This is Alpha, the first-born, when he was 2YO.
This is Beta, the second-born, when he was about 2YO.
This is Gamma, the third-born, when he was about 18MO.
Summer Break 2023, Part 2
Jul
26
2023
This is the second of a two-part series. You can also read about the first part of our trip to Canada here.
Day 4:
This was a half travel day. We got up, finished as much of the leftover dumplings as we could for breakfast, packed up, and headed west. I wanted to drive a bit before filling up on gas. Good thing I did, because there was a noticeable price drop once we crossed from Quebec into Ontario.
Nothing too much eventful, just driving along the freeway. Our goal, because we were going to get to Toronto before the rental place said we could check-in, was to go to the St. Lawrence Market and pick up some more fresh food.
However, as we got closer, Some Wife wanted to check something, so she went to their website and discovered that they are closed on Mondays. So over to Plan B, which is ask for an early check-in. They never did respond, so we just parked at the place and walked along the waterfront for a couple blocks. Our place was only a couple blocks from the waterfront, so that killed the 45 minutes or so that we needed.
The place was just what I was hoping for. We were up in a high-rise, the type of place we don’t have around here and thus the kids haven’t really experienced.
So here’s what part of it looked like.
And here’s the view out the window. Yes, it had balconies if you didn’t mind being 400 feet above the ground with a thin railing and sheet of plexiglas to keep you and other things from falling.
And here’s the place itself. We were a couple floors above the bridge thingy.
Our plans were somewhat in flux, but it was nice weather, with not the best forecast for the next couple days, so we decided to go out to the Toronto Islands right after dinner.
Even though I’ve been to Toronto before, I was not familiar with the islands until this trip. They are a nice place, highly recommend.
It was a walk of about 10 blocks to get to the ferry station. A long walk, but we noticed that Toronto has a streetcar system, so I suggested we could ride that on the way back. The ferry runs once an hour, so we had to wait a bit at the station for the next ferry.
We rode over, getting a nice view of the skyline from the water, then made our way to the far side of Centre Island, because that’s where the beach is.
The Toronto Islands are a great place, I wish we had more than 1 hour there. But if we didn’t catch the 9:00 ferry back we’d be stuck on the island until the 10:00 ferry, and we did not want that.
But I did get a chance to go to the shore on the close side of the island, where there is no beach, to get a shot of the Toronto skyline, which is one of the more iconic skylines out there.
As it was, the 9:00 ferry was late. All the families that wanted to get back before dark were waiting in the line, and people seemed to be either worried (are we going to get home today?) or impatient (come on, let’s go already). My favorite was the family that looked to be from India, but not much of an accent so probably 2nd generation. They had young kids, and they passed the time by singing “Oh where is the ferry” to the tune of the hairbrush song. Very catchy.
The ferry finally arrived, and we headed back. The Toronto transit authority website said that you could buy a single-use streetcar pass at any station, and there was a station a block from the ferry landing, so it should have been perfect.
But the streetcar station did not have a kiosk for buying tickets. Only some main stations have them. So it was late, people were tired, and we had to walk the 10 blocks back. But it let us get this nice shot of the CN Tower.
Then it was evening, then morning, the next day.
Day 5:
This was to be our main sightseeing day for Toronto. First up, the hockey hall of fame.
We drove there, and parked in a lot close to that and our lunch destination (the St. Lawrence market that we tried to visit on Monday).
Be warned, they stamp your hand when you enter, so you can leave and come back later that day if you wanted. But the ink they use is some weird non-drying ink. Mine was still wet after 20 minutes. Gamma had fun with his wet ink and gave me another stamp on my forearm once he figured out it could transfer because it was still wet. He also ended up with half a stamp on his cheek. And I had to be very careful with mine because I was wearing light-colored khaki shorts. I did end up getting a little bit on my pocket, but it was mostly inside the pocket so no real harm done.
The HHoF was well done, and had some interesting things even for those not so interested in hockey. Like the masks.
And if you are an older hockey afficianado, you’ll appreciate that a certain hockey puck was enshrined in the hall of fame.
And of course there is the Stanley Cup.
The cup is kept in a building that used to be a bank, and it was a fancy old bank. The outside still looks like a classic bank, and they kept the inside fancy too.
After that we walked a couple blocks over to the market. There was a nice park in between, with some sculptures.
The St. Lawrence market was packed. Lots of meats and breads for purchase, plus a variety of places selling meals. We could barely find a place to sit. These types of markets are great, because of the variety and people can chose different foods. But with younger kids, it’s a mess because there is choice overload, and some do not like making decisions when hungry.
But we eventually all got something to eat, and it was pretty good food. Then we bought some things to take with us, including some souvenirs from the souvenir shop downstairs.
Then back to the van and back to the apartment.
The afternoon consisted of nothing. Just relaxing in the apartment – reading, napping, playing Legend of Zelda, etc.
After dinner, which we made in the sparse kitchen, the weather was good enough that we could go to the CN Tower. So we did.
So we went up into the tower, and the clouds provided some enhancement to the view.
But we probably spent most of our time watching the roof of the Rogers Centre finish opening, and then seeing part of the first inning of the Blue Jays game.
Hint: you can see the players moving, including the pitcher winding up, but you can’t see the ball itself.
After we were done in the tower, I wanted to check out the old railyard right across the road.
It had some stuff, but the kids were done and wanted to get back, so we only spent a couple minutes looking at things. Plus we’ve visited the rail yard in Greenfield Village, so this was not a novel thing to see.
A short walk back to the apartment, then it was evening, then morning the next day.
Day 6:
Our last day, with two main events: 1. visiting the Royal Ontario Museum and 2. Going home
First up, the ROM. We packed up and headed out after breakfast. The ROM is basically a natural history museum – exhibits on birds and animals and plants and people.
We haven’t gone to a museum like this with the kids before, so it was interesting. Now they can appreciate a movie like Night at the Museum a little more.
And they had fancy displays, with things you couldn’t touch.
Then we were done, and ready to leave Toronto.
We loaded up in the van and drove about 40 minutes to a Chinese buffet. If you’re ever in Etobicoke, I recommend the Mandarin restaurant. Make reservations though, otherwise you’ll have to wait for a bit like we did.
They had a large variety of things, and most of it was yummy. Like multiple dessert tables, and several scoop-it-yourself ice cream tubs. And standard Chinese buffet stuff, plus a sushi guy, plus pizza and spaghetti and salads.
Don’t order the lemonade though. It was some carbonated thing, and my kids are not fans of carbonation.
Then 5 hours of driving (with stops) plus 1 hour of waiting in the border crossing line, and we made it back. It’s always fun to hear the border guard say “Welcome home.”
The End.
And they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let’s make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of all the earth.”
Genesis 11:4
This little article thingy was written by Some Guy sometime around 6:30 am and has been carefully placed in the Travel category.
