When my Dad and I were in Toronto back in early May, we weren’t treated to great weather for the few days there.  It was unseasonably cold and windy, so we were lucky the Jays games we went to were played under the dome.  We did get one relatively nice afternoon to make a trip neither of us had before.  A quick walk from my sister’s condo (our home away from home for this trip) is the ferry over to the Toronto Islands.   Shortly after departing downtown, this is the view back toward the city… pretty nice!

As we got closer to the end of the ferry ride, you gain a perspective on just how far away the islands are from downtown.   Although the ride is only about fifteen minutes and you have this gorgeous view of the city,  you know you’ve arrived in a very different place.    A place that’s a lot quieter, less chaotic… a place with a million dollar view:

On this chilly afternoon, there weren’t too many people making the trip over – mostly a few tourists and kids cutting class.  This is the ferry we took across – the Sam McBride.  It’s named after a former mayor of Toronto and it looks pretty good for a boat the same age as my Dad (though it’s had some significant work done to it in the past couple of years):

Dad and I spent about an hour or so on Centre Island.  We leaned against a railing of a closed restaurant right on the water and watched planes taking off from the Toronto Island airport:

We went for a nice walk along some of the trails on Centre Island and as we made our way back toward the ferry for downtown, we stopped for a picture on the shore of Lake Ontario with the Toronto skyline in the background:

Back on the ferry, we made a fast friend.  My Dad and I were both missing our dogs at home and this guy was more than happy to accept some pats and rubs from two strangers in need of canine attention:

It’s a shame it took me so long to visit Centre Island given all the time I’ve spent in Toronto over the years.  It was a really nice way to spend part of an afternoon and I’m looking forward to exploring the islands more on a future trip back to the city.