bennie

Just got back from Toronto with family (2 girls 5 and 8). Had a great time. A few comments for anyone interested. <BR> <BR>Delta Chelsea Hotel - great place to stay with kids. Market Garden restaurant was perfect for us (station style caf). Pool was good, location good, room a little small for 4 but fine otherwise. Rate included room, taxes, breakfast for 2 and parking. All for about $125 US. <BR> <BR>Blue Jays/Red Sox game - Sox won 16-4 and we got Nomar's autograph. SkyDome ain't Fenway. Nobody should have to be told to make noise at a ballgame. Kiss Cam is silly. But I do appreciate the clean bathrooms. <BR> <BR>Niagara Falls - Don't miss the Maid of the Mist. Awesome. Canadian side is beautiful. <BR> <BR>Canada's Wonderland - great amusement park. Very clean, well staffed, great rides. Lots of "thrill rides" geared to kids that can't ride the big ones. Lots of big rides for the teenagers. <BR> <BR>ROM - very interesting displays - Mummies and Dinosaurs were big hits. Beautiful display of Canadiana hidden in basement - It really should be front and center. Also the Native Cultures display was being renovated so we missed that too. Don't understand why Canadian cultural artifacts were given backseat to other displays. <BR> <BR>Toronto Islands - very lovely park, bike rental was needing improvement - bikes looked like they had seen better days. <BR> <BR>CN Tower - its tall. <BR> <BR>St. Marie Among the Hurons - very interesting recreation of French Jesuit Mission - too politically correct for my taste. Teenager staff posing as Jesuits or Indians were uninformed, non-communicative. Had to press them to provide the most basic information. <BR> <BR>Plenty for family to do. Great trip for the kids. Highly recommend it - especially for those looking for a relatively inexpensive trip.

Alexa

So . . . you were at the July 2nd blowout game, too. And got Nomar's autograph, too, eh? <BR> <BR>You know, I was watching our home movies from Toronto over the weekend. We went to that same baseball game very early to catch batting practice. At one point, I was standing down by the field along the first base line. There was a man next to me also videotaping with 2 young children. I heard him ask them, "How does this compare to Fenway?" To which I emphatically interrupted, "IT DOESN'T!" <BR> <BR>So, if by any chance that was you, that is my big mouth you will hear on your home movies! <BR> <BR>My son got Nomar's autograph that day, too. Quite a thrill. <BR> <BR>The most interesting/exciting thing that happened to us in Toronto was on July 1st. My husband, son, and father went to Ruth Chris' Steakhouse, and I stupidly decided that I wasn't in the mood to eat half a cow, so I stayed at the hotel that night. <BR> <BR>Well, wouldn't you know that while they were dining, 8 Red Sox players came in for supper! In case you're wondering, they were: Nomar Garciaparra, Lou Merloni, Trot Nixon, Shea Hillenbrand, Troy O'Leary, Darren Lewis, Mike Lansing, and Scott Hatteberg. <BR> <BR>Before they got their meals, my husband brought my son over to their table and politely asked if they could have their autographs. Ideally, he was hoping that they would pass the paper around the table and everyone would sign it, but they seemed like they wanted to be left alone. So my husband, not wanting to be an obnoxious loser, just got 2 autographs (Nomar Garciaparra & Shea Hillenbrand's), politely thanked them and left. <BR> <BR>Later, when my family members were getting ready to leave, yet another Red Sox player came in with what looked like his relatives--this one was the great MANNY RAMIREZ! On their way out, my son asked him for his autograph, and he happily obliged. They said that Manny was by far the friendliest and warmest out of all of them. <BR> <BR>So I missed out on seeing 9 Red Sox players, but I guess it's just as well. I told my son that if I had been there, I would have STRONGLY discouraged him from bothering any of them. I guess I'm just one of those people that feels bad for these people that are constantly bombarded by autograph hounds (on their personal time, that is), and I wouldn't want to be a part of that scene. However, it did make my son's vacation--if not his entire life! They provided him with a memory that will last him a lifetime, and I'm thankful to them for that. <BR> <BR>The next day, the Sox beat the Jays 16-4. So I guess all that red meat did them so good. <BR>

bennie

Alexa - no that wasn't me. I was the half crazed woman panicking that we wouldn't get Nomar autograph because I couldn't find a pen. I dashed up 30 rows of seats to my husband who helped me search through our junk (leaving my girls behind at the fence - not too smart). The best we could come up with was a CRAYON. When we handed it to Nomar he just winced and reached for another fan's pen and then signed away on both girls hats. It was kind of embarrassing but Nomar was a sport to be out there. <BR> <BR>I can't believe you missed that dinner. I know someone who once a year travels to a Sox game, stays at the hotel where the Sox stay and then bribes a bellcap to tell him where they are eating dinner so he can eat there too and get autographs. I don't know how he made out this year. But I'm sure he would be envious of your family's experience. You guys hit the jackpot. Its nice to know these guys get along well enough to eat dinner together. <BR> <BR>I can't believe you got Manny's. How cool is that! He seems like a great guy. I was at a game at Fenway when Manny broke a bat. While waiting for the ball boy to bring another he walked up to a little boy and handed him the broken one. I thought the boy would pass out. <BR> <BR>Hope you got to enjoy other parts of Toronto too. Its a nice city with a lot to offer.

Alex

Ooops-sorry! I guess I just assumed that the baseball-fan "bennie" was a man. I should know better, as I am also a female sports fanatic! <BR> <BR>Your Nomar story was hilarious! My son's strongest memory of meeting Nomar was the size of his nose in 'real life!' <BR> <BR>And the thing that has stuck with him about Manny is the size of that man's biceps. My son keeps telling me how HUGE is arms were! <BR> <BR>We LOVED, LOVED, LOVED Toronto!! What a great city. I only wish we had had more time there. <BR> <BR>We did some of the same things you did, but made some different choices, too. In case anyone's interested in info. for a family vacation to Toronto, here's some my experiences: <BR> <BR>We also took the SkyDome tour, and I would highly recommend it. It's a lot of fun. <BR> <BR>Niagara Falls--we chose the "Journey Behind the Falls" tour. It was excellent, and amazing to be that close to the Falls and feel its enormous power. <BR> <BR>Hockey Hall of Fame--I basically had to drag everyone to this, as none of my family are big hockey fans, but I completely insisted that we go. Well, turns out, everyone loved it and they were glad we went. <BR> <BR>Even if you only have a mild interest in hockey--GO! It's worth it. They have some computer interactive stuff there for kids--and adults. They have a couple of slap shot games, and a game where you get to play goalie, and see how many pucks you can stop. <BR> <BR>Paramount Canada's Wonderland--I didn't like this as much as others, but I'm probably not the best person to be reviewing amusement parks. I thought it was a bit of a rip-off, but then again, I have a Six Flags about an hour from my house, so I'm spoiled. <BR> <BR>If you're an adult, or have teens, you may love this park. There's a lot of big coasters, and some fun water rides. Unfortunately, my son (at almost 10)is in that in-between age where he's too big for kiddie rides, and too small for the big rides. <BR> <BR>They do have a nice water park on the grounds, but they close it too early in the summer. We found it about 2 minutes before closing time (7 p.m.), which was a shame because it was a very hot day, with lots of daylight left. <BR> <BR>We also witnessed a horrible tragedy on the day we went. While watching one of the Diving shows, one of the female divers slipped and landed on her head and back on the cement platform. She just laid still for the longest time, and there was blood coming from her head. <BR> <BR>We didn't want to be like nosy white-trash and hang around and watch her; so we thought the polite thing would be to leave and give her privacy. I thought about her all day, though, and felt physically ill about what happened to her. If anyone's heard of this event (happened on July 3rd), I'd be interested in knowing if she's okay. <BR> <BR>In retrospect, I wish we skipped the amusement park and went to the Ontario Science Centre instead. I've heard it's amazing, and we regret missing it. <BR> <BR>To be continued . . .

Alex

Part Deux . . . <BR> <BR>We also went to Casa Loma, a very large and old estate. It is huge, and gorgeous, and surrounded by incredible gardens. But if you have young children, be warned: the way it works is that you get what looks like a large cell phone to take with you on the tour. This provides an audio-guided tour for each room. After arriving in a particular room/area, you simply punch in that room's number, then listen to the audio-guide. They only give these audio-guides to children 10 and older, but they gave my son one since he's almost 10. Fortunately, he loved it, but I could see some other children getting bored with it after a few rooms. It all depends on your child's temperament. <BR> <BR>We did a narrated Harbour tour with Toronto Tours. That was great, and also highly recommended. The skyline view from the Harbour can't be beat, and we heard lots of good info on the area. <BR> <BR>We saw a play on our last night. No, we couldn't exactly afford the $200 (each) tickets to the Lion King; so we went to the total opposite end of the theatre spectrum. We went to The Toronto Truck Theatre (I know, sounds odd, doesn't it?) and saw Agatha Christie's "The Mousetrap." My son came with us, and loved it! So if you have children 9 and up, this is a good choice for the family. <BR> <BR>The theatre is located on 94 Belmont St. (off of Yonge) and it's very, very small. But the performances were great, and I'm so glad we went. It's good to support these smaller venues, too, and the work that they do there. <BR> <BR>Toronto Zoo--nice zoo, very large and spread out. You will do lots of walking here, and allow plenty of time if you want to see the whole thing. <BR> <BR>Up the road from the zoo we found a hidden gem. There's a farm stand up there called Whittamore's Farm. As well as sell fruit, they're also a winery, and bakeshop. The pastries there are to die for, and everything is very reasonably priced. If you're one that likes gourmet gifty type things, try this place. Their homemade jams are half the price of the ones sold at the Niagara gift shops, and the jars are much bigger! They make for a nice gift for that person that took care of your pets while you were away. <BR> <BR>We adored Toronto, the people are friendly, and the city is beautiful. I only wish we had more time there to see all the things that we missed. But I guess that will be a good reason to return!!

patty

Thanks bennie & Alex - I've been thinking about a family vacation to Niagara Falls next summer (we have friends in Buffalo and Rochester) which then makes me start thinking of Toronto. Therefore, thanks for all your suggestions. And loved the baseball stories!