse.
http://a8.cpimg.com/image/7A/7F/12312698-e600-028001E0-R.jpg Is there a sign to announce where to turn off the roadway? No. I had previously asked a
young couple walking in the opposite direction if they had seen the lighthouse and they
looked at me as if I had two heads. Once you get to the lighthouse, however, there is a
plaque on the tower giving a brief history of the light including the tale of the first keeper
who was murdered in 1815. A couple of men were arrested but not convicted and some
years later bones were discovered near the lighthouse, supposedly those of the keeper.
The Gibraltar Point Lighthouse (1808) is the oldest existing lighthouse on the Great Lakes. The tower is 82’ high, it’s height having been increased by an addition in 1932. It’s last operating light was a white flashing light powered by electricity. By 1958 the surrounding trees blocked the light so much that it was discontinued and a light placed on a nearby tower. Currently the tower displays a green light so that it stands out from the city lights.
http://a7.cpimg.com/image/97/80/12312727-d7d8-028001E0-.jpg The bright red trim is especially nice and makes the door really stand out.
http://a9.cpimg.com/image/85/80/12312709-9118-028001E0-R.jpg
