.. carried Dylan back aboard in ‘springtime of ‘86 - had been ‘incognito till then eh ! Was myself dithering in ‘senior sports - post university
And think I’ll intro fresh images & notes here ‘in the hero slot - atop the ‘stack - lotta ‘recreational beers n BBQ went down here ! And this was Sailboard Central - Ned’s Mom Said It Was So - while examining our silverware ‘knives - as she remembered it ‘back in th day eh ! hola !
room for text .. & will shuffle demon further ‘found images & notes
.. Home.. & O’Donnell Cove - claimed & named it so.. long before that larger grove in the sand, & one may see the two storm runoff piers adjacent & therupon ‘the Club - but that little cove was right in front of our sunroom, kitchen & bedroom windows - once the rock groyne created it ! Bueno ! So yes ! Balmy Beach Club 100 yds down the boardwalk - the obvious shoreline gap in front of the Club is not City Owned.. Go Beach Volleyball! And the boardwalk starts at those runoff piers🦎🏴☠️🇨🇦
.. look familiar ? It’s right behind the lads eh ! Dylan jousting !
this is about ‘recreational & sportin culture !
.. if you haven’t seen top flight box or field lacrosse .. you better !
Beaches Roller Hockey.. of course !
this beach section seen below is essentially the same today.. looking towards th northeast not 4 minutes west of The Balmy Beach Club outta site to camera right - it’s the most excellent epicentre - Sportin Beaches Mecca .. always a treat & we were members via the smokin beach volleyball scene there - Dylan & homies would be summer sport campers riding their bikes to the Balmy & on to the pool or butterfly hunt or tennis or day on the baseball diamond - both of which are outta sight to camera left
so yes.. looking south towards what the postcard shows ! & Just to orient ‘all - from this viewpoint - the Balmy is to the left & the Kew Beach area with rink & vast parkland to the right - when you reach the boardwalk..
& yes.. there is Winter in the Beaches ! All in good time ! Beyond is the famous Kew Beach Lifeguard Station. Lifeguards & their dinghy’s maintain assigned stations & integrate with elevated lifeguard & FirstAid posts .. across that water is Buffalo & Niagara Falls & yes i’m among those who’ve swum the International Border.. & yes there’s terrible things have happened ‘out there eh ! Have seen a few from close ashore too - Respect this Lake .. (like any waters!)
‘Daylight or 6 AM practice - Williamson Road School stunned mighty Kew Beach at Maple Leaf Gardens in a great Sporting Lesson (a tale for later - with photos !) ! > ‘the rink is also ‘the box in the Beach(es) as the hockey is replaced by lacrosse and/or roller hockey.. I see pickleball markers there too ! Ball hockey is always sneakin in.. of course it is.. and there’s a sweet basketball court 200 feet away as well as a total jewel of a lawn bowling club.. heading directly north from there leads to the vast sprawling trees & lawns smaller pathways.. and anon to the open grass & baseball diamond.. more parkland plus children’s playground, historic Public Library & the lovely hustle & bustle of Queen Street East..
Quinn’s Soul - the famous Beaches blue glass & it’s still washing ashore .. mainly after a slayer easterly sweeping over from well east of Rochester with shore of its own !
there’s a lovely bandstand here now & the woodlot fenced & very mature now ! And beyond is the sweeping grass & baseball diamond - unseen to camer right is where the fenced in children’s playground and circular splashing pool
.. as i build & revise this Post.. will always be offering annotation re orientation ! I tend to look at the ‘beaches ‘knowing across that lake is The United States - ergo I is Looking South ! To my left is East where the sun comes up ! And so does the mysterious ‘blue beach glass artifacts .. aka Quinn’s Soul - as they were collected on our morning or anytime beach rambles.. most often as the storms began easing. To be clear though - have seen weather it was unsafe or impossible to walk the entire shoreline via the boardwalk.. rocks thrown up at windows of the white apartment building adjacent to the ‘Waterworks - ie the RC Harris Water Filtration Plant or sections of the boardwalk taken out.. yowser
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to be continued ! 🦎🏴☠️🇨🇦
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Love the views of Beaches. I spent the tail end of my grad school years living in upper beach (instead of other parts of downtown) and spending as much time as possible in Beaches. It’s been 20 years since I moved to Australia (for real beaches) but still love to visit the area when I get to come back.
beguiled.