Our secret weekend.

First of all, I want to apologize to anyone who we may have p,,,d off by not including you in our fifteenth wedding anniversary.

We figured it would just get TOO involved to try and include everyone in our celebration.

So with our closest (Canadian) friends, Loraine and Harry, we booked a weekend excursion to Toronto, which included Via rail, two nights at the Royal York, “Hop & Go” passes and Toronto Islands boat tour. We opted to upgrade our return fare to “Business” class and see how the upper class lives.

To say that the weekend was a success would be an understatement.

Although there was some malfunction on the train, going to Toronto, and arriving 45 minutes late, the trip was pleasant and relaxing.

The Royal York Hotel

I had been telling the others that we wouldn’t even have to dodge Toronto traffic to get to the hotel, but construction had closed the tunnel and we had to subject ourselves to navigating across Front Street in 5 o’clock Friday traffic and drag our overnight cases to the lobby.

Check-in was a breeze and in a few minutes we were settled into our rooms on the “second floor”, which was a 6 floor trip on the elevator, (can’t figure that one at all).

Out for supper we decided to take a walk and find someplace interesting, and ended up at the “Loose Moose Tap & Grill” where we were able to see the the last half hour of the Olympics opening, enjoy excellent fish & chips, draught beer and service along with the noisy celebrants.

As the sun went down, we strolled back to the hotel and played board games till bedtime.

The CN tower from our hotel window

Saturday morning we met for breakfast in the “Second Cup” restaurant in the lower lobby then headed out to the nearest “Hop & Go” location, about a block away, and exchanged our coupons for “three-day” passes to go just about anywhere you would like in downtown Toronto.

A tour along the waterfront, past the CN tower, the big “O” stadium, St. Lawrence market, financial district, with all their glass walls, Eaton centre, Yorkville and finally we jumped off at “Castle Loma”.

Castle Loma, (a small portion).

As we entered, we discovered that they were having tours conducted by “Upstairs” maids which included an explanation of the maids duties and travelling the back stairs and secret passages used by the maids.

 

Our “Maid”, guide.

Then, we  were on our own to explore other areas of the castle, and we took in the (unfinished) Swimming pool, a 700 foot tunnel under the street to the potting shed, carriage house and stables and finishing in the beautiful gardens.

A small part of the gardens.

Back onto the bus and another tour through the city to an area that has a huge variety of restaurants on Bloor street. One of the tour guides on the bus suggested a couple of places to eat, and we ended up at the “Brunswick Ave Pump House Pub” for a light lunch. We hadn’t realized how far we had walked to the pub, plus the walking around the castle, and another pitcher of ale was enjoyed. Returning to where we got off the bus we headed to the harbour-front and a stroll through some of the stores, listen to outdoor musicians and a tour through the St. Lawrence market. By four o’clock we are pretty tired and head back to the hotel and maybe time for a snooze and shower before going out to our special anniversary supper.

“Harbour Front”

Well the “best laid plans” etc.,,, the only people we had told about our trip, were Tere & Ray Smith, who are probably the reason that Betty and I are together. A short version of the story is that in 1995, when I had returned from my first winter in Melaque, Betty was renting the upstairs of my house and I was going out with a young lady, Tere & Ray came to stay with me for a couple of days and asked, “why are you going out with that bimbo when you have the loveliest lady (who is interested in you) living upstairs”. Now Betty and I had been friends for about twenty years, but had been just that, “friends”. After they left, I started looking at this beautiful lady upstairs and one evening after dinner, “all hell broke loose” and we have been living “happily ever after” since. So that’s why we invited Tere & Ray to join us, and they arrived a little early.

The Toula restaurant.

Harry had been checking restaurants on line before we left and suggested the “Toula” on the 38th. floor of the Weston Harbour-front, with it’s spectacular view in their circular restaurant.

The happy folks.

Things couldn’t have been better, with fantastic food, service and ambiance. As Tere & Ray were celebrating their 25 anniversary in 3 days and Lo & Harry had just celebrated their 40th a couple of weeks ago, the staff delivered a special desert.

Desert for six????. After the meal, we didn’t really need it.

Totally stuffed, we strolled back to the hotel and after some conversation we all turned in.

Sunday morning after breakfast in the hotel again and after checking out and storing our luggage, we hopped on the bus and headed to the harbour-front and boarding the tour boat out to the Islands. Another part of our trip we fully enjoyed, the three quarter hour trip took us past the island airport, several marinas, yacht clubs and conservation areas where we saw all manner of birds.

A different view of Toronto.

After the tour we headed to the “Steamboat Brewery” for a tour and sampling, but we only had time for the sampling, as we had to board the train by 3:45.

Lunch time, and we sampled the wares on the patio at “Jack Astors” on Front street. A quick trip back to the hotel to get rid of some beer, pick up our luggage and navigate across the street to the station.

We discovered by upgrading to “business” class, we were able to avail ourselves of the luxury lounge and “preferred” boarding to the train. The trip back in first class was wonderful with huge, comfortable chairs and free drinks, then a quite enjoyable dinner, with wine and after-dinner drinks included.

All in all, it was a wonderful, memorable weekend, and I have to thank Tere, Ray, Loraine & Harry, for making it so, and Betty for making the fifteen years, the best in my life.

Dan