Toronto

After leaving Muskoka Lakes, we made our way down to the Toronto area, staying at the KOA Toronto North in Cookstown, ON.

Nice campground.  It’s what we have come to expect by staying at KOA “Holiday” parks, even though there are always a lot of children especially in the pool.  We decided on a down day so we ate in and watched some of the French Open.

Kat got us reservations for lunch up in the CN Tower the next day.  Good thing, it was about 1 1/2 hours to wait to go to the observation deck, but with reservations we got right up.  Great food and even better views of the city from the rotating restaurant called 360 –  cute, right?

After lunch we headed down to the observation level where they have a glass floor.  I did not like standing on glass 1,000+ feet in the air.  I never used to be scared of heights, but now I find that I’ve gotten wimpy.  Check it out:

Yikes!  I was brave enough to lay on concrete and have my head on the glass.  Courageous I know.

Once back on solid ground, we were able to take in some of the views:

We ended up walking up to the Distillery District which is the artsy area of Toronto and has a lot of shops and restaurants.  Very nice rebirth of the old Gooderham and Worts Distillery land and buildings.

We stopped in at the local brewery called Mill St.:

I had to try a flight.  Most favorite: Rhuby (rhubarb) and least favorite: Mocha (coffee and chocolate) what a weird combination for beer.  It was getting late and we were gone from Bear for a little too long so we headed back to the campground.  Unfortunately, I keyed the wrong KOA into Waze and didn’t realize that fact until we were about 2 kilometers away.  Had to then key in the correct KOA which lead us back towards the city and then up north.  Added another 45 minutes to our trip.  Poor Bear was really crossing his legs – and very glad to see us!

The next day we headed back into the city to go to the St. Lawrence Market which is similar to the Seattle marketplace.  Large market in an old warehouse where you could buy all types of cheeses, meats, vegetables, etc.

Our favorite was a meat store that offered these selections:

All different types of meat: Buffalo, Ostrich, Crocodile, Rabbit, Emu, Pheasant and Water Buffalo to name a few.  We did not purchase any of the exotic varieties – I know, what fun are we?

The highlight of Toronto for us was seeing the play “Come From Away” which was recommended to us by Linda Black – thanks Linda!  The play is set in Gander, Newfoundland from September 11th, 2001 through September 15th, 2001.  Back before the modern jets could fly directly from European locations to United States locations they had to stop and refuel in Gander which has a huge airport.  During the 9/11 crisis in the United States, 30 planes were grounded in Gander.  The play relays the story of how the 7,000 townsfolk accommodated 30 planes of roughly 7,000 passengers and crews for five days.

What an outstanding play!  I highly recommend seeing it if you ever get the chance.  A big shout out to the people of Gander!  In 2011, there was a ten year reunion with a lot of the passengers and the Gander people because of the strong bonds they created during this troublesome time.

After the show, Kat and I walked over to Yonge-Dundas Square which is Toronto’s “Time Square”.

After looking around we headed back home.  This time to the correct KOA in North Toronto – the drive was much faster.

The next day we were up and out, heading down to the falls – Niagara Falls!