The second stage of our journey brought us to Toronto, Canada. Strangely enough I ran into a lady this morning that was from Toronto and we were talking about how clean the city is, how easy it is to drive inside the city, how friendly the people are and what a pleasure it is to visit there. We really enjoyed our visit there and even though we originally had reservations to stay two nights, we ended up staying an extra night.
I love it that Canadians are so patriotic to their country, they put the maple leaf on everything, including their McDonalds! LOL Good Old Mickey D's, tastes the same in any language!
My boys dragged me kicking and screaming to the Hockey Hall of Fame. It was a fun visit though...
We saw the holy grail of Hockey....the Stanley Cup. The boys wanted their picture taken with it even though their beloved team, The Washington Capitols, haven't won it yet. DS respected the trophy and cheerfully hugged it...
while DH kissed it for luck. We'll see what the Caps do this year...look out Crosby, Ovechkin is on the hunt!
It really is like a shrine there....with a dome overhead...very pretty for a trophy room...
But my favorite exhibit was the "Miracle on Ice" corner, where USA won the Gold Medal in the 1980 Hockey Olympics. I've been to Lake Placid, New York where the game was played, I watched the game on TV during the Olympics and I've watched the movie many times. It always gives me the shivers!!
Of course the guys had to get a little game on with the electronic games in the gallery. You should have seen them playing their little hearts out against the big bad video machines!! DS always managed to hit his goalie in the head and knocked him flat on his tush...LOL
When the torture...I mean tour...was over, the guys rewarded me with a taste of civilization...definitely worth the hours of boredom....I mean fascination I endured! LOL
As if that weren't bad enough we had a force march tour of Rogers Center, the home of the Toronto Blue Jays. They do love their team...they named a street after them...(can you see the CN tower in the fog in the background? Now you know the reason for our extended stay)...
and bronzed some of the fans!
My favorite pose of DH....Hey Blue Jay Fan, are you a man or a mouse?
We took a trip to the heavens in the CN tower. What a view!!
There is a glass floor all the way up there. AND, new this year....you can pay a good sum of money to strap yourself to two thin tethers and take a tour OUTSIDE on the ROOF of the dome at the top. You couldn't PAY me enough let alone spend good money that could be spent on cross stitch supplies to do that!!!!!
We ate at the Boston Pizza place one night, and the food was GREAT but the desert was GREATER!!! This was absolutely decadent, but OH so GOOD!!
We were told the CN tower was the second most visited site in Canada, when asked if we knew the MOST visited site...DH and DS shouted out simultaneously," The Hockey Hall of Fame" to which the tour guide said "Now you're just messing with me". Can anyone guess the most visited site in Canada?
If you guess Niagara Falls, you are correct...so we hit the most popular sites. We also visited a castle in Toronto. Has anyone heard of Casa Loma? We stayed an extra day so we could do something NOT sports related. Thanks guys! It was fun to put a little taste of culture in our visit. It's a lovely place to visit...Inside....
and out!
I got a kick out of their mailboxes....so for those of you who I sent post cards to from Canada, here's the box it was collected from!
And that concludes our Toronto portion of our tour. Check back in a day or two and you'll see our trip to the Thousand Islands, the St. Lawrence River that separates Canada and New York. Thanks for stopping by and for your comments! *Hugs*
Just a little mention that Gillie is having a give-away on her blog http://britishladybythelake.blogspot.com/ in honor of her anniversary and and the third anniversary of her blog. Congratulations, Gillie and WT!
Where has the month of August gone?? They say the older you get the faster time flies, I must be ancient because time is flying by in the blink of an eye!!
I did mention to a few of you that I was going on vacation and now I can tell the rest of you! We haven't had a "proper" vacation in quite a while, with my Dad being so ill and traveling back and forth to see him, then his passing (still miss you, Dad!!), and then my work and then my treatment for cancer, my life hasn't seemed my own for a long time. Well, here it is, 10 years since our last real vacation...and the guys, of course, outvoted me and chose a mostly sports oriented vacation. I'm cool with that as they have had to give up many things to accommodate me in the past few years. I truly love my guys! They treat me like royalty and they are the reason I did so well during my illness....that and a lot of prayer!
So...you are probably wondering where we went. Well, I think I'll give you the information over a couple of days as we did a lot of things and I wouldn't want to overwhelm you.
We left here, and headed for Niagara Falls. Now I know you are probably thinking...really? Niagra Falls? I have ALWAYS wanted to go there. I lived in NY state for 24 years and never made it there. If you've been following my blog, you know I LOVE waterfalls....and this is one of the largest in the world. How could I have missed seeing this beauty? When the guys mentioned they wanted to visit Toronto and the Hockey Hall of Fame and the Stanley Cup, I decided they had to throw in something I was dying to see...and since it was literally on the way, they compromised...and we are all glad that they did. We spent two nights on the American side, but traveled back and forth to the Canadian side as well, and hopefully caught all the major highlights.
We saw the Skylon tower...the view from there is just astounding!!....
The American Falls...
The Bridal Veil Falls....
The Horseshoe Falls...
And the Rainbow Bridge that connects the American and Canadian shores....
We took the little tour of the Cave of the Winds and stood on the Hurricane Deck....
We took the Maid of the Mist boat tour...
Just LOOK how close those boats get to the falls!!
And watched the fireworks and the Illumination from both the American and Canadian sides.
Unfortunately my camera died while we were on the Canadian side but DS got some...
We saw the daredevil exhibit of people who have succeeded and failed at going over the falls in a barrel...
We even saw a magic show one night and had our pictures taken with a real live tiger....which growled at DH because he instinctively knew that DH HATES cats! LOL
The thing that struck me the most about the falls was the sound of it...the sheer force of the water that nearly ripped our raincoats off as you stood on the Hurricane Deck...the legends of the Maid of the Mist and the jaw dropping beauty. We were told that 20% of all the fresh water in the world pours over the falls. I'm so awe struck by it...and glad I finally got to see it in real life. I had people ask me what the big deal was, it's just a waterfall. True enough I suppose, but there is something that draws me to it...I can't explain it. I also think God likes it that we admire his handiwork as He has created it for us to enjoy.
Another thing that fascinated me about the falls was the mist that forms. While on the boat tour we got very close to the falls. The mist that was falling was almost as forceful as the waterfalls themselves. It is also the first thing you see as you drive toward the falls. It shoots high into the air (a tour guide told us it has been as high as1,100 feet, nearly as high as the falls themselves) and can be seen for miles before you reach the falls.
My feeble pictures just do NOT do it justice, it's something you would have to see for yourself.
I did a little stitching as I was traveling. I was able to stitch on Thursdays and did do a very small amount on my UFO. I'm down to the last page of the pattern....yippee!!
I also stitched a bit on my Cirques des Carreaux. This is one of the January crazies that I'm hoping to finish soon. I love the design, but stitching this over one on 32 count has been a challenge.
I'm pretty sure my partner has received her biscornu so here are pictures of what I sent her. She told me she liked anything about Canada so I found this pattern for the maple leaf and I made it the colors of the Canadian flag. I haven't heard, but I hope she likes it!
Ok, that's enough for one day....check back soon for more of the family adventures! I sure missed you guys and your lovely comments! *Hugs*
