Say Cheese

They come from all over North America every Friday the 13th.  I saw licence plates from Oklahoma.  I’m told, this time, one rider came from Belgium.  Every Friday the 13th Port Dover plays host to the biggest motorcycle rally on the Continent.  

It all began when Chris Simons and 25 of his friends got together at the Commercial Hotel in Port Dover.  They had such a good time they decided to do it every Friday 13th.  That was November 1981.  The rest is history. To read up on the origin of this tradition click here.

Last Friday, myself and four friends from the Mississauga Camera Club met at 5:30 AM, piled our camera gear into Fred’s van and headed to Port Dover. 

We got there around 6:30 AM and already it was bustling with people. We were lucky to find a good parking spot. We then headed to the one and only Tim Horton’s in town, got our coffees, sat and talked for a while.  We decided to do our own thing and rendezvous at 1200 hours right there at Tim Horton’s.

We started off at the main street photographing bikers as they entered town. Later, I meandered to the beach.  It was a big, wide beach.  To my surprise, I saw four palm trees.  Big, tall palm trees. After doing a little research I discovered that they were 30 feet tall, were imported from Florida and will be dug up in the fall to winter in a greenhouse and then replanted next Spring.  Furthermore, more palm trees are on order.

Meanwhile, the bikers kept coming and coming.  You could hear the roar of motorcycles all over the place. 

There were happy people as far as the eye could see. Some of the riders were pretty scary looking until you talked to them.  Even Hell’s Angels were there. Lots of merchants as well, selling everything from leather biker clothes, bike items of all sorts, sunglasses and the ever-popular t-shirts.  So this sleepy little fishing village on Lake Erie - population 5500 ballooned out to 150,000 last weekend.  Surprisingly, there were no problems.  The event was extremely well organized and has morphed into a huge fundraiser for a number of charities. 

Plenty of portable loos such as those pictured below.  Hey, that’s important, eh?

When we left at around one, they were still coming into town in streams. We stopped at many places on our way home for various photo-ops.  Then, we told jokes all the way home.  All in all, we had such a great time together, we decided to do this more often as a group.

And that’s how traditions get started.

I’ve known him for what seems like forever.  Lately, he’s been in ill health and, most recently he had a fall, so now he’s in a walker for the time being, at least.  He’s just turned 75 and friends and family got together to throw him a shindig.  It was held at his country home. 

The weather was perfect - warm but not hot and no mosquitoes.  The seven acres had recently been groomed.  A porto-potty was even in place to handle the overflow.  Some guests brought tents and sleeping bags.  There was a live band and a big pig on a spit which had been roasting all day, boiled corn, lots of other noshies and stuff.  It was a great time.

I took many pictures but but the best ones were done while using the tripod. 

Last weekend my son and entourage came for a visit - long overdue.  One of the places they wanted to visit was Niagara Falls.  The day looked rather ominous, what with the rain clouds gathering in the sky.  We hoped it would clear but, of course, it didn’t.  Mostly, it sprinkled. 

Before heading to the Falls, we took them on a tour of Niagara-on-the-Lake and Queenston Heights.  We were all disappointed that Brock’s Monument was closed due to repairs.  Couldn’t they have done that in the autumn?  Gee.  Oh well, we had a picnic lunch and took pictures so it was not a complete loss.

Next, we headed to the Falls.  We got the car parked and started to walk towards them when, suddenly, the heavens opened and sheets of rain swept down.  We ran for cover, got a couple of heavy plastic shopping bags, cut a hole just big enough for the camera lenses to fit through, the rest of the bag protected our precious digital SLR’s.  We soldiered on.

We decided to go on the Maid of the Mist even though it rained like no tomorrow.  So here are a few pics taken during that violent ride.  None of them are sharp.  The boat rocked and what with the people bumping into you,  it was tough to get a clear, steady shot.  Well, for what it’s worth, here they are.

Last weekend we were in Ottawa for our niece’s wedding.  We decided to stay a couple more days so as to play tourist and to take pictures.  Normally, when we travel, we get a hotel room.  This time, we got a junior suite.  It’s not much bigger than a hotel room but the extra facility, namely the kitchen, is invaluable to one’s comfort.  We stayed at the Bostonian.

Now, I always travel with my percolator and my regular ground coffee and I did this time as well.  When we got in the suite, I was delighted to find there was a regular size fridge, stove, microwave, toaster-oven,  a large drip coffee maker, and - get this - dishwasher. They also had a well-equipped gym - with a television, yet.  I used it every morning. 

The facilities in this hotel were great.  We had a large screen TV, queen size bed and oh, the towels were wonderful - large, thick and luxurious.  We even had a Juliet balcony so we could open the sliding doors and actually get fresh air.  Some people stood on their balconies to have a cigarette.  Good idea.  Keep everyone happy.

Gee, so much for fawning over the Bostonian.

The wedding was like so many weddings I’ve been to.  Mostly, they are meaningful to the couple, to their friends and immediate family.  The rest of us are - well - bored, I guess you could say.  Bored with the speeches, especially.  God, they did go on forever.  We left when the speeches were finally over, the music began and we felt it was no longer rude to leave.  It was getting on in time and I wanted to sleep.

The next day, we went to the couple’s brand new, beautiful and large house sitting on 1 1/2 acres - for a BBQ - oh, and gift openings.  Thankfully, no speeches.  They are young - only 27.  She is a high-school teacher who married a farmer so the land was there and they were motivated into doing a lot of the work themselves.  Well, money doesn’t seem to be a problem here.  I wish them the best of everything.

When we left, we stopped to take photographs.  The day was lovely and countryside beautiful.  We relaxed.  Our duty was completed and we were off to have a mini vacation.

I was determined that, this year, I was going to go to the parade and take a lot of pictures.  I get a little tired of judgmental remarks from those who shall remain nameless.  Those same persons who refused to accompany me and who even refuses to watch my photo-story.  It took a lot of work, I’ll have you know.

It was a fairly hot but not oppressively so, day.  Janet, one of the girls from the camera club, and I stood for at least 3 hours in the blazing sun just to be able to be at the barricades so we could get some clear shots.  By the time the parade started, people were 4 deep behind us. 

For the most part, it was just a lot of fun.  Towards the end I was getting really tired - all that standing in the sun was wearing on me.  Still, I toughed it out.  We toughed it out, I should say.

So there you have it.  My slightly satirical view of the day’s events.  Enjoy.

I didn’t even know this.  I would never have known this had the camera club not written me to let me know.  There was a re-enactment of the civil war in Milton.  Apparently, they do that every year.  The oddest thing was that I did not know that around 50,000 Canadians fought in that war - some for the north and some for the south.  Oh, they were paid for their efforts but still - I did not know that. 

Well, we took off for that event and, to my surprise, it was fun and so very interesting.  I couldn’t believe how seriously these people took their acting roles.  But, since a picture tells a thousand words, let’s do it. 

We left fairly early.  I guess around 10AM.  We took the subway rather than driving because the CNE is in full swing, the Blue Jays are in town and the bucksterfest is taking place.  In other words, Toronto is hopping.

The street activities took place on Front Street.  Police were everywhere but they looked like they were having a great time too.  The sky was heavy with clouds.  It had been raining all night and into the morning.  The mist was hanging low in the sky.  Some of the buildings were shrouded in mist.  Then it started to drizzle a bit but that soon passed.  It became hot and very steamy.  We were “glowing” pretty heavily.  God, I hate the humidity.  It ruins summer for me.

I don’t know about these street entertainers.  Some of them were goofy.  They can’t come anywhere close to being like the ones in Montreal or Quebec city.  Maybe I’m talking too soon.  There was a great combo from Australia called OKA.  I liked their music.  There were a couple of acrobats from Quebec that were very good.  There was a chick from England who tried real hard but was kind of dull.  I took some pictures - more of the spectators.  I found them to be very interesting.

There were lots of things to buy.  I fell in love with a mask from Tibet but didn’t buy it.  I could kick myself.  We should have brought more cash.  These vendors dealt only in cash.  We get so used to the debit machines or credit machines that we tend to walk around with very little cash.  We bought some street food - BBQ chicken with the trimmings. 

About 12:30, we started walking up Church Street on our way to the theatre.  We had tickets to Spamalot.  It was a good long walk.  We could have taken the subway but took the opportunity to take in our morning exercise.  Along the way, I took pictures.

We passed by a very high-end residential area - condos from a converted factory, maybe?  They looked awesome with front doors that led right out on the sidewalk - I like that look.  What do I see sitting on a ledge, looking scruffy and dirty?  A street person.  They look like litter, I swear.  A boil on an otherwise beautiful setting. 

I thought this might be a photo-op so I walked across the street toward this creep.  He started to shout something and finally got up and started bolting toward me.  “You want me to kill you now?”.  I knew I had no chance so I took the sane road.  I stuck out my left arm - palm up, and said “Take it easy.  I’m not going to take your picture.”  At which time he stopped and returned to his place in front of those lovely condos.

So, we continued our walk toward the Canon Theatre to see “Spamelot”.  Once there, the doors opened and the most delicious cool air welcomed us.  Man, what a relief.  It was wonderful.  We picked up our tickets and headed for the bathrooms and then for the bar where we had a couple of good ones.  I had a gin and tonic and Charlie had something else.

It was a wonderful performance.  We thoroughly enjoyed it. It was hilarious.

We took the subway home and remarked what a perfect day it had been.  Well, apart from almost being killed by a street person, that is.