Sunday, August 19, 2012

Toronto Vacation


 Photos are posted on +

WEDNESDAY

We left Chicago on a nice morning with airport driving from Mr Tom. The flight was pretty empty and comfortable. We had our own screens to do whatever we wanted on and I certainly did. It was a very quick flight. The customs had no line so after some fun questioning we made it through within a minute or two. Hello Canada!

After purchasing some ripoff insurance with the rental car place (sorry dad I would have asked you if I could have used my phone), we attempted to figure how to get to the stadium hotel. Meg is a terrible GREAT navigator so after lots of circling and turning around we got to the hotel. Once we got inside our room we were welcomed to an amazing view of the stadium from right field. I could have sat there all vacation and just stared out on the field, which is pretty much what we did most of that night. It was nice to relax and watch the Sox game right from our room. We ordered some pretty expensive room service but it’s nice to wine PIC and dine because of course it is a vacation.

THURSDAY

Thursday we had a stadium tour, CN Tower, and go to the Sox-Jays game on the calendar.
We started off the day with some Tim Horton’s which was very good. I’d compare the coffee to Dunkin quality although I know I am terrible at describing tastes. After some walking around, we packed up and said goodbye to our stadium hotel view. I’m going to miss you. Next, we went on the stadium tour. It was as expected. We were taken to different angels of the ballpark and told interesting tidbits about the park, but never made it to the 100 level because there was a little league party below and we didn’t want to disturb them, I guess?

The CN Tower is right next to the ballpark so we decided to wait in the long lines to get in and just see the tower while we were in the area. I’d describe the whole experience of the view, lines, and everything to do with it like waiting to go up into the Sears Tower or Empire State building. It was a nice view of the city and beyond but why did I wait so long to get up there? And wait so long just to get back down, but it was nice to say that we did it and reward ourselves with some souvenirs.

We didn’t expect the CN Tower visit to take so long so we rushed to the car and attempted to drive to our next hotel. With the help of GPS and Meg, it felt like it took forever to get there. I guess Toronto is a big bike city so you have to avoid all the bikers that intrude your lane, avoid all the walkers, and still stay on the road. It’s interesting.

The hotel we spent two nights in was very nice. I’d say it was nicer than that first one but with a lot worse view. This one had a den like area and then a separate bedroom which is always nice. We had to rush to the Sox-Jays game because it took forever to get to the hotel. I guess I entered the starting address in google maps (slightly) which made us head in the wrong direction to the game. After a half hour or so we got back to the hotel and found the correct directions. We started back to the game again. This time we walked even faster which caused major back sweat. HI ADAM!

We were able to get tickets for the front row in left field in the 200 level, which was most expensive than you’d expect considering the Jays rarely attract a full crowd. It was still a great view and another Sox win. Everything was nice except for the stoppage in play which was very hard to watch and very sad. After the game we stopped to get a pizza and watched some W (the equivalent to HG in Canada, although it could also be Women. WHATEVER)

FRIDAY

Niagara Falls day

We made the 90 minute trip to Niagara Falls. I had no idea Niagara Falls was a town but maybe I’m just slow. I was worried about driving a long distance in the car and especially not really knowing how much over the speed limit I could go. I feel like more of a badass saying I went 120 in a 100 though so that was nice. It was a pretty easy trip with a stop at Tim Horton’s. Niagara Falls was beautiful and that’s saying something because I don’t throw that word around very often, unless of course I’m talking about MFG. We ended up taking a trip on the Maid of the Mist which went down and up close to the falls. I got really wet while everyone else wussed out and stepped away from the railing. It was really cool seeing the falls up close.

After buying more touristy stuff, we went up into the Skylon Tower which had a great view of Niagara. The restaurant rotated slowly so you could view all sides of the area. There was supposed to be a tight rope walker who went from the tower to a nearby hotel but I guess he never did it which was disappointing. The dinner was very good and obviously expensive. After that we made the long drive back and watched some more W in the hotel. Oh what a joy!

SATURDAY

Leaving day

We slept in and packed up. We took our third trip to Tim Horton’s. They are pretty much anywhere you go and hard to miss. Customs was funny because we basically went through US customs in Canada which I guess allowed us to skip customs once we landed. The flight was very quick and painless but the plane wasn’t as nice. Air Canada flight > American flight. And this flight was a lot more packed.

OVERALL

The trip was a lot of fun and I’m sure if we went back we would be able to find a lot of new things to visit there. Toronto is a really nice city and I wouldn’t mind visiting again at some point.



3 comments:

Nate said...

i love tim hortons i wish we had them here

Nate said...

yeah and i forgot to tell you about that restaurant that i love!

Nate said...

also any holmes jr sightings???