Baseball, Beer and a whole lotta love

Report: September, 2011

There comes a time in a persons life when they realize experiences can be good but sharing them with people you love makes them great. I'm happy to report that September was a great month for us. Goose and I had the extreme pleasure of flying to Toronto, Ontario and meeting up with two very special people for three very short days.

One of the people we flew to Toronto for has been in my life, well, before I was even a twinkle in anyone's eye. I have the good fortune to have him for a Godfather and we may not be related by blood but he will always be Uncle Keith to me. Whether he knows it or not he goes everywhere I go since he's so near and dear to my heart.

The second person we were scheduled to meet was his girlfriend, Carrie. I was quite excited to meet her. Goose and I didn't make the time to introduce ourselves properly before we left California for the great white north. Despite our poor manners, here she was flying for hours, dealing with airports, rental cars, and acquiring a passport (which could be a whole post on its own!) to visit us in another country. She already had major points in my book for taking such good care of Uncle Keith so all the extra effort and expense to fly with him just solidified my good opinion of her.

Day One:

The day we flew in we had it to ourselves since Uncle Keith and Carrie would not be arriving until the next day. So after flying directly into Downtown Toronto we snagged a cab and headed to our hotel to drop off bags. 

Our first glimpse of Toronto from the airport ferry.

Our hotel was fairly close to the center of the city so we decided to walk the streets of Toronto in order to experience it to the fullest. We got a chance to see their version of Chinatown as well as an area called Kensington Market.

Chinatown's bustling vendors on a rare sunny moment.

Kensington Market reminded me of small, artistic shops throughout San Francisco...just with fewer hills.

There was everything from a custom grilled cheese restaurant, locally designed clothes, fresh bread and tea shops galore.

We were drawn into a restaurant that served authentic Mexican food.  The Canadian palate is seriously lacking in any spices and the aroma we caught on the street of pork and chilies could not be denied.

Buildings and a bit of architecture:

Below are a few of the random buildings, statues and architecture of the city as we cruised around.

It seems when winter hits locals are either forced underground, where they have kindly put a million tunnels and malls underneath the city, or you can use these triple decker walkways between skyscrapers rather than dealing with the harsh mistress called snow.

We could not get over the beautiful statues placed throughout the city.  They could easily have a tour guide just to explain them all.

This is a shot of Nathan Phillips Square with the Old City Hall in the background.

Dundas Square is the mecca of all things shopping. It gave me a New York kind of feel with the bright advertising and folks cruising around at all hours of the night.

The view from our room consisted of the standard skyline but then we noticed this odd color change started to occur on a building below us. We never did find out what the building was but the colors would fade in and out creating this beautiful show for all the city to see.

My yarn addiction:


During the first day we also tracked down a few yarn shops since I was excited to see different items that I could not find in Halifax.

Lettuce Knits is a popular stop along the yarn crawl crowd due to a local designer who shops at the store on a regular basis.

Quick pic from the inside.

Here's a small fraction of their inventory.

An example of a local artist whose work is showcased in that same area of Kensington Park as Lettuce Knits.

Even the Macy's window was crazy about yarn in this town. Not that anyone can ever get tired of the feel of cashmere.

Romni Wools is a must see when traveling to Toronto as far as "yarnies" are concerned. It has such a different feel from the other retailers in the area. Yes, that really is yarn all the way up to the ceiling and we're only seeing a tiny section of the store. It has multiple floors. Needless to say Goose hung out outside and people watched while I ran up and down the aisles fondling more yarn than I could knit with in my lifetime.

Show Time:

We've really missed the theater and playhouse feel of San Francisco. Since Toronto is also known for it's Theater district we tried to catch a play but it seems we ran into a boring time of the year as far as the stage was concerned. Instead, we tried our luck at catching the Cirque du Soleil show. We had a bit of trepidation since we had already seen an outstanding production of Ka in Las Vegas. Could another show in a different venue come close to the awesomeness of Sin City? I'm happy to say we were pleasantly surprised by the intimate venue. Below are some of the professional pics I could find online since you're not allowed to take personal photos during the show.

The official logo of the Cirque du Soleil called Totem.

This couple would spin on rollerskates, on top of a tiny platform while doing the splits.

This sister act was mind blowing. They are spinning fabric while balancing on each other.

These five ladies rocked our world. Their coordination skills really impressed us. They are each holding metal bowls on their head which they would then toss on top of another cyclist all while weaving around each other to music. 

They had a great section with a mad scientist, his lab and a giant beaker. The blacklight work gave it a very sureal feeling as he juggled/spun up to ten glowing balls around the plexiglass cone.

Day Two:

I am such a sucker for breakfast. It is absolutely the way to my heart. I will pull over to every roadside diner just to try their biscuits and gravy. So when we travel it is a necessity to find a local breakfast joint. We stumbled upon The Senator Restaurant and could not have been happier. Then it was off to my one and only baseball game of the year. We were finally going to meet up with Carrie and Uncle Keith too!

The quaint breakfast counter around the corner from our hotel.

It gave us that nostalgic feeling where you wanted to sport a fedora while ordering a cup of joe from a waitress rocking a white apron.

I don't know what it is about pies or cakes under a cover but they just screamed out to be sliced and devoured with coffee.

Game Time:

Goose and I anxiously awaited Keith and Carrie's arrival by planting ourselves on a bench near our chosen entry gate. We pretty much gave everyone who walked by the evil eye if they thought of blocking our view. Even with my senses on high alert they were able to get pretty darn close before I spotted them. Then it hit me. He was actually standing in front of me. Next thing I knew I was crying and hugging him so tight be probably thought he was getting mauled by a polar bear since I have zero tan lines to speak of. Once I was sure that I wasn't dreaming I finally stepped back and introduced Goose and I to Carrie. Although, by the sly looks they both gave me they must have introduced themselves while I was preoccupied with hugging. From there I pretty much floated on air into the ballpark. We were lucky enough to pick a game where you got a fan appreciation t-shirt upon entering. The day had barely begun but being surrounded by family and baseball had already made the day perfect.

I can't tell you how much I love baseball. I've been to more games than I can count. Whenever I traveled I always tried to catch a game. Did matter if it was major league or triple A. I also didn't realize how much I missed it until walking into the stadium.

Rogers Centre before the game. Although with Astro Turf I guess they just had to prep the infield. It was super strange not to see and smell live grass.

With the dome open and the sunshine streaming in it felt like a perfect day to watch a baseball game.

And the Blue Jays take the field!

Ever since I witnessed the Crazy Crab at a San Francisco Giants game I can't help but love the team mascot no matter what ball park I'm in.

Day Three:

The best part of day three was waking up knowing we would be with Keith and Carrie. We made plans yesterday during the ball game on what tourist spots we wanted to hit since all of us were limited on time. With the CN Tower and Steam Whistle brewery across the street from each other it made them a perfect destination. We also took them to a breakfast shop called Cora's which serves up a very unique menu of items since the founder is extremely fond of crepes. Besides it's breakfast, one can never go wrong staring the day off with a warm meal.

The CN Tower dominates the Toronto skyline, although with those clouds in the background I'm thinking I shouldn't have been so surprised it started to rain later that day.

Tower shot of the city airport and Lake Ontario.

The Rogers Centre from above.

Here's the financial distract while facing north in the tower.

The infamous glass floor and the very long look down.

Same viewpoint minus our shoes :) 

A pic from the upstairs lounge at Steam Whistle Brewery.

Their beautiful tasting bar inside the old railway station.

Steam Whistle restored an old fashioned coin operated cooler where employees can drop a token in and pop a beer...after shift of course.

Part of the factory floor with the train peeking in from outside.

Their tour was along along catwalks up above the action.

One lonely case rolling by.

They use a specially designed box which makes recycling back to the brewery very easy.

The very impressive train located in the central courtyard next to the brewery.

A parting of ways:

After the tower and brewery tours we walked back to Keith and Carrie's rental car to bid them farewell.  We had a few more things to check out before our departing flight and their drive to Niagara Falls needed to get underway. I have to say, two days with them just wasn't enough. Saying hello was tough but saying goodbye was even harder. I cried, again, and held onto Goose as we crossed the street to the closest taxi stand. Moving across the continent finally hit me. We were going in separate directions and I couldn't just jump in my truck and drive up to see them.  It dawned on me that we had spent the last year like tourists checking out Nova Scotia but I don't think I embraced it as a permanent move until we talked about flying "home". I sure missed California and all of our loved ones that day. It started to rain as we drove away which seemed to fit my mood perfectly.

Sitting in the cab watching the city flash by I realized I needed to get a bit more focused if we were going to hit one more yarn shop and a very important gaming store before heading out. In my mad dash to try and see as much as possible I didn't realize that my final yarn destination would be closed on a Monday. Upon arriving at The Purple Purl I sighed aloud at the closed sign while Goose held my hand. We jumped back in the cab and the driver was happy to have a longer fare while we headed back into the city proper so we could get our nerd on.

Our new buddies in Nova Scotia, who have either lived or gone to school in Toronto, all recommended a role playing game store called The Hairy Tarantula. Since our gaming selection is limited in our tiny province it was imperative that we see what the big city had to offer. Plus I had dragged Goose to a ton of girl stores so it was time to return the favor.

This door was extremely difficult to find but well worth the multiple trips up and down Younge Street to finally locate it. Yes, both our phones have GPS but we passed by it twice. There were so many doors along the buildings it was hard to tell when one business stopped and other started. 

The stairs heading up were so old and rundown we got kind of nervous wondering what seedy part of town we might have wandered into.

But once we arrived it was Nerd Nirvana! I'm sad to type these pictures don't seem to do the store justice. There are three other rooms on this floor alone. Staff was awesome too. They even knew our local comic book shop in Halifax and asked us to say hello from them upon our return.

There is not a wide enough lense to capture everything they had for sale. Just like most of the stores we visited this one was multiple floors as well. 

Odds and Ends:

While walking to a taxi stand to catch a ride to the airport we realize we were being watched. Our first thought was "What are two moose statues doing on a second floor balcony?" After realizing they were sporting Blue Jay and Toronto Maple Leaf Jerseys we figured it was some rabid fan displaying his team pride. Someone wanted them on that balcony really bad since they had to cut part of the railing away to do it.

Nothing says you've landed in the Halifax Airport like a greeting from the Disco Lobster as you head towards baggage claim!

And there's our report of our summer vacation in Toronto. Between the baseball, beer and a whole lotta love it was a great weekend. We felt we crammed a lot into three days and there was so much we missed. We could easily visit again. Besides, if immigration is not settled by the summer I may need to fly back and get my baseball fix. I was hoping to fly to New York for a Yankees game or maybe Boston but it's all up to the government now. Have no fear, we still have a Cali trip planned since all of our possession are still in storage. But I know that trip will be planned around visiting folks rather than baseball...unless I can convince people to Take Me Out To The Ballgame!

Eagle Out