street signs - Upper Paradise

On Hamilton Mountain is the delightfully named 

Upper Paradise Road

unfortunately, it is not as paradisiacal as it sounds

it is a main thoroughfare and is a mix of commercial, retail and residential

at the furthest south end the homes become quite opulent

although for the most part the homes are more modest

and at the other end, where Upper Paradise begins

is the first house

with a lookout over the lower city

Upper Paradise Road got its name from its alignment with Paradise Road in the lower city, which got its name from  its end point at Cootes Paradise (a wetland in the Royal Botanical Gardens). 

21st in my continuing (very sporadic) series of street signs 

for signs signs

and Our World Tuesday

Ribfest

If you are a carnivore, 
then my city was the place to be this weekend.

For Burlington is home to 
Canada's Largest Ribfest
held at Spencer Smith Park for over 20 years on the Labour Day Weekend. Consider it our way to tastily mark the unofficial end of summer on this holiday weekend.





It can get pretty hot working over the grill

     

    and smoky

Past trophies are on display and there were 19 ribbers this year. Prizes go out for best ribs, best sauce and best "pig rig".There are long lines for the hungry - I don't particularly like ribs, but I was happy to sample the sauces. My vote for favourite would be the one with apple butter and a taste of Jack Daniels.

and there are other foods, like funnel cakes, beaver tails, and poutine

                         

 a short walk on the pier and you can get an overall view, but you can't really escape the smoky smell coming off the bbqs. I live five blocks from the park and some years when the wind is blowing in the right direction I am almost tempted to join the queues...

but for this year, it was just a walk around to share the fun with Jo's Monday Walks

falcons

This is where I've been spending many of my afternoons and evenings the past couple of weeks. In a parking lot, in downtown Hamilton.

Volunteering my time to look up, mostly towards the Sheraton Hotel, because that is where we have a family of peregrine falcons. That ledge under the 'N' has been a nesting site for about 20 years now, though this year there is a new pair of parents - Lily aged 5-ish and Ossie aged 3-ish. We think because of his age this may be Ossie's first time as a father. He's doing a great job. They have two young ones named McMaster and Barton (following a tradition of naming the chicks after local landmarks). There are cameras positioned so everyone can get a glimpse of the family... until the chicks are ready to attempt to fly, at least. Which they did this week.

If you look closely up at the top left corner of the Sheraton you can see what looks like two birds









but, actually it is only one falcon (in this case McMaster) and what we have begun to call 'the iron falcon'. From a distance, it fools everybody!

Next door at the top of the Standard Life Building, on a pole contraption that is used for the window washers, sits Barton.

They don't fly too far away at first and are still being fed by the parents. At one point a stupid pigeon flew right up to McMaster. We could hear some squawking, but she didn't really pay much attention to the pigeon. Eventually Mom caught sight of it near her baby and chased it away. I guess Mom wasn't ready to catch dinner and baby hasn't yet made the connection between a live bird and food!
Also keeping watch (but with a high powered scope as well as binoculars) inside the Stelco Tower is the falconwatch co-ordinator. I hope to get to go up and see the view that she sees next week. But she can't see everything, which is why we are on the ground. 
Because, also sticking close to the chicks are the parents, one of whom is sitting at the corner of the Stelco Tower right below where she is. This is my first year volunteering, but already, especially when the light is right, it is getting easier for me to spot them. 
Here's hoping for safe flights and no dangerous crashes or falls onto the traffic below. We have a rescue box handy, but none of us really wants to have to use it.
something for Saturday's Critters
and Our World Tuesday

Jadran

It was a bit of an eyesore, yet still sad to see her go.

After all, she'd been sitting at the foot of Yonge St in Toronto for 40 years.

The ship was officially called the Jadran, but the restaurant was called Captain John's Seafood and Captain John's is how she was always known by locals and tourists. 

These were taken in 2010, before the city closed the restaurant forever. 

There was an actual 'Captain John' - John Letnik was an eccentric man with big dreams that he could never let go of.  If anyone is interested in the long, sad story of ruin, just google it. There's lots to choose from.  It was once a fine dining, floating restaurant back when Toronto had few fine restaurants and virtually nothing at the waterfront. Those days (of few restaurants and nothing at the waterfront as well as Captain John's being even a good restaurant) ended a long time ago and over the last 20 years or so it has become a rusting relic of its past glory. Letnik got to ride away on her as she was towed to Lake Erie to her new home at a scrapyard and waved to the crowds that lined the shore to watch. 

Below is a time lapsed video of the engine-less ship being towed out of the harbour on Lake Ontario. Watching her being turned around by the two tugs is pretty interesting. 

Hundreds of people went down to Harbourfront to watch, and thousands more watched the live stream video online (yes, myself included)

And then, because it was easy for me to do, I hightailed it down to watch her go through the Welland Canal.

First up is the tug Molly

followed by the braking tug Jarrett, into Lock #2

and a better view as they head to Lock #3

hmm, the bow looks much better

there were pictures on twitter of a couple of raccoons scrambling up the poles which led to (unconfirmed) rumours that there were a 100 or so raccoons on the boat as she was towed away. You're welcome, Port Colborne.

It's been a long time, but I'm back... sharing with Our World Tuesday, 
and signs, signs

street signs - Old

Today's Monday Walk is a short one, brought to you by the letter O for my (irregular) street signs series.

Lakeshore Road was part of the old Highway 2 that was once the main east-west route across southern Ontario.  I'm not sure how this island was created between Lakeshore and Old Lakeshore Roads
Nor am I certain when the names became what they are today. I suspect that Lakeshore was 'straightened' at some point. Perhaps in 1917 when became the first concrete road in Ontario as part of the highway between Toronto and Hamilton.

note how the 'Downtown' and 'Burlington' are reversed on each sign??







At one point, way back in the 19th century, there were ships and trains here and the area was a "Junction". All that remains is this Junction House

The streets were also known as Water Street, which is why we have a Water Street Cooker






and Gore Street, which is why we have the Gore Variety

The area is slated for some massive rejuvenation and development

which you can read about in this post from a year ago

It needs the rejuvenation, not so sure about the development.... 

(was at a heated neighbourhood meeting the other week about the plans)

that's Lakeshore Road above

with a view of Old Lakeshore Road behind the presentation centre, below

there are some townhouses built in the 1970's

and a few waterfront buildings for lease 

(if you want to lease a building in a construction zone)

and this vacant lot that has been vacant since long before I moved here 18 years ago.  

great view of the lake!

yes, there is a high tower being planned for this site, too, that will block the view of the lake.

it is also a favourite spot for my old friend Chris the Lonely Goose.
though, to be honest, I don't think this is actually him; I think he has gone on to meet his mate.

expect delays

It didn't really feel like it, but we hit double digits today of 11ºC though, with a windchill, it felt much colder and it will keep on getting colder again as the week moves on. So, I thought it was high time I went for a walk and took some photos and posted some sort of adventure. And see if I have any readers left.

I set off to the beach. 
Which at this time of year looks like this

that's filthy snow covering the sand

and yes, it is right on a hydro corridor and beside a busy highway!

by the time spring gets here and the weather is more pleasant, I will have to make the effort to actually walk the whole distance from my home, instead of from the parking lot

especially as this will be happening

The bridge in question is the lift bridge over the canal between Lake Ontario and Burlington Bay. There's information on the history of the canal lighthouse which was built in 1858. It's been decommissioned and is now boxed in (and dwarfed) by the two bridges.

Another sign has a helpful map to guide pedestrians who wish to cross the canal, which can be especially confusing when the trees are full and blocking the view.

I was hoping to see some of the dozens of ducks that like to hang out in the canal, but with the fast flowing ice, they had all moved out to more open water

Interestingly, the ice was moving out from the frozen bay to the open lake when I arrived, but was moving back into the bay by the time I'd walked the length of the pier.

Somewhere in among all those buildings in the distance is where I live

The pier isn't maintained and the snow has turned into a muddy, slushy mess

Spring melt is not fun or pretty, especially in the city and there is news that more snow could be on its way by the end of the week. March is always unpredictable. And spring may delayed.

But at least there are some ducks to see.

a short and mostly unpleasant walk for Restless Jo's Monday Walks

with signs of a delayed spring and impending traffic congestion for signs, signs