9 Ontario Place

Ontario Place (established in 1971) is considered a world-class attraction ideal for families because of its theme parks, walking trails, water slides, lake etcetera. Located on the waterfront of Lake Ontario at 955 Lake Shore Boulevard West. It is opened seasonally from May to September and closed from October to April. I had visited Ontario Place years ago when my children were infants but failed to visit once they were old enough to go on there own. So last summer armed with two free all day passes I called up my best friend and we spent a Saturday exploring the entire grounds. Needless to say I was flabbergasted by the condition of the place. The best part of the entire day was the company and the scenery from the lake. What was shockingly disappointing was how dirty some of the seating areas were and I kept thinking, ‘This is Ontario Place where families and tourists come to visit? Do they not have people that inspect the grounds? This is a health hazard.’ I am not talking about the kind of dirt people make like cup, paper and other debris. I am talking about cobwebs spread out on the underneath of benches, climbing from bench to bench the length of the benches meant for people to sit on, spiders, mosquitoes and wasps.

The wasps were in the folds of the tents some of which were lined with cobwebs with little flies that laid there trapped. I was surprised by the numerous places where these large cobwebs were visible. While the grounds were not littered with garbage the sight of these large cobwebs insect infested areas are a sure sign of poor maintenance. I was tempted to take photos of all the cobwebs and bugs (I hope they clean up before the summer is in full swing) to ashamed I instead focused on spending quality time with my friend as we walked along the lake exploring the grounds taking pictures of the lake, skyline and surrounding landscapes.

Once we left Ontario Place we attempted to purchase a pop to quench our thirst but decided against it when the man told us the price - $2.00 for a can of pop. I bought an ice-cream cone (something I seldom eat) and we caught the Bathurst Streetcar discussing the sheer madness and audacity of the man to sell canned pop for $2.00 each. Actually my friends exact words were, “not even if I was dying of thirst with my tongue dragging on the ground would I buy a can pop for $2.00 (usually 2 for $1.00), he must be mad.” We got off at King & Bathurst had dinner got back on the Bathurst Streetcar into Bathurst Subway where we both headed East bound parting ways at St. George Subway as she left to catch the other connection to the North/South bound trains and I continued on East. It was a wonderful day.

Click here photos of Ontario Place for more photographs of O.P. (all photographs were taken by me Rhapsody). Click on photographs on post to get a larger view.