July, Camp, Toronto vacation, and Matthew Good
The end of June... June 28th Easton headed off to Camp for a month of Leader In Training (LIT). This is the first time he has been away for a month! I missed him of course, but was so happy for him to have this amazing experience. The hardest part for me was that there were all kinds of weather warnings like thunder, lightening, tornado rotations going through, and air quality, which he was unaffected by. Other than that, I was excited for him.
He spent a week doing some training and and getting to know the other LIT's. The second week was trip, where he canoed, and portaged from Smoke Lake to Galeairy across Algonquin. The highlights of that trip were jumping off a cliff and sunsets at night while talking with friends. The third week was obtaining Bronze Cross, and the fourth week had some regular camp programming where Easton obtained his Chieftain badge for archery. He was kissed by the sun and used up every day to the fullest. An entire month of fun with no electronics.
He made many memories and friends to last.
Halfway through the month Brian and I decided to take a vacation to Toronto. So, we picked up Hadley and had her house/cat sit at our house while she worked on her internship.
We started with a night out of golf at the course near our house. We always enjoy it there. Such a nice little par 3, nine hole course. Then July 11 we headed into Toronto, we got checked into the Westin Harbour Castle hotel and then headed to Nathan Philips Square and enroute we accidentally came across a 711 where we got a free slurpee for their 711 (or July 11) day. Then at Nathan Phillips Square we wandered around the Toronto Outdoor Art Fair. It was a little like the one of a kind show but outdoors plus there was FIFA events for visitors to enjoy all around.
That night we went on a City dinner and sunset cruise. My dad got us a gift certificate for this before Covid in 2019, but we put it aside for obvious health and safety reasons and then when we made the choice to do a mini Toronto vacation, we were hopeful we could still use it. I called, and sure enough it was still valid. It was so old that they had updated their system to process it, but after two days, they got back to me and the booking was set. We enjoyed views of Toronto from the boat by our upgraded window seat (for the inconvenience of the challenging booking), and enjoyed a three course meal, with drinks to enjoy on the deck dance party as we watched the sun go down.
July 12 we walked by the Redpath sugar factory but unfortunately they had stopped doing tours years ago. So we wandered on. We made our way to Old Town and started our unofficial Great Canadian Beaver Quest. There was an official game to play to find them all, but we just found so many just by wandering around and enjoying them as we wandered. For lunch we had a reservation for Summerlicious at Berczy Tavern, I have wanted to try Summerlicious for many years...since I worked in Toronto, but never got around to it. So now was the time. We picked one of the restaurants close to where we would be that day that featured a three-course prix fixe menu. There are more than 230 local and Michelin-recognized restaurants. Our restaurant even had a piano bar. Unfortunately our food was undercooked but that aside, the concept was good, I think we just had a bad chef.
We wandered by the St. Lawrence Market before heading to the Fringe Festival where we saw Every Fringe Show You Have Ever Seen All At Once.
We wandered on to the Distillery District where we listened to some live music through IncluCity, Canada's largest multicultural outdoor film and cultural festival. That night we went to Second City for a comedy show, and then we wandered around the city past the Steam Whistle Brewery, past the CN tower, and out for a night at a speakeasy. The first one was called 404. We had to locate the unassuming faux candle shop entrance at 85 John Street in Toronto, where we stepped inside to speak with the clerk at the counter, and then they opened the hidden door leading into the lounge. A speakeasy is a hidden establishment that sells alcoholic beverages, historically famous during the U.S. Prohibition era, and today recreated as a retro-style, exclusive bar. While the drinks were expensive, it was a cool experience where we sat at the bar and watched the many cool drinks being made.
July 13 we wandered to Toronto's new waterfront Biidaasige Park. A massive 40-plus hectare green space featuring playgrounds, walking paths, and skyline views. While we were there before the official opening on July 24th, there was still lots to explore including the Orange tree, interactive sculpture. We even climbed up the 30 foot owl sculpture. After a long day in the sun we wandered to BATL Ax to end our evening by throwing axes at targets. Leanne won all games played. It was her first time ever doing ax throwing.
July 14, this day started off a little more casual with tea time at Clockwork at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel. We wandered the halls and enjoyed the royal history, and reminisced about our wedding as this is where I got ready and we spent our first night as a married couple. We spent the afternoon watching a FIFA game in a local pub and then went for dinner at La Fenice where Brian had a fancy seafood dish and I had a lovely pasta dish, before heading to The Princess of Whales Theatre to see The Outsiders. Brian got me tickets to a Mirvish show for Christmas and today was the day.
We followed this up with another speakeasy at Charlemagne cocktail bar with live jazz music. Brian fully enjoyed the Calypso. The bar tender studied food science and created this mezcal and cognac drink where the flavours alternate through four stages. He used this for his thesis! The connection to the bar tenders at these speakeasy's is so intimate because the space is so small. The atmosphere is like no other bar.
July 15, the wildfires in northern Ontario were so severe that the air quality in Toronto from the forest fires made the sky appear orange. It was advised to stay indoors as much as possible. So we walked the PATH underground for clean air most of the way to Queens Park where we went outside for a few minutes. I had never been before. We also spent a few minutes admiring the outside of the University of Toronto before taking our adventures indoors at the ROM. We saw an exhibit about Crawford Lake, It is just outside Milton and is the world’s best marker of human effect on the planet over time. Brian also admired armour through the ages, comparing it to hockey equipment. We saw a cast molding of an Egyptian tomb amongst many other things. From here we went to O’Noir, a dining experience in the dark where they employ blind people who teach you about what it’s like to eat totally in the dark. Highly recommend. Our communication at dinner was less about our day and more about where is the food on your plate and I put my drink in this spot etc. When you go through the revolving doors you put your hand on the servers shoulder until you are advised to reach out and find your seat. It was a neat experience. We had steak which was cut up for us prior to serving it to us, with mashed potatoes and beans. Green, maybe yellow? Plus a drink.
July 16, The air quality is still poor but the sky is white today, hard to see anything. We enjoyed the indoor pool and hot tub at the hotel before we ventured out and found some indoor fun. Simulated golf, baseball, hockey, and dodgeball. Following this, we headed to the Rec Room for food and more indoor fun playing VR and arcade games. While not the original plan, indoor activities were now on the menu. On the way back to the hotel we saw the CN Tower lit up which has been around for 50 years! It even had a 50 light. We paused to admire Union Station’s Great Hall enroute to The Reservoir Lounge where we enjoyed some live music with mostly a Bruno Mars feel. While we found so many of these beavers, we finally found the Canadian beaver on our quest on the way back to our hotel at the end of the night.
July 17, the morning air was clear enough to cycle the islands so we signed out the e-bikes from the hotel and took the boat across to the Toronto Islands for the day. There were so many views to enjoy. We saw the oldest surviving lighthouse on the Great Lakes and the second oldest in Canada. We saw a marker noting Babe Ruth hit his first home run as a professional on Hanlan’s point. Brian was amazed that Leanne could cycle and take photos. The gardens were beautiful, lunch on the island was lovely, and cycling around the homes/cottages, bridges and park land was just spectacular.
Thanks for the fun Toronto!
On July 22, Leanne met up with her friend Melissa and went to Peterborough Musicfest to see Matthew Good. So many good songs and fun with friends.
July 24, Easton came home from camp with memories that will last a lifetime and happiness exuding from his soul!
Hadley spent much of her time this month interning, doing camera work, web and social media work and editing.
It was a busy month, with many memories made.