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2011 Canada

Day 5: Toronto

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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):

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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 3: Buffalo and environs

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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 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):

[flickr-gallery mode=”tag” tags=”trip2011,day02″ tag_mode=”all” sort=”date-taken-asc”]

Day 1: Winston Salem to Cleveland

Stats:

Odometer start: 12657

Gas:

  • Wytheville VA ($3.13/gallon)
  • Cambridge OH ($3.25/gallon, 8.3 gallons, 267.8 miles)

Dinner: Number 1 combo at White Castle, Canton OH ($5.31).

Sleep: Red Roof Inn, Middleburg Heights

Notes:

Mostly a driving day.Decided at the last minute to drive to Buffalo via Cleveland rather than Pittsburgh. I hear Cleveland rocks. We’ll see.

Left the house at 10:49 and was out of Winston by 11:30. Stopped for gas in Wytheville VA and got a drink just north of Charleston WV. Made a Kroger run in Ripley WV. Stopped at a rest area/welcome center just inside Ohio. More gas in Cambridge OH, plus a stop at Riesbeck’s supermarket. Dinner at White Castle in Canton OH. Arrived at the Red Roof Inn in Middleburg Heights (outside Cleveland) about 8:30. Made a quick run to Marc’s supermarket, Giant Eagle, and Get-go.

The wi-fi really sucks here and the TV remote doesn’t work. It was surprisingly warm today. Radio was bad.

Photos (flickr link):

[flickr-gallery mode=”tag” tags=”trip2011,day01″ tag_mode=”all” sort=”date-taken-asc”]