Fort York and Harbourfront

Thursday 17 May, 2007
To Fort York where the costumed staff are putting visiting school kids through military drills. In 1793, Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe authorized a garrison on the present site of Fort York, just west of the mouth of Garrison Creek on the north eastern shore of Lake Ontario. Simcoe recognized Toronto was an ideal site for settlement and defence because of its natural harbour and relative distance from the United States. Fort York guards the western (at the time of construction, the only) entrance to Toronto harbour. Simcoe had decided to make Toronto (at that time called York) the capital of Upper Canada, and the government, the first parliament buildings and the town were established one and a half miles east of the fort (near the foot of the present Parliament Street).
The McBeans travel eastward to Harbourfront where they have lunch and do some souvenir shopping.
Wednesday 16 May, 2007
A cool, rainy day and an unofficial day of rest for the McBeans. It's hard to keep up the pace while on holiday and a day to regroup is often just what you need.