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2011

Day 2: Cleveland to Buffalo

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Stats:

Odometer start: 13140

Gas:

  • Middleburg Heights OH ($3.19/gallon, 4.2 gallons, 129.4 miles)
  • Erie PA ($3.33/gallon, 3.6 gallons, 123.0 miles)

Meals:

  • Breakfast: Southside Diner, Parma OH. Crazy 8’s (pancakes, eggs, sausage, and bacon) and iced tea. $7.84.
  • Lunch: Burger King, Hamburg NY. Number 12 combo (double cheeseburger, fries, and Diet Coke). About $4.35.
  • Dinner: Steak dinner at Sarah and Brad’s.

Sleep: Sarah and Brad’s house.

Notes:

Out at 8:59 AM. Had breakfast, drove into Cleveland via Pearl Road, went through downtown, and then headed toward Buffalo. Stopped by Eat’nPark on the way out to pick up Smiley Cookies for Sarah and Brad. Arrived at their house about 2:30. Went out exploring and shopping with Sarah to Best Buy (bough a new video camera that I’m going to take back tomorrow because it’s not H.264 or full HD) and Wegman’s. Sarah and Brad made dinner tonight. Great seeing them. I had a little trouble getting to sleep due to heat and allergy flare-ups.

I sense a Cleveland road trip in my future.

Photos (flickr link):

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Day 3: Buffalo and environs

2 Comments

Stats:

Did not drive.

Meals:

  • Breakfast: Toast and coffee at Sarah and Brad’s.
  • Lunch: Schwabl’s in West Seneca. Beef on Weck with fries, pickled beets, water. $27.68 for two.
  • Dinner: Takeout white pizza and wings from Edie’s in Hamburg.

Sleep: Sarah and Brad’s house.

Notes:

Sarah and I headed to Best Buy to exchange the video camera (replace with a Samsung H300) and then ventured to West Seneca for lunch. After lunch, we made our way into Buffalo proper and drove around downtown, Elmwood, and North Buffalo, among other places. There are some really nice neighborhoods in Buffalo, not to mention parks designed by Frederick Law Olmstead. I thought I’d like it here and I was right. We walked around downtown a bit and then came home around 6:30 for some very good takeout pizza.

It was really warm all day. Called my parents tonight. Allergy issues all day so I dosed on Benadryl.

Photos (flickr link):

[flickr-gallery mode=”tag” tags=”trip2011,day03″ tag_mode=”all” sort=”date-taken-asc”]

Day 4: Buffalo to Toronto

Stats:

Odometer start: 13354

Gas:

  • Tops, Hamburg NY ($3.63/gallon, 3.2 gallons, 86.1 miles)

Meals:

  • Breakfast: Peg’s Place, Hamburg NY. French toast, sausage, 2 eggs scrambled, iced tea. $19.41 for two.
  • Lunch: Tim Horton’s, St. Catherines ON. BLT and donut combo, 7-Up. About $7.
  • Dinner: The Tulip, Toronto. Turkey dinner, carrots, mashed potatoes, stuffing, salad, pumpkin pie. About $20.

Sleep: Grange Hotel, Toronto.

Notes:

Breakfast with Sarah at an old Howard Johnson’s that’s now called Peg’s Place. Drove around a bit more and then came home, said goodbye to Sarah and Brad and the puppies, and headed out.

The camcorder I bought yesterday was defective (it wouldn’t focus) so I traded it in for the same model. Much better.

Crossed into Canada about 1:30. No real trouble at the border but I had to go inside to the immigration desk due to my permanent resident visa and answer several questions that were not really all that much more intense than the usual border set. Entered with no problems and headed into Fort Erie searching (unsuccessfully) for an HSBC branch to get money. Finally found one in St Catherine’s, where I also had a predictably uninspiring lunch at Tim Horton’s.

I get so squishy excited when I’m driving into Canada listening to Jazz.FM or CBC Radio. Arrived in Toronto about 4:30 and checked in at the Grange Hotel. Room small and spartan and not as fresh-smelling as it could be, but it’s fine and clean and has cable. The location is amazing. Walked around the Annex in the early evening looking for Thanksgiving dinner and finding none. Went for a drive after knowing I’d find turkey at the Tulip in Leslieville (where Mark and I ate our first night in Toronto in 2006) and I was right. There were many assorted homos and hipsters there having their holiday meals. Most of the city seemed closed for the holiday.

CBC News, Family Guy, email, and bed afterward.

Photos (flickr link):

[flickr-gallery mode=”tag” tags=”trip2011,day04″ tag_mode=”all” sort=”date-taken-asc”]

Day 5: Toronto

1 Comment

Stats:

Didn’t drive. TTC Day Pass ($10.00).

Meals:

  • Breakfast: Pumpernickel’s, Toronto. Power Up breakfast: 2 eggs scrambled, sausage, bacon, potatoes, fruit, toast, Diet Coke. $8.30.
  • Lunch: Messini, Tornoto. Pork gyro, Diet Coke, water. $7.35.
  • Dinner: India Palace, Toronto. Dinner special: Samosa, butter chicken, rice, aloo gobhi masala, naan, gulbjamun. $14.64.

Sleep: Grange Hotel, Toronto.

Notes:

Walked and did transit all day. Walked Queen Street to Yonge, up and down Yonge (breakfast off Dundas Square), over to Church, and upto Bloor. Took subway to Danforth and Woodbine. Walked to Coxwell. Subway to Pape. Had lunch at a place in Greektown. Walked to Broadview. Subway to Yonge and then to Union Station in search of the TTC Shop (which no longer exists). Walked around Union Station. Took subway to University and Spadina and walked through Chinatown back to the hotel.

Showered and rested my feet for a while and then headed back out about 4:30. Walked around Kensington Market (and did a self-portrait with the Al Waxman statue in the park), then took the Spandina streetcar to Bloor and walked around the Annex. Subway to Yonge and Dundas to shoot twilight video. Walked around downtown some more and found the HSBC branch to replenish my cash. Took Queen Street streetcar to dinner and back to the hotel. Had a great and relatively cheap Indian dinner at India Palace. Called mom and dad. It’s supposed to rain tomorrow.

Toronto transit is so wonderful. It’s fast, dependable, and behaves pretty much exactly as you expect it to (unlike most transit systems).

Photos (flickr link):

[flickr-gallery mode=”tag” tags=”day05″ tag_mode=”all” sort=”date-taken-asc”]

Videolog: Bambi

Tokyo Police Club
Bambi (2010)

Yeah, I know. Last year. But I like it. And I heard it a lot still in Toronto. And I’m a sucker for bands fronted by cute shaggy-haired Canadian boys who are half my age.

So there you go.

Day 6: Toronto and environs

Stats:

Odometer start: 13518

Meals:

  • Breakfast: McDonald’s, Toronto. Number 2 meal: Sausage McMuffin, hash browns, Diet Coke. $5.41.
  • Lunch: Café Hesed, Newmarket. Crispy fish lunch special with rice, salad, Fresca. $7.90.
  • Dinner: Smiley’s. Pork souvlaki dinner with Greek salad, rice, potatoes, water. $13.50.

Sleep: Grange Hotel, Toronto.

Notes:

Rained most of the day so I planned this as my “Car and suburbs” day. Went on the obligatory Walmart run in the morning (St. Clair West) and had breakfast in the attached McDonald’s. Drove back in via Eglinton, then north on Yonge all the way to Newmarket. Hit several stores (photos later on Groceteria) and had a surprisingly good and cheap lunch in a little Chinese-owned café in downtown Newmarket. Drove back in on the 400 on the 407 to Dufferin, with several stops.

Made another long drive too close to rush hour in search of dinner. Ended up far east on Danforth at a Greek diner full of really loudmouthed, obnoxious locals (the Canadian equivalent of rednecks, I guess). The restaurant was a great holdover from the 1970s and I heard both Chilliwack and Saga on the radio while eating. It was sort of like being in a bad 1985 America movie set in Canada.

Came home and watched two shows on HGTV that aren’t on the American version and I realized my chafing from yesterday’s really long walk(s) was in bad shape, so I headed to Shoppers Drug Mart at 11:30 for ointment and band-aids.

Photos (flickr link):

[flickr-gallery mode=”tag” tags=”trip2011, day06″ tag_mode=”all” sort=”date-taken-asc”]

Day 7: Toronto

Stats:

Odometer start: 13628

TTC Day Pass ($10.00).

Gas:

  • Esso, Lakeshore. ($1.244/litre, 39.2 litres)

Meals:

  • Breakfast: Gladstone Cafe. Ham, egg, and cheese bagel and maple donut. About $6.00.
  • Lunch: Ethiopiques. Vegetarian platter, water. $9.04.
  • Dinner: Studio Restaurant. Banquet burger, fries, salad, Sprite. $13.40.

Sleep: Grange Hotel, Toronto.

Notes:

Rain threatened but never really arrived. Drove to breakfast at the Gladstone Café and then did a little Lakeshore drive and came back to the hotel via Bathurst. Decided to risk the dampness and left the car at the hotel, opting for foot and transit the rest of the day. Walked downtown, took the King Street streetcar to Broadview and the Dundas back to Church. Had lunch at a  great Ethiopian place at Church and Dundas. Walked back downtown, bought a memory card at Henry’s and took the King Street streetcar all the way to Jameson. Came back to hotel on the Queen Street car and shot video all the way.

Later on, took the Dundas streetcar to Yonge and then the subway to Wellesley. Had dinner at the Studio Restaurant on Church (which I’d seen on Tuesday). It was a strangely surreal 1960s sort of place. The patrons were me, what I presumed to be a very old gay male couple, and two sweet little old ladies in hats, one of whom was apparently a man dressed as a sweet little old lady in a hat. I loved the place.

Wandered down into the homohood and even briefly into a bar, which reminded me why I no longer go to queer bars. The rain started again on my way home.

Photos (flickr link):

[flickr-gallery mode=”tag” tags=”trip2011, day07″ tag_mode=”all” sort=”date-taken-asc”]

Day 8: Toronto

Stats:

Odometer start: 13643

Meals:

  • Breakfast: McDonald’s at Spadina and Queen. Sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit combo with hash browns and Diet Coke. About $5.00.
  • Lunch: Wendy’s. Number 1 Single Cheeseburger combo with fries and Fresca. $7.22.
  • Dinner: PizzaIolo. Pepperoni slices. About $8.00.

Sleep: Grange Hotel, Toronto.

Notes:

My day for eating crappy food because it’s quick and cheap and easy, and for generally being geeky. Quick breakfast at the McDonald’s near my hotel–which is pretty much the only breakfast in the immediate vicinity. Drove downtown to the CBC Broadcast Centre and museum and picked up some stuff in the gift shop. The drove north on Spadina, west on Dupont, north on Weston to Jane, and east on Shepperd. Shot several stores for Groceteria.

Visited the library in North York for several hours to do Groceteria research. Quick lunch across the street at Wendy’s. Back at the library, had to use microfilm, which was really frustrating and gave me inconsistent results. I was only able to research 1950-1980 and even that was a bit spotty. The parking was unexpectedly expensive and it never really rained today as predicted. I kind of wish I’d done walking and transit and skipped the library.

Drove home via Yonge and College. Did some laundry and walked to a pizza place on Queen Street for takeout slices that I ate with my Loblaw’s diet grapefruit soda back at the hotel. Packed a bit. Off to Ottawa tomorrow.

Photos (flickr link):

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Day 9: Toronto to Ottawa

Stats:

Odometer start: 13682

Gas:

Meals:

Sleep: WelcomINNS, Ottawa.

Notes:

Checked out of hotel about 9:15. Drove out via Queen Street East and Kingston Road. Stopped for breakfast in Leslieville. Took Kingston Road as far as Pickering, looking at the closest thing Toronto has to an American 1950s roadside strip. Got on the 401 for the rest of the trip but made detours through Oshawa, Belleville, and Kingston. On recommendation of my friend in Ottawa, I had lunch at the 10 Acre Truck Stop in Belleville, but there was a limited menu due to kitchen construction. Still good but horribly pricey.

Southern Ontario in general is pretty monotonous but Kingston was really nice–if a bit cold and damp. I walked around a bit downtown and hit a couple of bookstores. There was wind and rain most of the way to Ottawa. And really good radio. The wind was especially intense after I moved from the 401 to the 416. the radio got better too; I hit this 1980s alt-rock show that actually included stuff I didn’t recognize. On a  commercial station, yet. Once inside Ottawa, I found this station too, and was hooked.

My room in Ottawa is really nice: 7th floor with a couch and a desk and a really good shower. Its odd that they have Detroit stations rather than Buffalo on cable TV here. Ventured out for a quick drive and takeout dinner from a Lebanese place on St. Laurent Blvd. Called Robin, my Ottawa friend, and also called Mom and Dad

Photos (flickr link):

[flickr-gallery mode=”tag” tags=”trip2011, day09″ tag_mode=”all” sort=”date-taken-asc”]