Randy Lewis

 

TRACKCHASING TOURIST ATTRACTION

 

TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA

 

We finished our trip by staying two nights in downtown Toronto.  I do my very best to schedule non-racing activities when Carol comes along on the trip.  I don’t want to burn her out with just racing.

 

Following Sunday night’s fair, we drove into Toronto.  Our GPS unit, “Dusty,” guided us through the minor urban congestion perfectly.

 

We were staying at the Marriott in downtown Toronto.  I had booked this hotel via www.hotwire.com.  I like using Hotwire for trips like this.  The site lets you pick the location, price and quality star rating of the hotel you would like to stay at.  You don’t discover which hotel you’ve booked until you agree to buy your room.  I picked a four-star hotel at a price of less than $100 in downtown Toronto.  I was pleasantly surprised to get this Marriott hotel.

 

In my previous life, I was a frequent guest of Marriott.  Actually, I stayed so often with them that I earned lifetime Platinum status with the Marriott hotel chain in their frequent guest program.  When we checked in, I reminded the desk clerk of my Platinum status.  You would have thought I had just tipped the fellow one hundred dollars.

 

Soon we were being upgraded to a 500 square foot suite.  Our room was huge.  Of course, being a platinum member means I get an “amenity” when I check in.  This is normally some kind of food and drink (wine/beer/soda) offering.  I went for the basic gift of Diet Pepsi and a quart of vanilla Haagen Daaz ice cream.  Of course, the gift is complimentary.  When we went up to our room we were reminded of how luxurious our corporate life used to be.  Life was good then and it’s just as good now.

 

We would have one full day of touring in Toronto, a city of 2.4 million people, and a half-day before we headed to the airport.  Oops!  I forgot to tell you that when we checked in the desk clerk gave us each a two-day coupon for the buffet breakfast that retailed for about $35 per couple per day. 

 

The clerk just kept talking to us and before long, he was telling us how much he admired Al Gore.  If you ever meet Carol, let me give you a heads up.  Don’t tell her you like Al Gore.  I could see her blood pressure starting to rise.  I only hoped she could contain herself and not blow all the nice gifts the clerk had bestowed upon us.  She did, but then I had to hear about it once we reached our suite.

 

Monday morning started with a trip to the subway.  Although we had a car parked in the hotel parking garage, riding the subway was much cheaper and more convenient.  Normally, you can ride the entire Toronto public transportation system for $8.50 CAD per person per day.  However, today was Labour Day and two people were allowed to ride for the price of one.  The hits just keep on coming.

 

Our first stop was the CN Tower, Canada’s Wonder of the World.  This tower defines the Toronto skyline, at a height of 553.33 metres (1,815 ft, 5 inches).  The tower is the world’s tallest building!!  We bought the deluxe tour package for about $70 for the two of us.  After waiting in line for nearly 30 minutes, we were informed that we could not ride all the way to the top to the Sky Pod level.  The Sky Pod was closed because it was too windy!

 

We did reach the Look Out Level located at 346 metres above the city.  This level has a glass floor that you can stand on.  If you’re afraid of heights, you might not like to try this.  Our tour package also included a 20-minute documentary film about the tower’s construction (excellent) and a ride on the Himilamazon motion ride (not worth it).  Overall, an excellent experience that would have been slightly better if the Sky Pod level had been open.

 

Next stop on the RANLAY tour was a visit to the Rogers Centre.  This place used to be called the Toronto SkyDome.  I believe some trackchasers have actually seen countable racing here.  Only recently, the building was purchased by the Rogers media company (cable TV, internet, phone, etc).

 

Our tour took us behind the scenes at this huge stadium, which is home to the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team as well as the Canadian Football League’s Toronto Argonauts.  We sat in the press box and the V.I.P. suites.  The highlight for me was getting to go on the astro-like turf field.

 

I was surprised to see we were the only Americans on our 14-person tour.  There were several Europeans and one young woman from Korea.  We all had a great time at the place where Wrestlemania still holds the all-time attendance record.

 

Carol and I are excellent tourists.  We never get tired.  Following the Rogers Centre, we made our way over to the Hockey Hall of Fame building.  If you’re into hockey, this is your mecca.  The highlight for us was getting our picture taking holding the Stanley Cup!  Yep, that’s right, the Stanley Cup.

 

You may know the Anaheim Mighty Ducks are the current holders of the Stanley Cup.  You may not know that each player on the winning Stanley Cup team gets to take the Stanley Cup to his home town for one full day.  Carol and I were at an Angel’s baseball game earlier in the season and there was a two-hour line of people waiting to just walk past the cup.  That made our visit to the Hockey Hall of Fame all the more worthwhile.

 

The great thing about visiting the CN Tower, the Roger Centre and the Hockey Hall of Fame is that all of these attractions are within walking distance.

 

Toronto is well-known for being a theatre town.  With that in mind, I had been promising Carol a night of theatre when we came to Toronto.  What I did not plan on was so many shows being closed on Monday nights.  I doubt this Monday night being Labour Day, a holiday, helped out either.

 

Nevertheless, I found “Evil Dead, The Musical” playing at the Diesel Theatre within viewing distance of the Rogers Centre.  When I go to the theatre, I like to sit up close.  I would rather pay more to go once and have a good seat than to go twice with bad seats.

 

I booked our tickets on line.  Actually, I buy nearly everything on-line.  I find I can get more information at my own pace at better prices by shopping with my fingers.  “Evil Dead” was playing for just five more days after having their run extended.  I was lucky to see they had two seats in the second row available.  Fortunately, just before I clicked on “purchase”, I noticed something about the “splatter zone”.  This is not something you normally see when purchasing live theatre tickets.  The first three rows were in the “splatter zone”.  I’ve been to Gallagher concerts and it’s not a good idea to sit too close.  I chose tickets in the fifth row.

 

With the play starting at 8 p.m., we had time to ride the subway back to the hotel.  We cleaned up and hopped back on the “tube” for dinner.  We were beginning to enjoy the “city” life.  The hotel’s concierge had recommended the Verona restaurant for dinner.  We love Italian food and the place was less than a block from the theatre.  Our dining experience was very good. 

 

“Evil Dead: The Musical” attracts a late 20s, early 30s type of crowd.  I wouldn’t be surprised if we were the oldest people in the place.  That’s O.K.  I play golf with men in their 70s and 80s and many sporting events and entertainment events we attend attract folks much younger than us. 

 

The Toronto Star gave Evil Dead a full four-star rating.  Tonight’s show was sold out as it has been every night.  This was a musical comedy and we had a great time.  The theatre even offered at your seat food and drink service.  That’s my kind of theatre!

 

We also learned what the “splatter zone” was.  The play was loosely based upon a group of young people who go up to the mountains for a last weekend of the summer trip.  They encounter some evil doings that results in the use of a chainsaw and other sharp instruments that from time to time sever some cast members body parts.  This resulted in blood (fake of course) being “splattered” into the audience from time to time.  Of course, it was all in fun and the audience laughed its way through the entire performance.  I give the play a full star rating as well.

 

We wrapped up our evening with a quite, relatively, ride on a nearly empty subway.  I love trackchasing for the fun non-racing things and sights we get to visit and see as much or more than I do the racing.  I hope you enjoyed my review of Toronto and get to visit some of these Toronto sights as soon as you can.