Summer Dreaming: Distillery District

I've honestly been trying to write this post for two months but other things keep taking precedent -- other posts, naps, reading, cooking meals, etc. We are currently in the midst of an early snowfall -- they're calling for 10-15 centimeters (4-6 inches) of snow by tonight so today I'm taking it back to the end of August and dreaming about summer again :)

A few years ago, I made a Pinterest board of exciting things to do in Toronto, and after trying (and failing) to fit them in with other plans we had, we finally decided to just take a day and go do "all the things." And it was such a fun day. So I will share some of it today and the rest of it on Thursday.

We drove into the city, parked at our favourite parking lot (Yes, we have a favourite - ha!), and then spent the rest of the day on foot (except for one streetcar ride). The kids were troopers as we had walked about 15 kilometres (9 miles) by the end of the day.

Our first stop was Sugar Beach and its famous pink umbrellas. We realized it is right by the Redpath Sugar Factory and we also realized that it is covered in crystallized grains of white stuff which looks like... sugar. Since it was fairly early on a Saturday morning, it was also fairly empty and smelled liked marijuana and urine. The pictures make it look really picturesque, which it was, but honestly, all I can remember is the smell. Sadness.

We then walked to the Distillery District which was our main event for the day. The Distillery District is 47 buildings known as the Gooderham & Worts Distillery. A group of developers turned it into a shopping/restaurant/gallery centre and it is a truly amazing place to visit. You can read more about it here. What I particularly loved, and was fascinated by, were all the outdoor art installations.

We grabbed coffees/hot drinks and sat under this art for a bit when we first arrived.

"Sometimes the grass is greener because it's FAKE." This spoke to me so much.

I loved this wall of sunflowers, even if they were fake.

Sam and Rachel had a lot of fun walking around, and interacting with some of the artwork/installations.

This is a famous spot to take pictures, and if you follow me on Instagram, you may remember seeing our whole family in front of this one. You can see it again here.

Since this area was originally a distillery, it felt appropriate to get a picture of Sam and Rachel in front of these old barrels. The whole district is cobblestones so it felt very old-world which I loved.

There was an art installation to promote the work of a brain association so all these different artists had created their own "brains." I loved seeing all the different interpretations. The kids were really intrigued by this installation.

We found a secret door! And this "spider" is huge and a feature of the Distillery District.

I loved this peace sign engraved with religious symbols from all over the world. And yes, more flowers!

This lock artwork was incredible. I was so intrigued by it.

Rachel wanted her own picture at the "Love" sign. We walked by this one a few times as it is central in the district.

We stopped for lunch and ate at this amazing outdoor patio. It was a Mexican themed restaurant and I had shrimp tacos which were DELICIOUS! I wish I had some right now. Yum!!!

We LOVED The Distillery District. I would highly recommend visiting if you are ever in Toronto. And this was just half of our day. We still had more Toronto to explore...