Ontario Trip
We arrived in Toronto on Friday (July 30) afternoon and preceded to Queen Street, to Lush and MAC, specifically, and a few clothing stores along the route. We ate at a noodle house where the price of Amanda's pad thai was subtracted from our bill on account of it being inedible and where Niki found a ring made by Tiffany & Co. After failing to get the ring on any of our thirty fingers, we gave it to our waitress, explaining that we had seen the girl at the next table wearing it before she left.
On Saturday we went to a family reunion, and the drive that should have taken two hours took about five. But it was fun following Aunts Heather and Barb, who kept stopping to ask for directions, because we had Alycia (Heather's thirteen-year-old daughter) and bad music. I only met a few new people though there were at least fifty people I'd never seen before. Mostly we kept to ourselves: Niki and I played horseshoes (she's damn good, which should be read as she beat me handily); a group of kids came after us armed with ice and actually chased us from the playground, even though Amanda picked up their leader, a girl of about her own weight, flipped her upside-down, and threw her to Niki.
The return trip took slightly over an hour because we had to be back to bet on horses at Georgian Downs. We lost less money than last time. The final four races killed me, as, prior to that, I had a nice winning streak. Niki stole a made-to-order mushroom pizza by simply saying thanks and walking away after it was handed to her. She also stole a drink for Alycia. I don't condone this behavior, mind you.
On Sunday we went to Kempenfest, an area arts and crafts festival with vendors (for a more elaborate description click here. We bought Hungarian sausage and earrings that were pieces of sushi.
We had promised to make dinner, and this being our last night, it seemed fitting that we make good on that promise, so we went to the grocery store. Amanda made her bean dip, which likely deserves the word famous in its title, coconut shrimp, and french bread pizzas. We were too full for the next course, which was to be chicken lettuce wraps, so we taught Heather how to make it for the following night. While at the market we happened upon skate, which we hadn't seen before, so, like all good omnivores, we were instantly interested in its taste. The girl behind the fish counter looked through her books but couldn't find out how to cook it. We bought a wing anyway, I researched some cooking methods, and served it as a midnight snack, after an aborted game of Life. It was reminiscent of a scallop, with white, sweet flesh, though flakier and more appetizing in appearance.
Before dropping off the rental car on Monday we went to the Yorkdale Mall for lunch. Still we arrived at the airport two hours before our flight's departure, which one would think would be enough time, but the line proved otherwise. Frequently the Air Canada staff would call flight numbers in order to bring passengers to the front of the line, but we were neither called nor escorted, so when we got to the desk we were informed that our flight had closed ten minutes previous (forty minutes before the scheduled lift off). We ended up having to stop in Pittsburgh, arriving in Charlotte four hours after our missed flight. At the next station, the customs officer, after learning that Amanda was a make-up artist, asked if anything could be done about his receding hairline. He brushed aside my suggestion to look into hats by saying he wanted some of my hair. I should have told him to get in line.
On Saturday we went to a family reunion, and the drive that should have taken two hours took about five. But it was fun following Aunts Heather and Barb, who kept stopping to ask for directions, because we had Alycia (Heather's thirteen-year-old daughter) and bad music. I only met a few new people though there were at least fifty people I'd never seen before. Mostly we kept to ourselves: Niki and I played horseshoes (she's damn good, which should be read as she beat me handily); a group of kids came after us armed with ice and actually chased us from the playground, even though Amanda picked up their leader, a girl of about her own weight, flipped her upside-down, and threw her to Niki.
The return trip took slightly over an hour because we had to be back to bet on horses at Georgian Downs. We lost less money than last time. The final four races killed me, as, prior to that, I had a nice winning streak. Niki stole a made-to-order mushroom pizza by simply saying thanks and walking away after it was handed to her. She also stole a drink for Alycia. I don't condone this behavior, mind you.
On Sunday we went to Kempenfest, an area arts and crafts festival with vendors (for a more elaborate description click here. We bought Hungarian sausage and earrings that were pieces of sushi.
We had promised to make dinner, and this being our last night, it seemed fitting that we make good on that promise, so we went to the grocery store. Amanda made her bean dip, which likely deserves the word famous in its title, coconut shrimp, and french bread pizzas. We were too full for the next course, which was to be chicken lettuce wraps, so we taught Heather how to make it for the following night. While at the market we happened upon skate, which we hadn't seen before, so, like all good omnivores, we were instantly interested in its taste. The girl behind the fish counter looked through her books but couldn't find out how to cook it. We bought a wing anyway, I researched some cooking methods, and served it as a midnight snack, after an aborted game of Life. It was reminiscent of a scallop, with white, sweet flesh, though flakier and more appetizing in appearance.
Before dropping off the rental car on Monday we went to the Yorkdale Mall for lunch. Still we arrived at the airport two hours before our flight's departure, which one would think would be enough time, but the line proved otherwise. Frequently the Air Canada staff would call flight numbers in order to bring passengers to the front of the line, but we were neither called nor escorted, so when we got to the desk we were informed that our flight had closed ten minutes previous (forty minutes before the scheduled lift off). We ended up having to stop in Pittsburgh, arriving in Charlotte four hours after our missed flight. At the next station, the customs officer, after learning that Amanda was a make-up artist, asked if anything could be done about his receding hairline. He brushed aside my suggestion to look into hats by saying he wanted some of my hair. I should have told him to get in line.