Arcade Fire
Reflektor (2013)
This pre-release track has been available for a while but it’s a good intro if you’re not familiar with the new Arcade Fire album that was released this week.
And yeah, that’s a David Bowie cameo…
Statistics and superlatives:
- Total distance traveled: 3505 km
- States/provinces included: 6 (North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Ontario
- Days: 12
- Nights: 11
- Most surprising lodging: Motel 6 in Burlington. It was actually quite nice, clean, and quiet. And everything worked. It’s not your average Motel 6.
- Best shawarma: Falafel Queen in Toronto.
- Cheapest sit-down breakfast: Skyway Diner in Burlington.
- Cheapest gas (US): $2.979/gallon in Wytheville, Virginia.
- Cheapest gas (Canada): $1.151/litre in Guelph, Ontario.
- Most colossally bad idea I’m glad I didn’t act on: Driving to Thunder Bay to visit Canada’s easternmost Safeway store before it becomes a Sobeys.
- Best mood elevator when I needed it most: The toll collector on the West Virginia Turnpike who was dressed up for Hallowe’en.
- Second best: The random teenager who stepped away from his posse in Kensington Market to tell me he liked my jacket.
- Honorable mention: The cashier at Loblaws who shared my giddy glee about Coffin Crisp, the Hallowe’en version of Coffee Crisp.
- Biggest regret: being in the GTA on a weekend when they were doing several shows and still not seeing Sloan.
Plus Pittsburgh and other assorted road tip destinations:
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Safely home now.
Wednesday, my last full day in Toronto, was actually a pretty nice day weather-wise, and I spent most of it on foot.
I probably walked (conservative estimate) 12-13 km, covering Queen Street East from the beaches to downtown, big chunks of Dundas Street West and Bloor Street West, and Broadview. I took lots of pictures, looked at books, and ate a lot (surprise). I could really spend days just walking the streets of Toronto. I love it.
Other Wednesday highlights:
- Preposterously large breakfast at the Tulip.
- No lunch required due to preposterously large breakfast at the Tulip.
- Dinner in Greek Town. I ate at Messini, which I’ve really liked in the past but didn’t much care for this time around. I think they were out of lettuce but didn’t want to admit it, which made for a very unusual gyro/salad combo.
On Thursday morning, I packed up the car and headed back toward home. After some stops in St. Catherine’s and Niagara Falls, I didn’t dawdle much more, only stopping for lunch and dinner, gas, and bathroom breaks. I did the full 1200 km in one day, landing here at 1:30 in the morning.
Thursday highlights:
- Listening the Rob Ford train wreck unfold on the way home.
- CBC Radio 3 making West Virginia tolerable…again.
- Smiley cookie with dinner.
More details, photos, follow-up, etc. to come.
I have to go back to that other country–the one I don’t like nearly as much–tomorrow. That makes me sad.
Reset button successfully pressed.
Breakfast a the hotel this morning, and then I headed north toward Newmarket (home of Tokyo Police Club, if you care) and Barrie. Barrie was quite pretty. And pretty boring. It was the perfect place to go for lunch and an hour of exploration before returning to civilization so that’s exactly what I gave it. I use these side trips to give me some perspective and to remind me that Toronto is really what’s interesting here, which could be an issue should I ever exercise my option to relocate.
Coming back into the city, I explored the northwest corner, where every fucking street is apparently under construction. I spent a few minutes in the Annex, stopped on Broadview to take some skyline shots, and then stumbled upon this magical neighborhood on Gerrard Street full of Indian restaurants. And dinner was lovely.
Random thoughts:
- Canada must be the only place in the world where rap songs refer to Neil Young.
- I hereby declare that the new Arcade Fire album (that came out today) is good enough that I almost forgive Canada for allowing Nickelback to continue living.
- That’s really all I have.
Couldn’t get my car fixed yesterday because the part (a passenger-side mirror that has to be ordered and painted) would take so long that I would have to spend several extra days here. It’s not a huge deal; I can live without it till I get back.
I was in a mood on Monday and it was making me inecisive. I’d planned to stay in Toronto until my car was fixed and then head home by way of New England or something. But I also felt like I wanted more time here. So I basically drove around a good while pondering what to do and feeling increasingly apprehensive about my ability to make a decision. Ultimately, I decided to spend a few more days in Toronto in a cheaper hotel outside the core–probably the worst compromise I could have made, but what the hell…
Realizations after all that drama:
- I get really indecisive when I’m tired, in a mood, very unsure of myself, or all of the above. No surprises there.
- I also get indecisive when my expectations of something (e.g., the annual fall road trip, dinner, how to spend a long weekend, etc.) are too high. I guess I’m afraid I will screw up something important. And by being indecisive, I often do.
- I think this trip was too long. Or maybe I should have left it less open.
- I obsesses over things and second guess myself way too much.
- On the other hand, when I know in my gut that something is a colossally bad idea, I should listen to the aforementioned gut and just not do it.
Anyway, enough introspection. Every trip has a day when I end up eating cruddy fast food. Yesterday was it, but I redeemed it with dinner at the Tulip in Leslieville. I also visited the actual beach (rather than just the neighborhood) and took my “Honest Ed’s was sold today” selfies.
Wednesday brings exploration in the environs. I may make it as far as Barrie.
I am absolutely exhausted (I tend not to take relaxing vacations) so this will be quick and dirty:
- I did head back out Thursday night for a very overpriced beer. Got hit on more than once which is a nice ego boost for an old geezer, and spent quite a while talking to two very adorable youngsters, neither on whom hit on me, but both of whom were very nice.
- Breakfast Friday at the Coach House, followed by some explorations downtown and along the Queen Street West corridor, including lunch at Falafel Queen. I love Falafel Queen.
- Dinner in Greek Town, then a little walk, and a subway ride down to Dundas Square for more book browsing.
- Saturday brought rain so I used it as my car day. Did laundry out on the Danforth, had lunch in Leslieville, and did my traditional drive up the length of Yonge Street.
- Had an incident in the parking garage here at the hotel when I returned (fortunately not with another car) so I have a small repair to take care of on Monday. Thus I skipped seeing Sloan in Milton and opted for a stroll to the scary queer bar. I did not stay long. It was much ore fun on Thursday when there were many fewer people and much better music.
- Slept later than usual (9:15!) and ran some errands this morning.
- Had lunch with Mark, who was also visiting this weekend by coincidence, at the Coach House. Marked the first time we’d been in the same place in more than two years.
- I walked around a bit afterward but suddenly realized I was really worn out so I came home and took some much-needed down time. I should really do that more often when I travel.
- Dinner at the Thai place near my hotel with a friend from San Francisco who now lives here. That was nice.
I’m still pondering how the rest of the week will play out. It may depend on whether I can get my car fixed tomorrow. For now, though, it’s bed…
I’ll get back to the daily trip entries soon, but some random thoughts for late at night:
- Why did I never think before about seeing if there were white noise apps? There are, by the way, and I’ll tell you how effective they are tomorrow. I think I’m going to opt for “airplane cabin” tonight.
- Watching two bored-looking guys get bound together with any number of nonbiodegradable substances (cellophane, trash bags, duct tape…) to the tune of “Ghostbusters” has a certain whimsy about it–unplanned, I fear.
- That whole “eliminating pennies” thing? Brilliant.
- McDonald’s hummus wrap and Wendy’s falafel sub: Two things that really exist now in Canada. This is a good thing, right?
Bed now. I actually have plans both for lunch and dinner tomorrow, which is more of a social calendar than I’m used to.