Having graced so much of the United States with our stinky selves over th past 13 days (12 states as of today), we decided it was timr to visit our northern neighbors for a change of perspective. Oh, Canada, you treat us so good.
After a morning visit to Niagara Falls (American side), we brought the hogs over the bridge and convinced the nice fellow at passport control that we were not bringing any weapons into the country, and then made our way northward on Canada's largest expessway--the QEW.
After a quick fill-up in Hamilton (which shares many of the struggles of the other steel town we've driven through, Gary), we ditched the expressway and took a nice drive up Lake Shore Drive all the way to Toronto, passing some pretty lavish mansions and estates as we headed north.
Soon, the twirling windmills and landmark CN tower came into view. We took a stop at the waterfront to take in the scenery, and then headed downtown to try to grab a beer (only to get stuck in our third big traffic jam of the day as revelers packed into the local stadium to see the Steelers play an exhibition game--the first ever NFL game on Canadian soil!). We finally ditched the bikes in a pricey downtown garage that said "no motorcycles" (oh well) and stumbled our way to a local watering hole called the Loose Moose. Delores, our lovely bartender, read our out-of-town-ness on our faces and gave us the good ole sales pitch on why Toronto rocks while serving up some local brews (canada has a lot of them!).
Soon thereafter we met up with the righteous brother, mr breydon himself. We strapped him to the back of our bikes for the quick ride to his abode in the coolest urban neighborhood you've ever seen--Toronto's little Italy. So many young people, bars, and authentic old Italian folks--good stuff.
After we dasterdly maneuvered our bikes into B-dogg's backyard and unloaded our gear, a steady stream of good people started flowing in, all Korea alums who knew Bisbee from his teaching days. A night of unchecked revelry followed in a series of local spots.
We could go on and on...but the long n short of it is that Toronto rocks, and that the dudes who go by names like Brewhar, Spankie, and Johnny Mullaly are some of the best you'll ever meet.
We were a bit sad to leave toronto (and almost didn't this morning when Nate couldn't find his keys) but the road beckoned and we pushed on.
Thanks for the good times, Canada. We'll be back.
Friday, August 15, 2008
The Toronto crew!
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1 comment:
We love Canada, too. But how sad and ironic that you completely missed some of the world's most beautiful scenery along US 20 in New York State. It's been compared to the Rhineland and much of it is an old stagecoach route whose earliest section dates back to before the Revolutionary War.
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