Sometimes summertime conjures the simpler pleasures of the past.
Remember those make-out sessions in the car and tearing away from your spot at the drive-in with the sound mic still attached? Loved that. The old North York Drive-In just closed, but there’s still some fun-in-the-car movie action at Polson Pier. Watch on two screens Friday through Sunday (polsonpier.com).
Or head down to Sunnyside’s Gus Ryder Pool and breathe in the nostalgia. Dipping into its waters evokes the glamour and honky-tonk of Sunnyside’s amusement park past. And it sits beside the spectacular arches of the Sunnyside Pavilion, built in 1922 in the beaux arts style and sure to stir historic longings (toronto.ca/parks).
What generates yearnings for past glories more than a few golden oldies? Hop in the car, listen to Canned Heat’s Going To The Country and ride to Harris Park near London to hear Coney Hatch, Grand Funk Railroad, Platinum Blonde and a pile of other dinosaurs July 25 t0 27 (rockthepark.ca).
But nothing brings back the past like the Canadian National Exhibition, opening this year on August 16. It doesn’t matter what newfangled foods they bring into the Food Building, nothing says the Ex like the old favourites: a wad of cotton candy, a corn dog and a stomach-churning ride on the old Flyer (theex.com).
