Toronto vacation Day 1: Gay Day!
Gay Day started out with us doing what everyone wants to do...sleep in late. We finally got up and about somewhere around 10 or so and headed over to a terrific breakfast place called the Daybreak Cafe. We discovered it by accident on our first vacation to Toronto, and it's on the opposite corner of the old Maple Leaf Garden at College and Church. Nice, cozy place, and we were able to sit outside. I love the Skinny Greek! Fried egg whites, whole grain toast, and a tasty selection of in-season fresh fruit! Plus, the coffee was (as always) excellent!
We headed back to Yonge St. and took the subway North toward Glad Day Book Shop, a gay and lesbian book store that originated in Boston. Now, if any of you have gone to a book store with a librarian, you know that you can easily set aside a couple of hours, and that's just what happened. O bought a few books, and I bought one.
We went back to the hotel to load up on water, drop off our packages, and get directions to the lunch place. It was within walking distance on the fringe of Chinatown, so we made our way to Vegetarian Haven. Now, what our guide book didn't tell us is that they close between lunch and dinner. Well, we arrived just after the closing time. Ouch! Great sadness! O noticed a record store across the street, but it was closed, too.
We wandered back the way we had come, taking detours here and there, trying to find another resto with veg options. Finally, O's blood sugar began to drop to grumpy levels (think orange on the terror alert level), so I made an exec decision. We wound up at Three Peppers. The food was okay, but nothing to write home about. I had some sandwich, and O had a vegan quesadilla. Good stuff, but not great.
After we ate, we walked back toward Baldwin St and Veg Haven to try and check out the record store again. On the way, O wanted to go into St. Patrick's Cathedral, so I sat on the stairs and people watched while she explored. I found it ironic that across from the church was a pub called "Sin and Redemption." (No link...sorry!) We didn't go in, but I had a fun chuckle while I waited.
When we got back to Baldwin, the record store was still closed...Bummer! So we went to the organic grocer next door. One thing about Toronto...we'd never be out of organic grocery stores! O got some stuff there...can't remember what, exactly, but I picked up some wasabi rice crisps. Mighty tasty, and mighty spicy...just like wasabi should be!
We headed back to the hotel to drop off our organic goods and rest up a bit. After all that walking, we were both pretty tired. After we rested up and showered, we walked a few blocks over to a Thai resto called "Golden Thai". It was recommended by the hotel and DAMN! Was that food good! (If you open the website, you'll notice a statue in the window to the right of the photo. we sat directly in front of that, and had a great view of the entire resto.) We decided...hey...we're on vacation...let's treat ourselves! And so we did. Can we say 4 course gourmet Thai dinner? The Vegetarian Classic was amazing, but the dessert really topped it all off! Rum Fried Bananas. Even O liked it!
After dinner, we took our 4 course meal selves back to the hotel, walking through the very active Yonge/Dundas Square area (reminded me of Times Square). See...Hard Rock Cafe is here, and there was a live funk band playing a lot of covers. They were good, too! Nice to walk back and be serenaded by the sounds of Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, early Michael Jackson...
And of course, what could end the day better than the All Star Game Home Run Derby! We arrived back at the hotel just in time to watch Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers break the ASGHRD record in the first round. Wow...I still get chills.
So, yeah... Gay Day wasn't all that "gay" but it sure was fun!