Greetings from lovely, rainy Toronto! After an excellent nights sleep thanks to our lovely hosts at the Westin, Nadine and I headed out for our first day of exploring Toronto. After we looked at the forecast this morning and realized today might be our best weather day, we decided to put off the Hockey Hall of Fame until tomorrow and attack some other things instead.
The fun started in the lobby of the hotel on our way out, where we promptly ran into Kings Coach Terry Murray, waiting in line for coffee. We congratulated him on the win last night against Detroit, and told him we were here for the game. He recognized Nadine from Tip-a-King, which was totally hilarious! A few of the boys were there as well, and looking at the clock we realized they were probably getting ready to head out for morning practice. Nice to know they departed Detroit safely.
Then we headed off to the CN Tower, the worlds largest freestanding structure, to take in some views of Toronto. It was overcast but not raining yet, so it was the perfect time to go.
It doesn't look like much from this angle, but when you get to bottom you know you're in for one heck of a ride getting upstairs.
The highest observation deck is 1465 feet (147 stories) straight up - the elevator ride is NOT for the squeamish. I recommend not looking down.
Although the views of the city you get from the top are absolutely worth it.
You can even see Toronto Island, which apparently is a very nice place to go in the summer, but not much is open there in the winter.
Nadine immediately spotted an outdoor ice rink right on the water, so we're making that one of our stops before we leave.
In the base area of the tower building, they have a nice little gift shop and all kinds of fun photo opportunities. The first one was with this lovely moose. He's a little stiff, but he's got a great smile.
Then a bear took a liking to Nadine and Flat Stanley.
He took such a great photo I thought he deserved a high-five.
And we both feel in love with the Canadian Mounty Bear. He rules!
After we were done at the CN Tower, we spent a little time walking around town, the headed back down towards the water near the hotel. It was raining pretty steady by that point, but neither one of us minded very much. Such is the joy of being on vacation!
It was strange to see ice in the water, at least for me. I haven't lived many places in the past 20 years where large bodies of water freeze over. The ducks were managing OK, though.
I think the black squirrel thought they were crazy. Much warmer and drier up in the tree.
But by far the funniest thing we saw all day was in Union Station...
Makes me proud to be a Kings fan!
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