Toronto: the jewel of the north

My beautiful wife planned our recent trip to Canada's largest city. Did you know Toronto became Canada's first city with pavement in 1983? Anyways, we took the train out of Windsor and were both shocked by how great train travel is. So, thinking about the rail projects on the horizon here in the midwest makes me very excited. The whole process is so easy. I hope terrorists and drug mules don't know about the complete lack of security involved with train travel. You really just show up, they scream "All aboard," and off you go. The seats recline, you have tons of room, and you get to see all the little towns along the way without having to slow down and worry about getting a speeding ticket.

I was blown away by the size of Toronto. It was really great to be in a city where I knew nothing. Figuring out a city is one of my favorite things. By the end of the week I was able to give directions to two different groups of tourists. This makes me happier than it should. We discovered some very cool restaurants. One was called The Queen and the Beaver Public House. We forgot to take our phones so we have no photos. Tragic error because this place was the absolute coolest. We took a few other photos though. Would you like to see them?

Toronto built this hoping to attract visitors from Seattle. I don't know why but Canadians have a real crush on our Pacific Northwest brothers/sisters.

I made Leah carry all the bags while I tried to get one of those flash mobs started in the train station. I found out the hard way that Canadians hate Footloose. No flash, no mob, just pale stares. All these years I thought they changed the name of ham to honor Kevin.

The best line of the trip was the very last day when the cab dropped us off at the train station. I gave the cabbie the rest of my cash and Leah goes, "Get rid of all that silly fake money."

I call this piece "Milk Math." I had no idea cream was 18%. And check out the French. Don't worry, I ordered Freedom Fries every chance I got.

How cute is she?

I was so busy navigating that I didn't notice this man sprinting past me, impersonating a train.

This is perhaps my new favorite shirt. Timmer "Douglas" Hoffmann just sent this to me in the mail from Chicago. It's the Great Lakes and here I am standing in front of Lake Huron. Full circle.

This pic would make wine-haters second guess their stance.

I ordered the lamb thinking I've had it before. I have not.

But it turns out I really like it.

Here's Leah doing the stanky leg.

Here's me being all awesome.

This was part of the mural at a restaurant called Fred's Not Here. I'm guessing "Fred" is Canadian for underwear.

Seeing this show was definitely one of the highlights. I know some people hate musicals. Those people are dumb. It was a real spectacle seeing how they did the stage changes. I got teary eyed a few times when the kids were singing with Maria. Not sure why. The whole night just really made me happy. A few days away with Leah were what I really needed.