SO MUCH TO SEE

I started writing this post to you yesterday morning (November 17th). I had hoped to finish before I started my day but ran out of time. We are on some short runs which means we are in port, or the canal frequently and there is so much to see. I find it hard to concentrate on getting lunch and supper ready with the temptation of going out on deck to see what there is to see. We left Toronto Friday morning while I was writing to you and is probably why I didn't finish my post. I was out on deck and it was so beautiful seeing all the lights from Toronto. From a distance there is a silence when you look at the city scape, but you can just imagine the bustle of the city on a Friday morning, an extra excitement in the air for those who are waiting for the weekend.

The view when we came into Toronto Harbor Thursday night

Toronto early morning Friday

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Toronto is very close to the Welland canal so we were in the canal in just a few hours after leaving Toronto.  I went out to look if I could spot the bench that is on the walking trail. I pointed out to the Nancy the fruit trees orchards. The Niagara Fruit belt. It was a bit of a rainy day and I was happy to see some ship enthusiasts at lock 3. I sent out a wave and a wish for a nice day. It was after lunch so I enjoyed a moment to speak to one individual. It is so nice when the timing is good and I don't have to rush back in to serve or make sure supper is not burning.  Lock three is always special for me. Nice memories. We are lightship so the people in the lock three parking lot look really small. It really is amazing how these huge steel giants maneuver their way through the locks and sometimes very narrow corridors. We met a few ships I have sailed on before and I snapped their picture as they slid by us. It was a fun day. We made it out of the canal after dark and we are on our way to Windsor. I will wait until it is confirmed where we are taking the next load of salt because the destination can change. I am hopeful that it is Johnstown, which means another trip through the Welland Canal, the 1000 islands, Brockville and a visit from Lorraine . I will keep you posted.

You can see the bench through the trees. It’s a beautiful walking trail, and what a fantastic spot to watch the ships coming in.

The Frontenac, my first ship.

We also met the Tadoussac. I worked on her in 2021

Below is the post I started yesterday morning and a little story about my mom. It's Friday morning onboard the Atlantic Huron. Not long after my third alarm rang encouraging me to get up, I heard the unloading gear wind down and come to a stop. The familiar sound indicating that another load of salt has been delivered to its destination. (We delivered road salt and I was thinking that I may be driving over the winter roads in Toronto sprinkled with the salt we just delivered today). I don't mind the noise of the unloading process and in fact I sleep better, it covers up the occasional noise through the night of someone walking by in the hall with their walkie-talkie on, or the wail of the engine room phone (I hear the engine room phone on most ships but don't hear it hear).  When I worked on the Louis R. Desmarias (now named the CSL Laurentien) my room was  right beside the unloading belt where the cargo passed up before it was transported to the end of the boom and onto a pile on the dock or into a hopper. If you can imagine millions of little iron ore pellets clinking together and then the equipment running it, it was very loud, but I had the best sleep. I was talking to a friend about the ships and the constant noise of the engines, generators etc. They shared with me that when they got off the ship they had to run a dehumidifier/humidifier for noise in the bedroom when they got home so that the room was not too quiet. I adopted the same habit except I used a cheap fan (the expensive fans are too quiet) and I even travel with a fan sometimes if I know I will be somewhere quiet. The ship also offers a nice gentle movement that is comforting to sleep. I find myself getting more relaxed and thinking about going back to bed as I write about sleeping. I went to bed later than usual Thursday night because the groceries came on arrival in Toronto. It was the biggest order I have placed. $13,000. The company flagged my order because it was so large (first time that happened) but we explained that it was a larger order in case we were delayed on one of our longer trips that is coming up (I will share where when it is confirmed, but I am looking forward to it) It is always exciting to see the grocery order come in and the fridges, freezer and dry store are replenished. Nancy, the second cook placed things immediately as they came into the fridge. It will be nice to go shopping in the fridge and freezer. We will be in the canal again. I always enjoy going through the canal. We spent the better part of yesterday in the canal too and I stepped outside just before supper to see the walking trail that I was introduced to right across from Lock One. I tried to pick out the bench that I had seen and where I imagined would be the perfect place to watch ships come into the canal. There was another ship tied up waiting for us to depart Lock One and I was thinking I wouldn't see the two benches, but I did just at the last moment. It is the perfect spot.

I invited Nancy to come out and wave at the Lock 7 webcam. Someone wrote that they saw us waving . It was a beautiful day.

It is impressive how these big ships move around accommodating other ships.

I enjoy discovering new places on land that I can visualize the next time I pass by on a ship. Of course passing Toronto this morning there is an avalanche of memories, presented in all kinds of scenarios, different seasons and different weather. I often share the story about my mom's accident in the early 1990's. I am also reminded of this story/memory when we empty a spray can . On the ship we store the empty spray cans in a separate place because they are flammable. My mom and dad lived 10km west of Brockville in the country. We had neighbors close by on the dead end road where we lived. We had a large yard behind the house with a huge garden which my mom loved. Back behind the garden, my mom used to burn the paper garbage. She paid special attention to burn any personal information/ checks. One spring day while my dad was in the basement of the house practicing his accordion, with my uncle on the drums (together they were the entertainment for dances and special occasions), my mom decided to burn some of the cardboard boxes and papers that were sitting the garage. My dad explained that over the music he heard a big BOOM and then my mom running by in front of the basement windows where he and my uncle were. Unbeknownst to my mom there were a couple of spray paint cans in one of the empty boxes that she was burning and it exploded in her little fire, burning her. She ran to get my dad.  Perhaps in the shock, he tried to clean the remnants of black spray paint off of her and my mom insisted he drive her to the hospital immediately, her burn wounds not obvious to him yet. She said she hung her arms out of the car window as he drove the 10 km to the hospital. My dad, still not realizing the extent of her burns dropped her off at the door and said he was going to park the car. By the time he got back to the emergency room, she had a team around her. It was only then that he realized how serious it was. I was on the Louis R at the time. We were on a steady run Picton to Detroit with cement. I had completed three months and I was due to get off in a few days. My mom and I always loved horses so we were planning on doing a mother/daughter trip to the Kentucky Derby.  I called from a payphone in Picton, Ontario to announce that I would be getting off in the canal upbound and my dad answered the phone. This is back in the day when we had one phone and it was attached to the kitchen wall. My dad never answered the phone because he said it was never for him. I asked my dad where mom was and he said "she's in the garden", so I asked him to tell her we were on schedule to take our trip to the Kentucky Derby. The next day, I got off in the Welland canal and made my way over to Toronto where I planned to take the train the next day. I called home again and my dad answered. I asked again for my mom and he said "oh she is out talking to a neighbor. I treated myself to a wonderful stay in a downtown Toronto hotel and set out for a walk the next morning storing my luggage at the train station (again, back in the day where you could actually take a bag, store it in a locker and walk away).  I like to appeal to all the senses, when I am cooking or doing something special. The sense of smell, visual, the music so I had a few hours before my train and decided to walk to the Toronto market on Front Street. It's close to the train station and I thought I would pick out a payphone in a nice spot to call home. There was a trio playing (violin, cello and can't remember the third) right beside a phone booth. It was a busy market and I thought this would be the perfect backdrop to announce that I was off the ship and enjoying my first day of vacation. My dad answered the phone! This time when I asked "Where's mom?" He started to explain there was an accident, by sharing a story about their friends who decided to paint the inside of their freezer and when they used heat guns to dry the paint they were both slightly burned when the fumes combusted into flames, this was not making sense, Where is mom? "Well she is in the hospital with burns from an explosion" At that instant it hit me, my mom was injured. I wanted to scream for the trio of musicians beside my phone booth to stop playing....my mom is injured. The three hour train ride which I normally love and is over too fast, dragged on.  I could see my dad waiting for me on the platform in Brockville. The hospital is a short distance and we went to see my mom. He didn't prepare me for what I was going to see and when I briefly looked in each room until I saw my mom, he said "Wait, you passed her room" I didn't recognize my mom. Her face was so swollen. She had burns to her face, hands, one arm and burned her hair. She was so lucky that she was wearing glasses which saved her eyes.  My mom made a full recovery and refers to her burn as a facial peel to look younger. My mom had a great sense of humor. We never made it to the Kentucky Derby and I am always careful with spray cans and where they are stored.

My beautiful mother

I was looking back over my pictures from the last few days and I have quite a few photos to share with you. I  made a video of some of the photos and video clips from upbound in the canal on our way to Windsor and then while we were in Windsor. Both days the weather was beautiful and I found myself sitting outside enjoying the beautiful sunshine. I had taken so many photos I couldn't pick just one so made this little video. You can see it on the following link. Just click on the link and it will take you to my YouTube channel. You do not have to be a YouTube member to watch the video. Remember to Like, share and subscribe to the video channel. I plan to share some cooking videos soon. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzZXC8c7qIo

You can just copy the link if it does not open on it’s own, or visit my YouTube Channel @shiptoshorechef

I have lots of food photos to share too. We got a few new crew over the past couple of days and two of them were already familiar with me because they have seen my posts. I thought it was nice when one of them thanked me for asking about his likes and dislikes, I said I always do and went on to explain that I photograph the meals for my blog, He said he knew and said he follows me. We laughed when I said it's true what I write, I do ask and want to try and make something nice for each crew member. The Clam chowder was especially good yesterday and I thought of my dad as I ladled out each bowl. For lunch I made hot dogs on homemade buns. Second choice was a one pot curried rice and chicken dish. (It is very popular) The third choice was an imitation crab salad sandwich, or salad plate. I mixed half of the imitation crab salad with mayo and curry, it was really good. Of course Friday night is Fish and chip night and for those who don't like fish I made spicy meat pies.

my dad loved clam chowder

Hot Dog Day. We got chips and pop with the groceries so it was a fun lunch

The one pot curried rice and chicken dish with a little of my GPS sauce on top.

Spicy meat pie for those who don’t like Fish on Fridays

Salad plate with imitation crab meat mixed with mayo and curry.

The day before I made smoked meat on rye (from the leftover smoked meat from the night before) I made my mom's potato salad to go with it. I used the baby potatoes and smashed them, trying to recreate a potato salad that Lorraine (my sister, best friend and publisher) and I have had in a restaurant in old Montreal. The second choice was a beef pot pie. The beef pot pie was the popular choice. Some other meals this past week that went well was the Spaghetti and meat sauce, second choice clam sauce. (I was surprised how many chose the clam sauce), The homemade tomato soup with grilled cheese, Falafels and the pesto pasta. I think that covers the highlight of the meals. Have a great weekend. www.shiptoshorechef.com

Falafels were a nice surprise for some who have not sailed with me before

Nice view of the Tadoussac while we were in Windsor loading salt

Homemade tomato soup and grilled cheese. They go well together

I cannot resist a shadow picture

my mom’s potato salad went well with the smoked meat on rye

Quite a few of the crew were sleeping because we were going to unload all night so they asked me to set a plate aside for them.

The clam sauce went very well too. I love the garlic parmesan roasted cauliflower.

The bridge is nearing completion, looks like it is just missing one piece in the centre

The Tadoussac was waiting for traffic to clear so they could go into the St Mary’s River

There was a salty waiting to load stone

The books and ship to shore merchandise make great Christmas gifts. Make sure to order early so we can mail them to you in time.