Scarborough Town Centre's 50th Birthday

Location: Scarborough, Ontario, Canada
Address:  300 Borough Drive
Date:  June 2023
Website:  www.scarboroughtowncentre.com

  The Scarborough Town Centre opened in May 1973.  This year it is celebrating its 50th birthday and we took part in some of the festivities.

   The Scarborough Town Centre is one of the biggest malls in the Toronto area.  Scarborough is made up of many different neighbourhoods as a sign in the mall once showed us.

 

  The mall is accessible from the Scarborough RT line. Since 1985 the Toronto Transit Commission has served the station at Scarborough Centre with its elevated Rapid Transit train.  There are plans for the RT line to be replaced at the end of 2023.

     One of the highlights of the mall were the hot air balloons. These balloons would get a blast of heated air and rise up out of the fountains. When the hot air stopped, each balloon would drop again.  It would follow a guide wire and land back on its stand. The hot air would blast once more and again the balloons would rise up to the delight of children gathered near the fountains. In 2009 the balloons were removed due to a building code change. Most likely it was something to do with heating elements in a fountain surrounded by children. 

     For the 50th birthday of the mall, they brought the balloons back.  They are now flying over the centre court.  

 

 

  The balloons no longer rise and fall, but maybe the mall will consider an electronic way of lifting and dropping them again. We can only hope.

 

  This isn't the first time that centre court has been filled with works of art. During Nuit Blanche there were hundreds of inflatable world globes filling the space.

   During Chinese New Year the court was filled with ribbons and lanterns.

    Another time during Nuit Blanche there were hundreds of plastic bags on wires.  It was to represent the plastic polution often caused by mall shoppers.

     During November and December the centre court hosts Santa Claus. If he sees you taking his picture he will be sure to wave hello.

    As the mall celebrates its 50th birthday we are reminded that the mall also celebrates people from Scarborough with its Scarborough Walk of Fame. The Walk of Fame is located on the lower level of the mall near Centre Court. Below are a few of our favourites, mostly from the music industry..

    Wes Williams (aka Maestro Fresh Wes) received his star in 2006.  His song "Let Your Backbone Slide" is arguably one of the greatest rap songs ever written. 

 

    Another rapper on the Walk of Fame is Kardinal Offishall.  He is best known for his track with Akon called "Dangerous".

    The Barenaked Ladies have a star of the Scarborough Walk of Fame. Their biggest hits include "If I Had $1,000,000" and "One Week". The star only includes the members of the band in 2013 when they were inducted. It is missing Steven Page who was a big part of their most popular years.

    Singer Gowan is best known for his hits "Strange Animal" and "A Criminal Mind".  He is currently the lead singer for the band Styx.

    Monika Schnarre also has a star on the Walk Of Fame. She is best known for being a supermodel.  

 

     The Scarborough Town Centre celebrates Scarborough and Scarborough celebrates 50 years of the shopping centre. We keep hoping that the ballons will rise and fall again at the mall. Until then we will look up at a balloon, eat a macaron and hope it happens soon.

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Map of Our World
Scarborough Town Centre

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Post # 324

Lake George

 

Location: Lake George, New York, USA
Address:  2 Canada Street
Date:  September 2010
Website:  tikiresort.com

  Lake George is located in the northern part of New York state. It is located beside the Adirondack Mountains. The area is a popular tourist destination to enjoy the mountains and steamboat rides on the lake. After falling in love with Maui, Hawaii, we visited Lake George for the Polynesian dinner show. If you can't make it to Hawaii then you might want to head to Lake George in New York state and visit the Tiki Resort.

   We enjoyed a dinner, a few drinks and the show. It featured Hawaiian dancers and drummers all the way from Schenectady.  One of us even got to participate. A few lucky dancers were chosen to shake their stuff based on the fruit shouted out by the band. "Coconut" to the right, "Pineapple" to the left and "Papaya" to the rear. By the time we were done we had danced up a fruit salad.

     We were only in Lake George for one night to catch the Tiki show. The next morning we decided to see what else was going on in town before heading to New York City. As we approached the waterfront this duck quacked out to us.

 

 

  Across the water at the pier we could see the Mohican and Minnie Ha Ha steamboats getting ready to take tourists out for a relaxing trip around the lake. We hear that in the fall, the colours are lovely.

    As we headed out of Lake George, we were in for one last treat. We noticed a giant Uncle Sam in a parking lot. We pulled over and went to check him out. This Uncle Sam is 38 feet tall. He was designed for an Ohio restaurant called fittingly, Uncle Sam's. He then stood outside of the state fairgrounds in Danbury, Connecticut until coming to Lake George to stand in the parking lot of the Magic Forest amusement park.

  Behind Uncle Sam we noticed someone else very special. It was Santa Claus! What more could you ask for in a town? A Tiki Resort and Santa are two of our favourite things.

  Sadly, Uncle Sam has returned once again to Danbury and Santa has disappeared. The Tiki Resort is still doing shows so that is more than enough reason to spend a day in Lake George.  Coconut!!

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Map of Our World
Tiki Resort , Minnie Ha Ha

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Post # 323

Gullfoss

Location: Iceland
Date: Sept 2015
Website: visiticeland.com

  The landscape of Iceland is unlike any other place in the world.  It is often referred to as the land of fire and ice. It has been formed by the power of nature. Volcanoes, glaciers and waterfalls have shaped it into what it is today. We visited one waterfall that is unlike any other in the world.

  Gullfoss translates to mean the Golden Waterfall. We are uncertain how it came to be named, but it is part of what tourists call the Golden Circle.  The Golden Circle of Iceland includes the geysirs of Haukadalur, Thingvellir National Park and the Gullfoss waterfall.

  The Olfusa river flows down to Gullfoss.  The water first flows over an 11 metre drop.

    The water then takes a turn and goes for another 21 metre drop into a canyon.

  Brave and properly dressed tourists can head along a pathway into the mist of Gullfoss to get an even closer look.

    Tourists can go right up to the edge of the falls and watch the water plummet into the earth. 

  The walls of the canyon where the Gullfoss water flows stand even taller than the falls themselves..

 

  Somewhere down under that cliff the river continues to flow.  So we have been told.

  Iceland in the winter is a dark cold place.  Days may often only have about 4 hours of daylight.  The band Echo & The Bunnymen chose to film the video for their song "The Cutter" at Gullfoss in the winter. The cover of their album Porcupine features the band in front of the falls.

   The Gullfoss waterfall left us amazed as to its beauty and shape and the mystery of where all that water goes.  Icleand never disappoints.  As we looked around from the road near Gullfoss we could see the Langjokul Glacier in the distance.  More adventure awaits.

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Map of Our World 

Gullfoss Waterfall

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Post # 322