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Toronto 2007
December 30th, 2006
Up early for our trip to Toronto. We said goodbye to Cosmo knowing that Carol and Sally were going to walk him down to the Vet and kennel and that he would be fine. At the airport while waiting for the flight Austin and I waited in line at Starbucks for a couple of muffins and water to take on the flight. Our flight was from Orlando to Cleveland then on to Toronto with an hour layover.
As we approached Cleveland, the clouds were very low and some of the high rise buildings extended above the cloud line. It was really spectacular. Dallas took some great photos of the buildings popping through the clouds. Once in the Cleveland while on our hour layover we stopped at the Pizza Hut for a couple of Personal Pan Pizza's to hold us over.
Our flight from Cleveland to Toronto was very smooth and seemed to go by very fast. We were in a very small plane, just three seats across, and it had plenty of leg room and the flight attendant was young and very nice.
We arrived in Toronto and picked up our 1 piece of luggage and went looking for the private bus shuttle that Dallas had arranged for us to take to the hotel. While outside waiting we realized how cold it was going to be and hoped we brought enough warm clothes. It was so refreshing to go outside and take some deep breaths of the cold Canadian air.
The ride to the hotel was fast because we were the first to be dropped off. We stayed at the Westin Harbor Castle Hotel, which was very nice. Dad and Austin were very excited because it had a large flat plasma screen TV on the wall. We got settled in added a few more layers of clothes then headed out to the Air Canada Centre (home of the Toronto Maple Leafs Hockey Team) to the sports souvenir shop which was only a few blocks away. The ticket scalpers were out asking $300.00 per ticket and since Dallas got the tickets for Monday’s game, we opted not to go and spend another $900.00 for tickets for the game tonight, as our game would be on Monday, New Years Night.
Austin got a new long sleeve t-shirt, polo shirt, he really wanted a new jacket to replace the Toronto Maple Leaf jacket he some how misplaced but they didn't have his size. Dad got a new Toronto Maple Leafs Fleece Pullover and they both got new beanie hats to keep their heads warm.
From there, we ventured to the subway entrance then back to the Air Canada Centre and out towards the CN Tower. We walked around town checking out the CN Tower again and stopping in the Continental Hotel where we stayed during our last visit. We stopped by the restaurant to warm up a bit, where we had desert and watched the baseball game back in 2002. It was very windy outside which made it feal alot colder than it was, and knowing now we did not have warm enough jackets or gloves. Since we were last there they did some remodeling and although it was modern it was not very welcoming. They made it appear more like a café than a restaurant. There happened to be a “Star Wars” theme function going on at the field so we stayed and watched that for a while, looking at the map for a place to have dinner.
We decided from there we would start looking for a spot to sit down and have a nice relaxing meal. On our trek to find a place to eat, we stopped at Wayne Gretzky’s where we had dinner the last time we were in Toronto but they had an hour wait so we continued on. We walked past many restaurants checking out menus and passing places where we had eaten before but decided to keep going hoping to find something closer to the hotel. We stopped in one more restaurant which looked really nice and had a great menu but they also had a long wait and the place was very loud. There was a hockey game that night so all the restaurants were going to be very busy. Heading towards the hotel we went down an alleyway where Dallas saw a great license plate to add to our collection that he started back when we first got married. He said he would take care of that “later”. We finally found a sports bar where we were able to watch TV and sit in a cozy booth to try and get warm. We got burgers that weren't bad but I think we were so hungry and ate so fast we all felt horrible after. Because the restaurant was just a block from the hotel we had a short walk back. Once back at the hotel we go ready for bed and began watching the Leafs and Senators game that happened to be playing in the Air Canada Centre a few blocks away. When we got back to the room and got tucked into bed, Dallas remembered the license plate they he saw earlier when walking back to the hotel after dinner. I watched them from the hotel window as they headed down the alley. For those who know the history of the license plates, I need not say anymore.
Here, a mother watching these two! Such corruption. Where did I go wrong ~~ I have to admit, it was a great plate, it said” Ontario, BLIEVR, yours to discover then it has the Toronto Maple Leafs logo on the left side of the plate. How lucky was this? Are you a BLIEVR?
 December 31st, 2006
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