27 July 2022 Toronto: The Cardinals Prevail

 

We struck out on a quest to find the post office and then to mail a few cards.  We knew where it was located but still had to poke around some to find it.  The post office was located within a Shoppers Drug Mart, way back in the back of the store.  Cross that off our to do list.  We chose to walk along the water on the trip back and we saw a plethora of canoes both big and small.  We also checked out the bike rental options.  There is a bike shop on Queens Quay as well as multiple bike share racks all along the water.  There are advantages and disadvantages to each so a grid analysis will be required.  Off to the ballgame for round two of the Battle of the Birds.  We found yet another way to get to the Rodgers Center but did not arrive as early as we did yesterday.  It was great fun and a winner to boot.  Albert Pujols had a banner night. Three hits including one home run, a double and three RBI's.  The Toronto fans had little to be happy about with only one run for them.  We had a family of four sitting next to us and they re-arranged their seating so that a child was next to Leslie instead of an adult.  That gave her much more room and also another companion to discuss the game with.  Ben was a funny eight year old kid and both he and Leslie had a great time.  

Expedition grade canoes, 9 rows of seats!

Ride Share bikes.  Not quite ready to rent one of these.

We are getting close to the post office, for sure

New activities for the park:  Tennis

and Nunchaku practice, a prohibited weapon in Toronto

Off to the ballpark!

Cool lighting in an underpass

Now we get to see the front of this statue

The hotel rooms were busy with people watching

The roof was still opening when we arrived

A whole section of little Cardinal Fans

Celebrating the start of the Caribbean Festival

A fancy first pitch

Lots of foot longs, 33 feet of sausage!

Pre condiment application, these were surprisingly tasty!  A nod to Leslie's mom Vera, who loved her hot dogs.

Leslie got a Budweiser and I ordered a Cabernet Sauvignon and the bartender thought I ordered a Sauvignon Blanc.   I cleared it up with her but she poured one anyway.  Lest it go to waste I volunteered to drink it.   BOGO wine!

Albert Pujols Home Run

Steel Drum band playing in the stands

Wainwright pitched a solid 7 innings

Molina is hurt and did not play but he was here in our hearts and on our jerseys

Solid performance and a winner!

Leslie was entertained for hours by Ben, her 8 year old neighbor

He was a storehouse of knowledge and his favorite baseball position is batter and the club he plays for is the Bluebears.  

A much faster game this evening than last

It has been 53 days since we began our Migration.

26 July 2022 Toronto: A Tale of Two Birds

 

When we saw that our place was right next to the Rodgers Center, where the Blue Jays play, we thought that we might go to a game.  I discounted it since they are in the American League, but Leslie, the consummate researcher, determined that the Jays were playing the Cardinals.  So we booked seats for the two games that they are in town for. That was months ago and now the time has arrived for us to break out the red clothes and root root root for the Cardinals.  But first things first, what was going on in the park next door?  Little kids games and odd adult behavior.  The pool noodle sword play is to be expected, that is the first thing any kid does when presented with a pool noodle.  However downhill stair crawling is something I have never seen before.  We gave the place a thorough work over: mopping, window cleaning and a bathroom scrubbing.  It just feels better when you know that it is clean.  Then we made hot ham and salami sandwiches to take with us to the stadium for dinner.  We got there very early and watched batting practice.  We then walked the  perimeter of the stadium and then settled down to eat the dinner that we brought.  Word on the street was that the Blue Jays were not pulling in lots of fans but there were 38,000 people in attendance this night.  That is more fans than can be explained by the additional influx of Cardinal fans. The game started out with a Cardinal home run in the first inning, but then the Jays got three runs before the first inning was over.  Albert Pujols came up to bat and got a standing ovation from the crowd.  He was playing first base instead of the designated hitter.  Albert came back up to bat in the third and drove in a run.  That tied the game but that was all for the Cardinals.  The Jays went on to add seven more runs, including a grand slam home run, to end up with 10 runs.  Still we had fun and it only took us 5 minutes to walk back to the place and call it a night.

Giant ball bowling

Definitely a new activity, I just don't know what  to call it.  Downhill Stair Crawling?

Another new activity for the kids, pool noodle sword play!

More public art along the way

Lillys

Is this bronze man mooning us?

Close up of the man, who is apparently wearing pants

We are getting closer

Notice the human forms emerging from the building

A large village of activity by the entrance to the CN tower and the aquarium

We got there very early to see the batting practice

Albert Pujols knocked out a few homers, but only in batting practice

Nice seats, even nicer gal next to me!

They have some chops

Awwwww, I like privileges

Walking past the broadcasters

 

Albert about to knock in a run

The mascot for the Jays

The mascot for the squirrels 

Hotel rooms that face the stadium

Lots of folks in the stands

We think this guy was too drunk to eat his giant wiener.  His wife came by and removed it from his lap soon after I took this picture

 It has been 52 days since we began our Migration.

25 July 2022 Toronto: The Music Garden on the Waterfront

 

Wowzers!  That sums up my feelings about the Music Garden.  It is a long and narrow park and the paths wind around and meander gracefully.  We saw two different photoshoots going on simultaneously.  There is an amphitheater where we sat and listened to some beautiful music.  The musician's name is David Shewchuk and he played both the violin and the cello.  He would get a loop of music from one instrument and then accompany himself with the other instrument.  It was very beautiful and peaceful.  Brace yourself for a flower blast!

The bees knees are covered in pollen

Spike of blue beauty

The violin peeking out from around the corner

Rows of seats

one of two photoshoots

A beautiful setting

The photographer on the second photoshoot

David, a classical musician turned street musician 

My sweet beauty queen!

Butterfly

Bees

Four kinds of flowers

The tower tree

Another CN Tower tree!

Flowing fabric in the photo

The site of Monday and Thursday free concerts

The sun angle is low

Smooch time!

Gracefully curved path

Another mystery flower

Still another beauty!

Delicate

the hosta were huge

Day lillies

More bees

A maypole sculpture

A riot of flowers

Hail to the monarch!

 It has been 51 days since we began our Migration.