September 4th, 2007 - Birthday on the Road

I really loved the bed at our hotel. Normally hotel beds bother me by the second night, but I slept ridiculously well on this one. Sadly, that great sleep was shorter than I would have liked. I woke up around 8:00 AM so I could be ready for an early check out.

Check me out checking out

We checked out and got on the road before 10:00 AM, starting the long drive from Toronto to Cleveland. It was a work day, so traffic was almost non-existent, especially compared to when we arrived.

It was a bit overcast out, but the road was smooth as we made our way over the enormous bridge spanning the bay in Hamilton. Hayley Sales sang from the CD player and before too long, we were passing the mist of Niagara Falls and approaching the Peace Bridge.

A quick stop at the duty free shop scored us a couple more trinkets for family and some Jackson-Triggs for home.

The border was packed. Lanes upon lanes of vehicles moving at a snail's pace. Mom made a lucky choice in lanes and we blew by the rest in about five minutes. I smiled as Ghosts of You came on the radio just before we crossed back into the States.

The border

The iPod carried us for the next leg of the drive, leading us to the Angola rest stop. We grabbed a quick bite at Denny's, put some gas in the van, and got back on 90 West for the last chunk of the drive.

The road and Superman

We got home around 5:30 PM and started to settle back in. Kris stopped by after work and helped unload the van. A little later, Grandma came over with a birthday cake for me. I had almost forgotten it was birthday at that point, it had been such a long day.

And just like that, the trip was over. I always have a bit of a hard time switching from vacation mode back to home life. The change from constant new experiences to hanging out in the living room tends to bring me down. But it was an amazing adventure and I have projects waiting for me. It's time to get some work done.

Here's to the road, natural (and man made) wonders, good wine, good music, and good friends, both old and new. Until the next adventure.

September 3rd, 2007 - My Day in Toronto

I woke up around 10:30ish to a bright glow. That sounds like such a pleasant way to wake up, except for the fact that the glow wasn't coming from the morning sun, but from my arms.

Looking like a lobster. Call me Zoidberg.

It looks worse than it felt. Unless someone touched it, then it lit me up good.

I used my wake up time to sit on the bed for a while and catch up on some MuchMusic. It doesn't take much viewing time to remind me how limited mainstream music is in the States. First off, Canada's music channel plays music videos. Second, the videos they play have variety in both visual and music style. The artists aren't all cookie cutter versions of each other. In just a few minutes of watching, I saw performers of all shapes and sizes, even one wheelchair-bound singer. Sure, they still showed the big names, Maroon 5, Kelly Clarkson, but they were mixed in with tons of different stuff. It was refreshing to be exposed to some new music.

Shifting to my chair, I was surprised when I looked out from our 30th floor window and saw someone across the street. And higher. It made me wonder how one becomes a skyscraper window washer and if you ever get used to hanging on that little wire so high above the ground.

Washing windows


Up above


Sarrrrsgaarrrrrd!

We eventually headed for the sidewalks to roam around and see Toronto. Yonge Street was the road we stuck to for most of the day. The buildings blocked out the midday sun (thankfully) as I cruised through the city. Somewhere near, a church bell chimed 1:00.

Rollin' along


Freddie Mercury statue outside the Canon Theatre


Gwen wanted a picture

We stopped at the Eaton Centre and explored for a while. A four story mall, hundreds of stores, each floor with its own food court with everything from Arby's to sushi. It made our mall look like the corner store.

Inside the Eaton Centre


The Wii Smart Car

Being Labor Day, the last day before the school year starts, the mall was extra crowded and the shoppers actually resembled the traffic on the street. I eventually found the flow and I was set.

While heading to the big HMV store on the next block, the streets were filled with music as there looked to be some sort of festival going on. There was even one of those silver-skinned street performers doing his thing for a bunch of onlookers. There was so much to take in, it was great.

Wandering the HMV store was a music lover's dream. Three floors of music and movies. I could have gotten lost in there for hours and easily spend a fortune. Though I don't have a fortune, I still ended up buying more than I should have.

Back on the street, I was getting a handle on sidewalk strategy. Learning when to pass crowds, the best way to hop the streetcar rails in my chair, I was into it. By the end of our stay, I was loving the crosswalk experience.

I'm easily amused.

We stopped back at the room to take a little breather and drop off my haul.

Jacob's Haul

CDs

• Help! A Day in the Life
• Peace Songs
• Hayley Sales Sunseed

DVDs

• TMNT
• Serenity: Collector's Edition

Next destination? The CN Tower.

With dusk approaching, we moved briskly in hopes of arriving before dark. Our walk took us to a major memory spot as we passed the Air Canada Centre, where I met The Corrs in 2004.

We ended up arriving along with the dark after missing the street we needed.

Monkey

Looking up from the base of the CN Tower was definitely a "wow" moment where you suddenly feel very, very small.

Staring out the elevator's window as we ascended was incredible. Within seconds, the buildings you were just staring up at, you're now staring down at.

I approached one of the many windows in the observation area and had the ultimate "wow" moment. Toronto was now a massive sea of twinkling lights, literally stretching out farther than the eye could see. It was breathtaking.

Imagine my surprise when I looked down and saw a helicopter fly past.

The outdoor observation area was insane because of the force of the wind at that altitude. For an Ohio boy who spends most of his time looking up at everyone, it was quite a sensation to feel the winds at the top of the world.

Back inside was a section of glass floor where you could stand and look down at the street and the Rogers Centre a thousand feet below.

Possibly the most amazing part of it all was that Mom actually came up there. She did great and I hope she enjoyed it.

As we lowered back to street level, the elevator operator told us that we were descending at roughly fifteen miles per hour, the same speed as an open military parachute. For some reason, it was much more bizarre to see the buildings coming up at us than it was to see them shrink below.

Once back on terra firma, we marched back to Yonge Street and stopped in a McDonald's for dinner. The day was fantastic, but non-stop, I found myself in need of some down time and quiet, so I ended up bagging the remainder of my burger and finishing it back in the room.

I unwound by checking email while looking out at the city lights spread out before me. At midnight, Mom snuck up from behind to surprise me with a little foil balloon as it was now my birthday.

We finished up the bottle from Jackson-Triggs and crashed, bringing an end to our last night in Toronto.

September 2nd, 2007 - Beach Blanket Burn-o

I was finally able to wake up early as planned, though the night itself was a bumpy one, thanks to a nasty stomach ache. I'm wondering if my dinner at the winery disagreed with me. I was tired and still a bit stomach-achy, but I was up and ready to go, much like my last trip to Toronto.

At just about 11:00 AM, we were packed up, checked out, and on the road to Toronto. In the days before our trip, Chantal mentioned that she was playing 99.9 MIX FM's Beachfest the day after the Jackson-Triggs show and invited us. I checked things out, discussed it with Mom, and we decided to split it up and spend a couple days in Toronto rather than stay in the Niagara area the whole time.

Most of the drive up was smooth, that is until we hit what should have been the last twenty minutes of the drive. That last twenty minutes extended into well over an hour because of the massive amounts of traffic. Beachfest, the air show, and the final weekend of a big fair were all going on at the same time in the same area of town and it seemed like everyone in the city was on their way to one of them.

Traffic in Toronto is an interesting thing to behold. Sure, people can drive crazy around here from time to time, but up there it appears crazy is the default gear in their vehicles. I've never seen so many U-turns and abrupt lane changes in my life. I couldn't help but chuckle in amazement at the power of a hand gesture as a simple wave of a hand out the window would magically stop every car in the next lane to allow said abrupt lane changes.

Much inching forward and several F16 fly-bys later, we finally made it to a parking lot for Beachfest.

Liam Titcomb was playing when we made it within viewing range of the stage. I liked the sound, but the sun was pretty intense, so Mom and I decided to head back by the van and hang in the shade for a little bit.

The Beachfest crowd

As we sat looking out toward the ridiculously busy street, we were both amazed at the massive number of people whizzing past on bicycles and rollerblades. They actually seemed to outnumber automobiles at a couple points. Such a difference from around here, where most bicyclists I see are either senior citizens or kids too young to drive.

I also noticed quite a few wheelchairs, which either means the city's very wheelchair friendly or the bookies there mean business.

Before too long, Chantal arrived and we ended up walking in with her. We got seated right up near the stage and she went off to get ready. Performing at that point was Hayley Sales, who had a nice sound. Sort of a blending of Anna Nalick and old school Jewel.

Hayley Sales

Chantal hit the stage a little after 3:00 PM and put on a short, but sweet set including another performance of Halfway Around the World.

Chantal peeking out from behind the piano

It was a very strange sensation, being on a beach in Toronto and watching Chantal play as a giant C17 lumbers by overhead. If I was there by myself, I might wonder if that odd mishmash of elements was just a result the sun getting to me.

The sun actually get to me, not in the form of oddly juxtaposed visions, but the form of a nasty sunburn. Even the help of an umbrella and several retreats to shady spots could save my pale Irish skin from the brutal sun. At least I enjoyed myself, I can tolerate the itch for a few days.

Hiding in the shade at the side of the stage between acts, I couldn't believe the volume of the audience as high-pitched screams began to fill the air. Had they suddenly realized they were but feet away from the Bullcrank animator? Sadly, nope.

The screams were for the next act, Kalan Porter. It appeared Mom and I were the only members of the vast crowd who had no idea who that was. A quick Googling later on revealed him to be the second winner of Canadian Idol.

Still in my shady spot, I spent some time chatting with Kevin and Adam as best I could over the noise of everything going on around us.

Hot, tired, and just needing a little break, we decided to take off and find our hotel. We walked out with Chantal and said our see-you-laters as she hurried off to catch her flight home.

The journey to the hotel consisted of more slow traffic, lane changing hand signals, and overall craziness as we made our way into downtown Toronto. We only got slightly lost once, thanks to no identifying signs on or around the hotel, but we eventually found the Suites at 1 King West.

Check in got off to a bumpy start when we were told they couldn't park our van on site because it's too large and we would have to pay cash and use an independent lot about a block away. Mom stuck to her guns and the valet was very helpful in finding a way to keep the van at the hotel.

We finally made it into the hotel lobby, which almost had a metropolitan lounge/club type feel to it. While waiting for an elevator to take us to our room on the 30th floor, I smiled to myself as I heard Wonderful start playing in the lobby.

The room was definitely somewhat smaller than the pictures online led me to believe, but it was still nice. It even had a washer, dryer, dishwasher, microwave, stove, and refrigerator right there in the room, not to mention a cool view.

The room




The view from the work desk


The view from the sitting area


Playing with the zoom

We chilled for a little bit, then went down and asked the concierge if there was anywhere within walking distance to eat for a reasonable price. He recommended a place called the Richtree Market Restaurant. A short walk down Yonge Street led us there, but finding an entrance proved to be a little tricky.

The inside was like no restaurant I've ever seen. The whole place was set up like a giant outdoor market, but indoors. When you arrive, they hand you a credit card. Each stand had a different type of food and there were tons of stands. When you get your food from a stand, they swipe your card. Once you're done eating, you give them your card and they tell you what you owe, then you pay as you normally would.

The food was good, but I'll admit the setting made much more of an impression. I think I had a little case of culture shock in there. It was strange as I sat there and heard a different language coming from each table surrounding ours.

Me & Mom at our table


The brilliantly named bar, The Irish Embassy


Yonge Street

Filled up and still processing everything, we headed back up Yonge Street. As I passed the lady whose sad saxophone sounds echoed into the Toronto night, we exchanged smiles.

Everything about this place was new to me and I liked that.