The Tip of Point Pelee

Location: Leamington, Ontario, Canada
Address: 1118 Point Pelee Drive
Date: April 2017
Website: www.pc.gc.ca

  As Canada celebrates it's 150th year, admission to national parks is free with a Discovery Pass.  We decided that this was a good time for us to visit Point Pelee National Park.  It is a long, thin peninsula that reaches down into Lake Erie.  The tip of Point Pelee is the lowest point of mainland Canada. 

  We were welcomed at the main gate of the park and headed south until we arrived at the Visitor Centre.  From the Visitor Centre we took a tram (above) which then transported us the next 2.5 km to the tip.

  The first thing we encountered was an open air building with information about Point Pelee.  It explained that the peninsula is a migration funnel.  It literaly has a funnel shape and points from north to south into Lake Erie.  As a result it is the first piece of land that many migrating birds encounter after returning from their winter holiday.

  It was only April, but the birds were already everywhere.  May marks the Festival of Birds and is when the majority of song birds arrive back in the park.  Inside the tip information building a few barn swallows had made their nests already and were flying back and forth over our heads.  Barn swallows like to build their nests in the top corners of buildings that have access so they can fly in and out.  The swallows in the information building arrived on the tip and made the first place they found their home.

  We walked a little further and a big 42 appeared.  This sign was letting us know that we were just south of the 42nd parallel north.  Where we stood now we were on the same circle of lattitude as Rome, Italy or Barcelona, Spain.

  We headed further south and took a pathway which led us to a beach.  We walked along this beach on the east side of the national park.

  Finally we arrived at a pile of uprooted trees and rocks.  This was the tip. 

  There were a few birds floating just off the shore and swallows took turns swooping up and down near the water's edge.  We took a closer look and realized that we were surrounded by many species of birds.

  There were the tree swallows eating bugs from just above the lake's surface.

There was a horned grebe.  Grebe have unusual feet because they have three lobed toes instead of the usual webbed feet of most other sea birds.

There was a Bonaparte's gull.

There was a Red-Breasted Merganser couple.

Lastly, there was this brown swallow who we have determined is either a juvenile swallow that does not have its colour yet or a northern rough-winged swallow.  Our best guess is northern rough-winged swallow.

After spending some time enjoying the birds and the view at the tip we took a different pathway back through a wooded area.  Along the way we noticed these unusual little white flowers.  They are called dutchman's breeches.  We guess this is because they look like little pairs of pants hung out to dry.

  As we reached the building where we waited for the tram we noticed a pay phone.  It stated that "You are at the tip".  We felt like calling someone and giving them this advice.  Here's a tip.  Why not make a point of visiting one of Canada's National Parks this year to celebrate Canada 150.

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Map of Our World
Point Pelee (The Tip Exhibit)
Point Pelee (The Tip)

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Post # 174

Jumbo The Elephant

Location: St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada
Address: 65 Talbot Street
Date: April 2017
Website: www.railwaycitytourism.com

  Back in the 1860s there was a large African elephant that lived in the zoo in London, England.  He was very popular and children were allowed to ride on his back.  In the 1880s P.T. Barnum bought the elephant and took him to America to be part of his traveling circus.   P.T. Barnum is one of the founders of the famous Barnum & Bailey Circus. The elephant's name was Jumbo and the word jumbo has since come to mean anything extra large.

 
Unfortunately, in 1885 when the circus came to St. Thomas, Ontario there was an accident.  Jumbo was on the tracks when an unexpected train arrived and he was run over.

For the 100th anniversary of this event, the city of St. Thomas erected the Jumbo Monument.  It is a life sized replica of Jumbo.  You can pay a visit and see what it would have been like to stand next to this 13,000 pound, 11 foot tall creature.  Now this much loved elephant will never be forgotten.

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Map of Our World
Jumbo The Elephant Monument

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Post # 173

Stata Center

Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
Address: 32 Vassar Street
Date: Sept 2010
Website: web.mit.edu

  MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) is a private school specializing in science and technology.  Ray Stata was a graduate in 1957 and contributed to the construction of what is now the Ray and Maria Stata Center.

  The building is also known as building 32 and was designed by architect Frank Gehry.  Gehry is well known for creating unusual buildings around the world.

  The Stata Center opened in 2004 and looks like it belongs in some sort of cartoon world.

 

There is no shortage of skewed walls and odd angles.

The shiny roof on some portions of the building further distorts whatever it is reflecting.

  Windows appear to be different sizes and look as if they were glued onto the building after it was finished.

  A second level balcony offered even more unusual views.  We wondered what it would look like if we were peering out one of the funny windows.  Then again we don't quite have the qualifications to be accepted to MIT.

  We took a peek into one window and came face to face with a dead ringer for Johnny 5 from the Short Circuit movies.  It appears that some research is being done behind these curvy walls.  Who knows what future graduates may come up with?  At least the Stata Center will give them something to think about.

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Map of Our World
Ray and Maria Stata Center

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Post # 172