Halloween Nights Of Lights Scarborough

Location: Scarborough, Ontario, Canada
Address:  300 Borough Drive
Date:  Oct 2023
Website:  www.pumpkinville.ca

  Scarborough Town Centre hosted a Halloween walk through for the month of October 2023.  It featured creatures, lights and lots and lots of pumpkins.  We felt brave enough to go for a visit.

    We were greeted by a very tall skeleton.  The skeleton had a glowing ribcage and a glowing pumpkin head.

 

 

    The pathways of lights were watched over by pairs of eyes.

 

    There were giant pumpkins, scarecrows, spiders and skeletons wearing top hats.

 

 

Some might say that the lights were eerie!

 

     A bale of hay had taken the shape of a spider.

 

  

  We had to walk through a spider's nest.

 

  There was a tent of lights filled with scary clown heads.

    If you had to look away from the creepy clowns and looked straight up, the lights and ribbons were beautiful against the night sky.

     Next up was a row of alien specimens preserved in some sort of liquid.

       The next scene was a biohazard cleanup scene.  Perhaps something had gone wrong with one of the alien specimens?

 

    There were some huge creatures who didn't look so scary.  They looked more like they were mummy DJs spinning all the Halloween classics like Michael Jackson's "Thriller".

       There was a small forest where the trees had eyes.  We even spotted a small owl skeleton hiding in one of the trees.

  Next there was a maze of skeletons in cages and hanging body parts.

    Unfortunately, it was raining when we arrived so the hanging hands and feet were even more disgusting. The rain dripped off of the bandages as we passed under.

 

    Finally, we emerged from the Nights of Lights and entered Pumpkinville.

    Pumpkinville lived up to its name as there were pumpkins everywhere.

    There was even a giant wall made out of just pumpkins. We are not sure if they will get the chance to become Jack-o-lanterns or turned into pie before the wall starts to rot away.

 

      Pumpkinville also had some huge sculptures made out of pumpkins and other gourds. This one was an owl giving us a sideways glance.

 

       A whale rose up from out of the ground. It took us a while to figure out that the other pile of gourds was the whale's tail.

 

       There were also a few garden insects made of gourds.

    A gourd frog had its eye on those insects. Cucurbita means gourd in Latin.

     Día de los Muertos takes place at the start of November. There was a tunnel filled with colour and skulls to celebrate.

    A few rides were set up for children. This included a very small ferris wheel. We would be lucky if even one of our legs could comfortably go for a ride. We didn't want to join the other body parts hanging in the maze in order to find out.

    There were a few food and drink stands. We were delighted to see our favourite lemonade flavour.  Corn roasted yams!!

    While enjoying the Fall season we had a good time exploring Pumpkinville and the Halloween Nights of Lights.

---

Map of Our World
Scarborough Town Centre

---

Post # 328

Love Park

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address:  96 Queens Quay W
Date:  July 2023
Website:  www.waterfrontoronto.ca

  Love Park in Toronto opened in June 2023.  The park is focused around a large tree in a heart shaped pond.  It is tucked into the corner of business towers and condos at Queens Quay West and York Street.

    The park was built in an area that used to be an off ramp for the Gardiner Expressway.  For years the concrete pillars were all that remained of this ramp.

 

    The pond in the middle of the park is shaped like a heart except it has no pointy edges.  The heart in the park is best appreciated from above.  We hope one day to find ourselves high enough up in one of the buildings that surround the park in order to look down at the heart.

     The red glass mosaic that curves around the edge of the pond is being called a "love seat" by the city.  It will give 165 meters of seating for people to enjoy the park.  The water in the pond is meant to be natural and uses no chlorine of other chemicals to filter the water.  When the pond first opened, people were concerned about the bright green water. 

     One feature of the park that may go unnoticed by some, is that there are nine bronze cast animal sculptures hidden around the grounds.  Don't worry, we won't spoil your fun and tell you exactly where each creature is hiding.  We have included photos of the animals below so you know what you are looking for.

 

  

  A sculpture of a beaver sits on its own private island.

 

  A fox sculpture can be found next to one of the benches.

   A rabbit sculpture also likes to hang out near the benches.  It had better watch out for Mr. Fox.

    A polar bear sculpture is supposedly based on Juno the polar bear from the Toronto Zoo.

      A chipmunk sculpture is busy filling its cheeks with golden hearts.

    A raccoon sculpture wanders the park.

    Most Toronto residents should be familiar with the photo above.  A raccoon prowling around looking for trouble in the middle of the night. 

 

    A blue jay sculpture sits up in a trellis.  There are quite a few Blue Jay fans in Toronto.

    Another bird sculpture of an owl sits perched looking over the square.

    The final sculpture is a woodpecker hunting for a meal in the concrete jungle.

      The sun shines through the buildings and falls on the big tree in the middle of the pond.  We suggest you also spend a little time enjoying what Love Park has to offer.  Love Toronto.  Love animals.  Love Park.

---

Map of Our World
Love Park

---

Post # 327