Toronto Vacation Part 4

I'm breaking this trip post into smaller posts so the photos don't fill an entire page, or something like that.

MONDAY

The Butterfly Conservatory was a blast.  and we had lunch at a great local place called Corks where I had the best Lobster sandwich in my life (also my first Lobster sandwich in my life).  but honestly, Niagara on the Lake is not kid-friendly.  YES, there are stores where they can find cool stuff.  but otherwise, not kid-friendly.

and the rest of the day was spent getting back home.  For some god fucking reason, we had to fly past Memphis to Dallas and then come back.  our 2nd flight was delayed, and the AC couldn't be turned on until we lifted off, and we didn't land until after 11 pm (30 minutes delayed). By the time we got home, it was Tuesday.

we slept in and Tuesday was an easy day.  but now we are catching up.

As a reminder to Future Me, next time check your bags on the return trip.  On the way to our destination, having our bags with us in case of Lost Luggage made sense.  On the return trip, there was no reason to force ourselves and our kids to carry their suitcases when everything they needed was in their backpacks.  

One final note, the 7-11 pizza we ate at the airport was better than one-third of the meals we consumed on this trip.  

Toronto Vacation Part 3

I'm breaking this trip post into smaller posts so the photos don't fill an entire page, or something like that.

SUNDAY

We got wet.  our tour guide seems questionable in her bone fides.  I guess we had to choose between Behind the Falls or Mist Boat Ride, but honestly, I would have skipped Floral Clock and Welland Ship Canal.

for lunch we stopped at a tourist trap.

I liked the Old Fort Niagara but was still stuffed from lunch.  so while we tried, we couldn't take full advantage of the Mandarin Buffet.

then we get to see Ripley's Believe it or Not museum and a wax museum NO ONE was interested in seeing.

the fireworks were nice.

I've obviously lost steam on these posts so I'm just publishing what I have with some photos.  Sorry to my handful of readers.

Toronto Vacation Part 2

I'm breaking this trip post into smaller posts so the photos don't fill an entire page, or something like that.

SATURDAY

We had an amazing breakfast at the Delta Hotel (655 Dixon Road/Toronto) and the rooms were nice.  Then we were off to Casa Loma.  Because it was October, they were set up for Halloween with the basement and grounds decked out in scary display.  I could have stayed here all day, and I think Natasha could too.  Boris was tired but would have rallied.

The rest of the day sucked.  We went to city hall for a few minutes and managed to prove why Americans are assholes. We went to take a group photo in front of a fountain and most of our group failed to notice a queue of people lining up to take the same shot.

After the photo we went to a mall called the Eaton and hung out for an hour or two, having lunch at the food court.  We had Gyros and Greek salad. being Canada, they do it differently.  but it was still better than our dinner would turn out to be.

I had a decent Gyros pita and Nightingale got a Greek Salad with a side of Gyros.  I guess Gyros salads aren't a thing in Canada.  

The kids got McDonalds.  Our App wouldn't work so we had to use the kiosks.  No big deal, though we could have used what little savings the app might provide. 

After lunch we took walking tour of The Market Gallery and graffiti alley.  All this walking was too much for the children.  One kid had a massive breakdown and I think the parents had to signal an audiable and do something else until dinner time.  

The Market Gallery would have been a great spot to hang out under different conditions. It had a peminment Street Fest vibe.  For some reason, our tour guide dumped us off at the edge of an adjacent park that was filled with homeless tents.  That doesn't bother me and we were perfectly safe.  In fact, many of the kids played on the swingsets at the end.  

Still, it would have made more sense to drop us off at the other end of the park next to the Market.  And give us some suggestions and guidence like "the gallery goes a mile in this direction and a half mile in either direction at the cross street" or something like that.  

Because we didn't know the lay of the land and had been walking so much, we just wanted to sit down and have a drink.  The streets were very narrow and most places didn't have outdoor seating, so we went with a place called Amadeu's Restaurant.  Our waiter was fantastic.

Then the worst dinner of my life at Swiss Chalet.  I thought the meal at Canadian Denny's was bad, but this meal made that lunch look gourmet.  

WE get to the hotel sometime near 10 pm...but first..  Our tour guide makes the driver go to the liquor store across the street.  I'm okay with this but share with the group!  I spent 30 minutes earlier finding the same liquor chain when we where at the mall!

 I'm breaking this trip up into smaller posts so the photos don't fill an entire page, or something like that.

Toronto Vacation Part 1

I'm breaking this trip post into smaller posts so the photos don't fill an entire page, or something like that.


We have just returned from a 4-day trip to Toronto and Niagara Falls.  It was technically a school field trip but limited to a few select students...probably those who could afford it.

Details are sketchy but we got an email earlier this year when the kids were still in 3rd grade.  it occurred the weekend before Fall Break so they only had to miss one day of school.  There was not a lot of communication throughout the year and Nightingale was the contact because down here it is assumed only the Mom is in charge of the children.  We didn't get an itinerary until Sept 23rd.

I don't know why the trip wasn't planned better.  We left at the buttcrack of dawn on Friday (10/4) and returned just before midnight (10/7).  The trip was so expensive as it was that I cannot imagine that a more convenient flight would have added too much to the total.

FRIDAY

Our first day was such a clusterF.  We arrive in Toronto around 11 am local time.  We find our tour guide and she offers lunch at either Tim Horton's at the airport or a Denny's near our next destination.  They don't have Dennys' in the South so most of our crew didn't have an idea that we would be eating at the Love Child of IHOP and Waffle House.  We chose Denny's because we thought it would be cheaper than Airport Horton's.  Boy were we wrong.  

This would have been fine had it not taken so long to get everyone together.  By the time we got to Denny's, it was mid-afternoon and we would be eating our free* dinner 3 hours later.  I don't expect a lot from Denny's.  It's the cheap place to goto after a night of drinking and you just need to soak up last night's sins.  But this Denny's failed to achieve even that much.  The food was expensive, terrible and expensive.

And because we ate lunch so late in the day, even with walking around the ROM, most of us were not hungry when we got to Hot House.

Hot House has a great menu but for a tour group, it is understandable that they would limit the menu to quick, easy, and cheap items because they aren't getting much profit off us.  Still, they failed to meet this minimal standard.  

BTW, ignore the estimated time stamps on the itinerary.  Even Island Time is more accurate than this.  We did get to our next destination, the Observatory Deck of the C.N. Building in time to see the skyline at dusk.  For some reason, in my old age, I no longer like heights.  

We got to our hotel late and all we want to do is sleep. We are next to the airport but we are so exhausted it doesn't matter.  also the planes stopped around 11 pm.