Showing posts with label Ferry boat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ferry boat. Show all posts

Thursday, May 7, 2020

1 Year Ago I Was On A Spring Cruise On The Chi-Cheemaun!

                             So 1 year ago well about days later from the actual 1 year anniversary, to be politically correct 5 days. I went on a Spring Cruise on the Chi-Cheemaun Ferry! Boy what a long but fun trip and it was weird to see snow there. Also the fact Flower Pot was really quiet and just odd to see anyone and plus the town of Tobermory was quiet and never seen a town so silent and quiet. I still remember exactly what we had, potatoes, Roast Beef and some kind of square which I believe was lemon actually.  I know there was a ton of down time between the departure and arrival but I was always looking around especially when I got around the Grotto. One thing I loved was the Captain blasted the Chi Cheemaun again on the way out at the entrance/exit to Owen Sound Harbor. Also those hanging out at the Grotto as there was 1 or 2 people there if I remember correctly.  I believe there was a few people even in Tobermory when we arrived to greet the boats arrival for the brand new Ferry Sailing Season. Feels like it has been longer then 1 year and definitely a memorable moment. It was neat we got to enter through a side hatch on the side of the ferry which is a very rare occurrence as you normal enter from the "bow" or "stern" as that is the proper terms or the side ramp either side Tobermory or South Baymouth (Manitoulin Island). It was amazing to see what a great turn out it had and unfortunately the ferry service is on hold due to our situation with the virus but glad I got go last year with my dad and my dad traveled from pretty far from the South East end of Ontario like 3 hours away from here. 


                           I would love to complete it all and do the Fall Cruise with my dad next year which would be pretty beautiful up there but we would have to book a hotel and get a school bus from Owen Sound and up to Tobermory. I am on their social media pages liked and following them on a regular updates and asked them questions if I had some. Either way there is 2 more things on my bucket list with Tobermory and that is for another post for another day. It is a fun trip and if you live in Ontario and when this is all done and hopefully things go back to normal, I highly recommend this trip even if it isn't a Spring or Fall Cruise it can be a normal trip from Tobermory to South Baymouth or the southbound trip but it don't matter really what direction but it is worth the time to go up there. Finally I have been doing this trip for ages and like I said there are 3 things still on my bucket list. What the heck really, they are the 2 hour cruise around the islands during the day, exploring Manitoulin more and finally the Fall Cruise. I know the fall cruise will be similar but it will be in the opposite direction which is south down the peninsula.  Either way it was a fun time and I enjoyed it and cannot wait to do the fall one. 


- Chris

Thursday, May 9, 2019

First Ride On The M.S Chi-Cheemaun Ferry (Throwback Thursday Story)

           So this is very fitting being a week later after going on the Spring Cruise on the M.S Chi-Cheemaun and this was actually inspired while being on the ferry boat that day so that is where today's post came from. Anyways today's throwback story is my very first ride on the M.S Chi-Cheemaun Ferry. Now this is going way back like way back in the late 1990's into the 2000s when my dad and I made a trip up there for the very first time. Now back then Tobermory was different compare to now. The Seaview III was still operating and did even several years ago under Blue Heron Cruise Company which I found out by looking at the boat later on. So anyways, the night of us heading onto the boat and across the lake into Lake Huron was different and it was the first time getting up the next morning at 5 am to get down to the docks for 530 am in advance. Anyways those were the days when the Dockside Restaurant was still around. I remember my meal very well even to this day being 10 + years ago now and it was a western sandwich which had eggs, onion and ham in it and honestly I haven't had a western in a very long time. Of course I remember hanging out on the back deck of the boat and always has been our hangout place.


          Honestly I do miss the old days but we did find another restaurant to go to in the morning of the ferry boat even though we had a very bad experience there and waited till we got to Manitoulin Island which made me very, very crabby person all together. I do not know why the Dockside had to go but it is what it is I guess and have to just deal with it I guess and that is what we had to do but it will be a place for me to definitely remember. This feels like forever nearly 20 years of going up there with my dad and I am sure we will be up there again while he can still make the long trips like that as he will be 75 next year but age does not stop you whatsoever and I think either next year or the year after we are planning to do the Fall Cruise from Tobermory to Owen Sound but we never know what we are planning but it is not the last of us seeing the town of Tobermory, Ontario.




Chris

Friday, May 3, 2019

Chi-Cheemaun Ferry Spring Cruise 2019

         So obviously with the podcasts being late tonight however their all up on the platform makes you wonder where I've been lately. Well I have been away up north yesterday in Owen Sound for the Chi-Cheemaun Spring Cruise. We left early as we had a 3.5 to 4 hour car travel to do and that included the stop for breakfast at Timmies on the way up. Well we got there near 10 am 2 hours before the departure which is more then enough time till we left. As you can see there is a picture of the Chi-Cheemaun sitting in the port of Owen Sound and was easy to find when we got there as it sticks out pretty easily so it is very easy to find between Mid October and end of April when it is sitting in port there during it's winter birth. Anyways we go on between 1050 and 110 am EST and we went in through the side of the boat through a door that is on the car deck of the boat which I never knew there was a door there technically but probably for emergency uses I am pretty much guessing


      So throughout the trip we hung out on the deck towards the stern of the boat and up above where the funnel where the diesel smoke came out which you can see on the left side. We had lunch, they gave up Roast Beef, potatoes, cooked beets, I didn't have green or yellow beans and carrots as I am not much of a green or yellow bean kind of person. Also at the bow side inside we had entertainment and it was good and same with the food as well. We also got to go by the Grotto which wasn't visible and some caves as well. I posted it on my Instagram with tons of pics for you guys to see. I will post up some more this weekend. We also to go by Flower Pot Island and saw the Flower Pots. Also leaving Owen Sound the boat gave two final toots of the horn salute goodbye which was really neat to hear. Also arriving the usual horn and it is like she saying hey I'm back home. So it was a good trip overall even though we had to wait 20 minutes for a bus that wasn't full but still a great trip and both my dad and I are planning on going on the Fall Cruise down the road but we do not know when but it is still in the plans but we got some family vacations setup for the next year and a few months. Boston this year and Calgary the following of the year. 



Chris

Saturday, March 23, 2019

I Am Glad It Is Spring Finally!

           I am darn well am happy that spring is officially here despite the really weird still winter esk kind of weather we had yesterday with a snowfall for an hour or two which mind you made no sense whatsoever. Typical Canadian Weather here honestly. So this also means my knees will be more at ease minus the Thunderstorms that come with the nicer weather. But I have noticed in the warmer weather my knees are not affected as much so the colder weather sure does have something to do with the weather with my knees. Also I can definitely can get out more and end of April I will be out as much as I can minus the days I am in the house looking after my mom as she will be recovering from surgery which is this Monday coming up, in 2 days from now. After she is recovered tho, I will be able to get out and I already have plans to travel again at the end of April for an eviction for Big Brother Canada again which will be my last for the season. Also on May 2nd, I will be off to Owen Sound for the Spring Cruise back up to Tobermory so I will be gone all day and it will be indeed a very long day for me with the next morning being a major podcast day for me. 


          I am sure I will be out and about in the start of May too and I am sure the day of the Big Brother Canada Finale, I will be very busy and out and about that day too I am pretty sure of it as I will be running around like crazy  I definitely wanna take the advantage and throw the ball around with friends and hit balls out as I rarely get to do that but at least once a year now. I know both Eric and I will go out and about to hangout and spend time with me and we already plan on a trip down to the lake where we use to film back in the old days of us being on YouTube as a team. It will indeed be a trip down memory lane for sure for not just me but the both of us.  I plan on some trips to Toronto with my dad and I am sure my niece and nephew which I haven't really mentioned them in quite some time but I am planning to get out. There is two local events I want to go to: Maple Festival in Bowmanville and also Food Truck Friday are on the list and it is an excuse to get out locally and attend the events.  Either way I am looking forward to the warmer weather and getting out and getting more exercise and more steps in now then I have been getting recently.





Chris

Saturday, September 9, 2017

My Vacation 2017- Part 2

 I know I am extremely late on blog posts lately catching up on both podcasts and blogs and planning to promote Chris B On The Web at an event but here is the last part of of my vacation, so I do apologize for the blog's delayed.

            

            So Day 3 of my holiday was probably one of the most hectic days for me on the vacation but was fun and a lot of exercise involved on this day. So after breakfast we went out to Bruce Peninsula National Park and trust me, had a heck of a time trying to find it, we literally passed by it and it seemed like we were heading home without our tent which was back at camp. Don't worry we ended up turning back around and very quickly and headed back north towards Tobermory. We were worried we weren't going to find it, so we planned on going back getting the stove to do lunch at Singing Sands Beach, however we managed to find the Bruce Peninsula Park. What was good about the park, as you know we just celebrated Canada's 150th Birthday this year and a day pass was free of charge so was so nice of the government to do that for us Canadians. However we had a time limit between 7 and 11 am to be at the Grotto and usually we do not spend a lot of time at the grotto, usually an hour at the most. The water at the Grotto, my body went into total shock and found it hard to breath at times swimming around. We found a frog hanging out on the rock I tried to pick it up but it hopped between some rocks. 



          After the Grotto and we went back to the car we went back to the camp to grab some lunch, followed by that we to Singing Sands Beach to hike and look for Rattlesnakes which we did not see any snakes compare to several years ago, probably since I was still in college at the time. So in total by the end of the hike we have accumulated 5 KM in total for our hike. Was very rewarding to hike that far in a day! Plus my weight maintained at 220 pounds and one of the reasons there hasn't been monthly updates on my weight loss progress as I have maintained at 220 or gone up a bit. So back to vacation talk on this blog, we went for a swim and was really more dunk your head under and get wet as the sand bars go from shallow to deep to shallow again, so it is hard to have an actual swim unless you keep on walking out further out which can take quite sometime.                                                                                  


          So the evening we went out to a local fish place and ordered out dinner, local white fish and chips which was sooo good. It had the skin which sealed in the flavor in the breaded fish. We sat down at the Ferry docks to eat and afterwards we sat over on the rock for a while and watched the Chi-Cheemaun come in and of course we went to town to watch it leave. The final day was the windiest day of them all and  the waves were huge as demonstrated in the picture on the right hand side of the post. I know that doesn't stop the ferry from running but the cruise boats were obviously cancelled and I took a picture of me next to one of the boats I took a cruise on when I was younger.

 So we watched the Chi-Cheemaun depart and we were on our way home with a stop at Blue Mountain for a round of mini golf and a Meathead Pizza, so it was a fun filled trip and it truly felt good to be home and its been hard to come back to all of this but slowly re-adjusting to things again. One last picture below is the mini golf course I played, it was quite a challenge too!

































Have a Great Night!





Chris

Sunday, September 3, 2017

I'm Back From Vacation!

            After 4 days of being away, I am back home! I do refreshed and raring to go! Despite recent drama the day I return home from holidays an old friend from Blogtv.com decided to turn on me, but whatever I got plenty of friends. Only broadcasting friend that is left I have is Santiago at the moment.  Anyways I am now back and in this blog I am going to talk about the trip to the shortest extent as possible, however I am putting it into 2 parts, Day 1 & 2 today and Day 3 & 4 tomorrow to split things up as it is a lot of information to put out there in a blog post!

             I left bright and early on the Monday with church in the morning followed by breakfast at Tim Horton's. Then the fun began with travel for 6 hours or a bit more. Mind you I won't bore you with the details of the travel, mainly I wrote on my pad of paper with ideas in my mind, keeping track of what I did on the trip. Read a book on the War of 1812, so it was pretty much boring stuff I did, which is very uninteresting to you guys anyways. So we were officially on Manitoulin Island and close to the ferry boat. We went on the way to our campground for the night, had a very easy dinner, chicken and potatoes which is traditional dinner we have when we go year after year.  After dinner we were out to the beach and sat out on the beach, went for a walk, had a good time. 

             On Day 2, was a big day, we had breakfast, was the quickest one ever, we cleaned up and went for a walk on the board walk and some some murals in town. Then we packed up camp and drove on to South Baymouth with a stop at the marina nearby in Providence Bay. Once we got there, we went to a local art gallery and looked around, followed by lunch at the local restaurant, I had a triple Decker grilled cheese sandwich, small side of french fries. After that we went to the marina and the walk way and went out to the lighthouse for a peak and found a rock I decided to keep that reminded me of the Flower Pots on Flower Pot Island, which mind you I cannot find it now... I went up on a higher platform and was so gorgeous! Finally we went back to the car and drove onto the M.S. Chi-Cheemaun! Travel wise it was a tiny bit rough but I didn't really care it was rough, I like to rough so to speak, ha-ha! We arrived and we got a few things from the store as we needed milk and wieners (Hot Dogs) as we were planning on having it for lunch the very next day which will be in tomorrow's blog. After that we went to camp, setup for the next 30 - 37 hours camping in Tobermory. The evening, we went on a Sunset Cruise and was so much fun and the sunset itself was absolutely gorgeous! It was well worth taking a holiday away from the podcasts, blogs and websites. Finally in Saturday's blog I will be covering the last two days on my trip and it will be a lot more fun and activities going on.  I apologize for the latest of blogs recently, I will start blogging more, don't worry. 
 


















Have a great night! 



Chris