4000 Miles: Part 2

So...where was I? Oh yes...we had just spent a great day in Niagara Falls! We topped off the evening with a very nice dinner in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

The next day, we took a road trip to Toronto. About 50 miles up the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW), a large interstate-style highway that curves around the western edge of Lake Ontario. Lots of lake views, plenty of nurseries, vineyards and fruit orchards to admire until you hit the Toronto suburbs. When the skyline came into view, the traffic slowed down some and we were staring at the CN Tower for quite some time:

From 2010 07 08 Toronto Visit

We parked underneath the Rogers Centre (formerly the Toronto SkyDome, where the Blue Jays play). This put us in convenient distance from several touristy attractions, so first things first: the CN Tower!

From 2010 07 08 Toronto Visit

After paying the $25 CD per person for the elevator ride up to the top (compared to the ~$20 for the Empire State Building), we were greeted with a grand view of the city and Lake Ontario! The Northeast US was suffering a heatwave this particular week, and Toronto was feeling some of that heat. Therefore, there was some haze in the sky but otherwise the view was pretty unimpeded. In 1992 (my previous trip) when we attempted the trip up, there was a cloud deck that made the elevator ride useless. This is our view towards the northwest -- looking away from the lakeshore:

From 2010 07 08 Toronto Visit

A relatively new attraction at the CN Tower was the glass floor. I'll admit, even though I'm relatively NOT afraid of heights, this freaked me out some! It was several minutes before I would step out fully onto the glass!

From 2010 07 08 Toronto Visit

From 2010 07 08 Toronto Visit

After the CN Tower, we toured around the recently-restored Canadian National John Street roundhouse that's right at the base of the tower. There were several static display locomotives to admire, and Dave and I were attempting a picture of a CN locomotive in front of the CN Tower. Dave's turned out very good:

From 2010 07 08 Toronto Visit

It was lunchtime and Dave and I wandered the streets a bit for something for lunch. We caught sight of a noodlehouse sign in front of CBC Centre. It's the little yellow folding sign in front of the doors:

From 2010 07 08 Toronto Visit

Dave enjoyed a bento box, while I had bimimbap, yum!

From 2010 07 08 Toronto Visit

So after lunch, we did some more walking, but with the heat, we started to lean towards indoor attractions. The Hockey Hall of Fame wouldn't stop calling for us. The signs were everywhere! So we made our way over....it's actually in a beautifully restored Bank of Montreal building.

From 2010 07 08 Toronto Visit

Lots of cool stuff to see here! I'm not that much of a hockey fan...I enjoy going to games with my boys, but I don't have the same allegiances that Dave has to his NY Islanders, or my boys have to their Carolina Hurricanes. I still had a great time, though.

The highlight of our trip to the Hall of Fame was definitely getting to visit the Stanley Cup. It's the "Replica" Stanley Cup, which is used when the real thing is traveling with the winning team. It's EXACTLY the same, except for one error in one name in the engraving. The real thing is currently spending the requisite 100 days with the Chicago Blackhawks right now.

From 2010 07 08 Toronto Visit

From 2010 07 08 Toronto Visit

A professional was available to take our picture, and we could enter a code in a computer in the gift shop to preview the picture. My camera accidentally went off in front of the preview screen...

From 2010 07 08 Toronto Visit

We slowly made our way back to our truck after the HHOF. Dave got several great pictures of train action moving in and out of Toronto's Union Station:

From 2010 07 08 Toronto Visit

From 2010 07 08 Toronto Visit

For dinner, we stopped at Tim Horton's (again!). This time in Niagara-on-the-Lake:

From 2010 07 08 Toronto Visit

The next part -- onward to Penn State!

4000 Miles: Part 1

I'm sitting here watching "Julie & Julia". Again. Adorable movie. About a girl and her blog. And lots of decadent cooking. It inspired me to get onto my own blog and bring you guys a bit up to date on things.

Our summer break is plodding along here. A slower pace than last month, which is a welcome change. It's hard to believe my boys only have about a month left before Jacob starts 2nd grade, and Timmy starts KINDERGARTEN! I still can't believe both my boys will be in school in a month!

Anyway, this past month, from mid-June till mid-July, was full of travel! First Dave took the boys to Pennsylvania for the Vollmer family reunion, then I took a TDY with my reserve job, then hopped in our truck on July 3rd with Dave, Timmy and Howie (Jacob was in NY visiting Dave's parents) and declared "EASTWARD HO!"

First stop: My parents house in West Virginia. We spent a couple days visiting with my parents, my sister and her kids. We arrived on July 4th, and brought so many fireworks with us!

From 2010 07 04 Vacation Day 1-2

After 2 days with my parents, Dave and I headed up to Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. This would be Dave's first visit to Canada, but I had been to Toronto in 1992. We stopped in Buffalo for lunch, and met an old Air Force friend from Florida, Rich:

From 2010 07 06 Anchor Bar & Niagara on the Lake

From 2010 07 06 Anchor Bar & Niagara on the Lake

Niagara-on-the-Lake is simply enchanting!

From 2010 07 06 Anchor Bar & Niagara on the Lake

From 2010 07 06 Anchor Bar & Niagara on the Lake

From 2010 07 06 Anchor Bar & Niagara on the Lake

We really enjoyed the pubs in the town:

From 2010 07 06 Anchor Bar & Niagara on the Lake

We hadn't planned too much time in the town itself, which is regrettable. The Shaw Festival was playing in full force, and one of my favorite plays was on the docket: An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde. Unfortunately, the two days it played while we were there were both at 2pm. We had plans both days....

The day after our arrival was spent at Niagara Falls. A campy thing to do when you have a few days without the kids, I know, but it wasn't the Honeymoon Capital of the World for nothing. We had a delightful, although HOT, afternoon at the falls. We bought this "Adventure Pass" which covered 4 attractions on the Canada side, including the Maid of the Mist. It was great to be on the Maid of the Mist on the hottest day of the year, that's for sure! Some pictures from our day at Niagara:

My Canada donut from Tim Horton's, our new favorite restaurant in the whole world! We ate there 3 times in 3 days!

From 2010 07 07 Niagara Falls

This doesn't even look real, does it? Yes, I took this picture with our own camera!

From 2010 07 07 Niagara Falls

Preparing to board the Maid of the Mist:

From 2010 07 07 Niagara Falls

This is at the White Water Walk, which is a walk alongside the Whirlpool Rapids, which my still pictures don't do justice. Let's see if this video will work, click the thumbnail below:

From 2010 07 07 Niagara Falls

Also, enjoy this gum-covered wall, which is some sort of tradition at this attraction (ew!):

From 2010 07 07 Niagara Falls

We took our time driving back up to Niagara-on-the-Lake, and even made it to a winery for a tasting before they closed! I didn't get any pictures from it, sorry!

I'll stop now, and cover the rest of our trip on another post.