A Canada's 150 Birthday Party!

Saturday July 1, 2017, Canada celebrated 150 years as a country. I convinced my husband that we should do something more than what we usually do (ie. sit at home and occasionally glance out the window at neighbours' fireworks displays). He agreed to come with me to Cobourg Ontario where they do up a wonderful Canada Day celebration every year. This year didn't disappoint. I don't have many photos to share, even though I thought I'd be taking loads of photos, but we had a really great day together along the shores of Lake Ontario with thousands of other Canadians.

We parked in the lakefront area, and there were so many pretty homes there. This sign caught our eye ("This building was standing in 1867"), and I imagine there were quite a few buildings that were sporting this proud sign. I wouldn't have believed this house was that old! I thought it was a great idea for residents to get a feel for how old their buildings really were. Canada as a country is still a baby compared to the rest of the world, so the age of 150 years may not be so impressive to some ;)

Another landmark for Cobourg is the Victoria Hall. This building was completed in 1860.

When we got down to the beach, we were surprised to see how much water was actually on the beach! We've had more than our share of rain this spring and summer, and the evidence is everywhere. The entire grounds where kiosks were set up was saturated and the town had dumped truckloads of woodchips to give everyone some drier footing. It worked pretty well.

This is down by the marina ...

Every Canada Day the town hosts a huge craft fair. They had huge marquee tents set up for this and we spent a couple of hours browsing the booths. I couldn't resist this print ... I think I'll hang it in our trailer ;)

And here's an idea for beer drinkers (didn't buy it) ...

There were continuous bands playing in the bandshell, which I always enjoy. I love sitting in our camp chairs in the open air enjoying music with everyone. The rain arrived late afternoon, and we left the grounds for a while to eat at a restaurant. We arrived back in time to enjoy clear skies again and the final band of the evening which was a cover band for Neil Young. It was great! We knew all the songs and they took me right back to high school. Lots of people were up dancing below the stage.

The evening ended with the fireworks at 10 pm. Everyone had assembled down on the beach and there was so much room there compared to other towns where we have watched fireworks. The fireworks themselves were spectacular!! It was so pretty to see the lights reflected in the pools of water on the sand, and also on the lake itself. I'm fortunate enough to have experienced Expo '67 and my family drove across Canada that same year from the east coast to the west coast. There were six of us and we travelled in an old Dodge station wagon with no air conditioning and pulling a tiny tent trailer. I most likely won't be around for the next big birthday bash for the 200th anniversary, so I was glad we spent the day out with our fellow Canadians just enjoying some Canadian pride. A great day had by all :)

I know ... terrible shot, but you get the idea :)

Thanks for stopping by today!

Wendy