Big Sips And Tall Ships

I think I have finally relaxed after my crazy weekend. Not only was it Canada Day weekend but it was also the weekend that Hamilton's pier 8 was taken over by some of the tallest ships in the world, and I got to be a part of it all!

Okay, truth... I wasn't so much "a part of it" as I was selling tickets for it, but still you get the picture. It was a great event and something completely different. There were 5 ships from all over the place, including the biggest one, Sorlandet, which hailed from Norway. It is the oldest full rigged ship still in operation...IN THE WORLD!

Liana's Ransom sailing out for a cruise.

The event was long, hot and so very busy. Who knew that so many Hamiltonians were shippers. Although thanks to the heat I did have to deal with some fairly miserable people but I wouldn't have traded the weather considering it was supposed to rain the entire weekend. Thank goodness that didn't happen and for the most part people seemed to be loving the ship out of this event! (See what I did there?) Unfortunately the opening night musical entertainment was cancelled due to the forecast but the rest of the weekend was beautiful. Almost as beautiful as the ships themselves.

Some of my work friends.

I was privileged enough to work right in front of the tall beauties. Not a bad view if I do say so myself. I only wish I had been able to go on one of the deck tours that I was selling tickets for. Unfortunately I was selling tickets before they opened and until they closed so that didn't happen. I'll make sure I do if they ever come back. I would love to step foot on a piece of history like that. It's a little bit sad when you think that ships like this used to be the norm on the waterways and now there are so few that huge events are held just to see them.

This was taken from my work station. Not too shabby eh.

The tall ships were here as part of Hamilton's 1812 Bicentennial celebrations and I think it's safe to say that this is an event that should become annual.

 

(A great little video posted on YouTube by pier8group)

After the insane whirlwind that was working at the tall ship event I was so exhausted that even forming sentences seemed difficult but I am a solid patriot and so of course on holiday Monday I had my friends and family over for a delightful Canada Day BBQ and beer party. This has become somewhat of an annual event and I am glad that it has. I persevered through the day of drinking and eating but alas was far too tired to go watch fireworks. I was in bed before I even heard any go off. Me thinks I'm getting too old to burn the candle at both ends anymore.

Some of my friends on Canada Day 2013. Red & White REPRESENT!!

I hope all my Canadian readers (do I have readers?) enjoyed your weekend, eh! And if you get a chance to go see the tall ships at another port or, if fingers crossed, they return to Hamilton's harbour I would suggest you go. It is truly an incredible sight.

Gordie, Gord & Gourds

Last week was an insanely awesome week to be Canadian, specifically a Hamiltonian. First of all I won tickets to go see Wide Mouth Mason with Gordie Johnson of Big Sugar at Absinthe. It was a stellar show. I hadn't heard anything about Wide Mouth Mason since the early 2000's but they played some of their old stuff as well as new and it was very cool to go to a show and for once not be the oldest person there. That seems to happen to me a lot. You may not know this but Gordie Johnson is kind of a Canadian legend. Click here to see Gordie Johnson and Big Sugar's version of O Canada. He was the lead singer of Big Sugar as well as producing albums for bands such as The Trews, The Joel Plaskett Emergency and Reel Big Fish. He is now a bonafide member for the comeback of Wide Mouth Mason. Refresh your memory of Wide Mouth Mason HERE.

Wide Mouth Mason   Photo: Laura Cook

Gordie Johnson   Photo: Laura Cook

Secondly The Tragically Hip played the first show at Ivor Wynne Stadium in 33 years. It was also the last show. I woke up to a text from my friend Laura saying, "I hope you are interested in seeing the hip because I got tickets." That was quite a surprise and they didn't disappoint. Gord Downie is just a ball of energy. I definitely got that feeling you get when you see legends. Goosebumps everywhere and tingles in your belly. I'm not what you would call a die hard Hip fan but I have to say that it was pretty amazing! I was so happy to get to see a part of something that will go down in Hamilton history. It will be sad when Ivor Wynne is gone. Click here...it's not Hip but still Downie-riffic!

The Hip are SO hip!

Gord Downie is legendary!

Last but not least in the week of awesome was that it was Canadian thanksgiving. That means time with family, and disgusting amounts of delicious foods. I was so full that I was actually in pain but it was SO worth it. My friend Kristen made an AMAZING pumpkin pie. It was quite literally the best pumpkin pie I've ever eaten and I'm convinced that she should probably open a pie shop. It was THAT good. Other than appreciating my full tummy, thanksgiving showed me all of the things I have to be thankful for in my life. I have amazing friends and the best, kindest, warmest family. As I sat back and reveled in the whole famjam playing Scene It (I won BTW) I was reminded of the cheesiest moments in family sitcoms and I would be hard pressed to find anything that makes me happier than my close, cheesy family.

The best pumpkin pie in Hamilton!!

Gobble, gobble time!

It's A Bird, It's A Plane. No! It's Supercrawl!

How should I start this weeks blog? I think there is one word that will do it. SUPERCRAWL! Yes friends, it happened. It came, it was awesome, and it left us with hopes and dreams for next year.

Hamilton has somehow become this mecca for the arts and it's definitely strange since we are known for being a steel city, not really for being artsy fartsy. I think we are starting to make a real name for ourselves in that area as well though. Over 50,000 folks came out for a weekend full of music, art, food and friends. A huge increase since the first Supercrawl held four years ago.

There is definitely a hunger from the youngsters in the Hammer to showcase their creativity and James St N. Art Crawl and Supercrawl is an amazing way to get their art out there as well as an opportunity to network and to really just embrace the community. I love the idea of 50,000 people all coming together for the same reason and it's great to see people really grabbing hold of some hometown pride. I saw a multitude of Hamilton love ranging from T-shirts to tattoos with Hamilton logos. It was...super!

Hamilton is blessed with some insane musical talent and there was definitely no limit of that at Supercrawl. There were lots of great Hamilton acts like Terra Lightfoot (Terra's Site! GO!) who is just incredible, as well as Wax Mannequin who is always an interesting act to watch. There were also lots of out of towners who came to entertain the masses. Great Lake Swimmers, Said the Whale and K'Naan were just a few and people were NOT disappointed. Click to see an awesome Great Lake Swimmers music video! Do it!

Not only was there great musical acts but there was an insane acrobatic fire show put on by the Fire Jammers. It was crazy. For crazy pyro action...click here!

The fact that this is all free is just mind blowing. Of course I bought a supercrawl button and apparently proceeds from that go to fund next years event so I really hope everybody bought buttons or donated so that we can continue to have this amazing gathering for lots of years to come!

I'm sad that it's over. It was such a great weekend. I want to do it all over again...and again, and again.

Here's a few pics from the crawl! Oh and go check out this story CBC Hamilton did on Supercrawl. I'm only directing you here because they used one of my tweets/pics in the storify section of the story and I was kind of intrigued by it. CBC Supercrawl Story.

My friend Kristen enjoying some delicious Sweet Ice at Supercrawl 2012.

Terra Lightfoot being awesome as usual at Supercrawl 2012.

One of the more disturbing pieces I saw at Supercrawl. That face is made of baby chicks. Straaaange.

Did you know that Mexican Coca-Cola is different from ours? Neither did I until we ate at Mex-I-Can during Supercrawl.

Fire Acrobats at Supercrawl 2012! Whaaat!!

Great Lake Swimmers. Super awesome Canadian music at Supercrawl 2012.

If you missed it this year and are really jealous don't worry...there's only another 360-ish days left until Supercrawl 2013!

Happy Birthday Canada

Happy Canada Day to all you Canucks out there! I hope you all celebrated your long weekend with style! Hammertown had almost too much to offer this weekend and I'm not going to lie I had a hard time deciding what to do.

My weekend started off with a celebration because I had an interview in Toronto to do PR for a fashion boutique. I was offered and accepted the position. It was very welcome and exciting news for me. When I got home I really wanted to celebrate. My friend and I went to the It's Your Festival that was going on at Gage Park. The Dinner Belles were playing (I swear I'm not stalking them) as well as many other great local and Canadian bands including David Wilcox.

Unreal.

Not my favourite Hamilton festival but still worth checking out.

Not only was there some great music happening down there but I FINALLY got to try Gorilla Cheese. Gorilla Cheese is one of the many food trucks in Hamilton to become popular in the past couple of years. Food trucks are a major craze right now and I can see/taste why. I ordered the lumberjack grilled cheese. It had cheese, bacon, granny apple and maple syrup on it and it was delicious. I thought paying $8 for a grilled cheese was a little extreme but they aren't lying when they say it is gourmet grilled cheese and I can say it was worth every penny.

Goal: Try them ALL!

After the festival I went to the movies and saw Magic Mike. Yes, it was magical. I don't need to go into details. The picture says it all.

umm...yaaaa.

 On Sunday I had friends over for a BBQ and we had a lovely day. After we ate we decided to go watch fireworks at the mountain brow. Fireworks were being offered in many parts of the city. Down by the bay, Dundas, Valley Park... tons of places had them but we really didn't want to deal with the crowds so we went to the brow. There were a lot of people there as well but it wasn't too difficult to find a spot. We picked the best viewing point that we could find and it was great because it was such a beautiful, clear night that we could see the firework shows that were being set off in different parts of the city and even in other cities from where we were. When the finale was over people were setting off their own fireworks at the brow so we stayed and watched those as well. It was perfect.

Today my friends and I were supposed to go check out Hamilton's Rib Fest but to be honest I think we all spent just a bit too much time in the sun yesterday and we were all pretty exhausted. That's okay because I know that Hamilton has lots to offer pretty much every weekend this summer and I look forward to attending most of those events.

All in all I had a wonderful Canada Day long weekend spent with great friends and family. I hope you did too!!