Queen West

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Another well deserved sleep-in. The last 10 days have been brilliant but hectic and our cozy Airbnb is perfect for R&R.

We check out the Queen Street East shops and Jules finds a more reasonably priced carry-on bag but elects to check what might be available in the city. Another cracking day weather wise – mid 20s and sunny – and it’s t-shirts all the way. We ride the 501 to the familiar stop near Union Station and disembark for some sightseeing and shopping.

Dropped a pin in maps last night so we could find the Shoppers Drug Mart that sells the Florence by Mills that Millsy has been hunting. It’s not in The Beaches Shoppers Drug Mart but Jules spotted it as we headed for the Streetcar after last nights game. We don’t find THAT Shoppers Drug Mart but there are a lot of them and we stumble upon one that stocks it. Shopp[ers Drug Mart are a hybrid between Chemists Warehouse, Zonefresh, a Newsagent and Dick Smith Electronics. A weird combination, but it works. Millsy spends her birthday money from Nana and is well pleased with her haul.

Next stop – Poutine! Lewis admitted that he hasn’t found a good poutine in three years since arriving. After finding a 4.5 star poutinerie (Smokes) and sampling the traditional poutine, the pulled pork poutine, something called perogy and tater tots (Soooo much potato), I’m not sure what defines a “good” poutine. Crispy potato chips with gravy and cheese curd sounds an appealing proposition but the lack of crisp and the dominance of the soggy kind of translates into regret. No doubt it would hit the spot at 2 am or while hungover. It’s the Canadian Kebab! Glad we tried it, not rushing back to it. Speaking of Dick Smith – the branding of Smokes is totally Canuck Dick Smith.

Jane gave Jules a few suggestions for cool areas to check out and Smokes has us near Queen St West and in need of a few steps to break down the potato, gravy and cheese in our guts. We walk a few kms down Queen St West checking oot boutiques and thrift shops.

I buy a $3 Canadian Power Workers Union shirt and Deaks grabs a mesh blouse for $6. The streetscape and street art is really cool and blends well with the character housing lining the street. Hip Canadians wander the streets and ride by (helmetless) on their simple bicycles. I love this place!

We walk into a leather accessories shop selling bags and wallets etc. (Zanes) and as we enter a flustered shop assistant rushes through the back door. “Hey, hey, where did you guys come from?” Wow, when did you guys walk in?” “wow, I was just oot back with a few friends…there’s more rooms oot back and a back yard…we were doing our thing out there…you’re welcome to join us…hahahaha.” He was so cooked and the scent of pot was everywhere. Really friendly and so funny.

Millsy's battery light is flashing as we near the end of the busy area of Queen West and it's a simple TTC 501 ride all the way back across town to Queen St East and The Beach. The last shop we reluctantly enter near our streetcar shop and Deaks finds some really cool 2nd hand boots. We were just discussing how the boots he wants are around $500 and he missed a pair on d-pop for $300. He picks up this pair of brown leather, zip-up ankle boots for a tidy $75. He loves them and they make a pretty great Queen West souvenir.

It's aboot an hour ride back to The Beach and the ride is far from boring. The snarling Chihuahua sat next to me is quickly overshadowed by a tweaking lady goose stepping (stomping) and mumbling profanities and she surges down the aisle. She lifts her leg above her waist and stomps it down with loud force and prowls around the carriage huffing and swearing. Her behavior gradually clears out the rear of the carriage as passengers move seats or prematurely alight the streetcar leaving Jules as the nearest passenger. I leave my seat next to snarly the dog and move towards Jules just as the crazy woman exits the car and continues her rampage on foot. She was smoking something in the carriage and was clearly having a mental episode. No sooner had she left when the dancing, laughing mumbler got on board. Disheveled hair and wild eyes he calmly walked up and down the aisle singing in gobbledegook and smiling to himself. We were all spread around the carriage and kept a cautious eye on each other. This time the kids were regularly in close proximity to the harmless stranger and kept their cool. Soon he too was on his merry way and our ride continued through the CBD, Leslieville and onto the sanctuary of The Beach.

Back to the Airbnb for a quick rest (powernap in my case) and back to the Fosters. Morley and Jane have delicious G&Ts waiting for us and we report on our days activities. Slip the kids some cash and we are off for dinner at Eastside Social. Jane has to put on a Canadian accent when repeating the reservation - Moorrrly Forrster otherwise they might thinks she's saying Molly Faster. The food is great (primarily vegetarian starters as we are craving vegetables) and the company is perfect. The conversation and laughs flow freely and it's so great to see these awesome humans again. Hadn't realised how much we missed having them around.

A sneaky drink at Morley's no-longer-secret local bar. Lloyd's is placed halfway between Morley's and his mates place, perfect for pre-game drinks.

It's after 10 and Deaks and Milla have already walked home to the airbnb after eating pizza and hanging out with the Fosters. The boys watched the BlueJays and played chess while the girls watched Brooklyn 99 and The Office on the couch.

A pretty perfect day in Toronto.

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