Poop's Birthday Weekend

This past weekend was Poop's birthday (Yay!) and since we hadn't planned any sort of celebratory extravaganza (due to all sorts of crappy stuff that's been going on lately), we made a last-minute decision to take off to Niagara Falls for the weekend.

We both took Friday afternoon off and hit the road for Niagara around 3 pm. Unfortunately, being Friday, rush hour out of the city started at about 2 pm. We were stuck in some pretty nasty traffic all the way to Hamilton (and beyond?). It was, as you can imagine, frustrating. Moral of the story for us: Always take the 407.

We had booked a room at the "Country Inn & Suites", located directly across the street from Casino Niagara. We've never stayed there before (I believe it's relatively new) but we'd definitely go back - we got a great deal (total bill for 2 nights, including tax & parking etc. was less than $180). The room was more than adequate, very comfortable beds/pillows, nice decor (though those olde tyme TVs that aren't flat actually sorta freak me out now: WHAT IS THAT THING?!! IT'S SO BIG!).

We learned, upon checking in, that there was a big "dance competition" occurring in Niagara Falls that weekend - which explained the 8-year-old girl in the lobby with the slicked-back hair and sporting eye makeup akin to Cleopatra.

We actually saw a number of hyper little girls wearing makeup (and unhappy brothers & dads caddying tap shoes & sparkly costumes) over the course of the weekend. I think several of them were in our hotel. The accomodating desk clerk put us on the 7th (top) floor, assuring us it was the "quietest" floor - and it was, til Sunday morning, when I came dangerously close to unleashing a string of expletives on the noisy assholes in the hall who woke me up...

Anyway, we arrived at the hotel around 5:30 on Friday and after checking in to the hotel, headed over to the casino for dinner & subsequent shenanigans. We tried to get a comp (some quantity of $$ from the casino) to eat at Lucky's (the "steakhouse" at Casino Niagara - Note: despite being designated a "steakhouse", they have wonderful vegetarian, seafood & pasta dishes, too), but we were informed we needed to gamble for a bit before we could get any freebies. We played for a little bit, then opted for the buffet - which was disgusting, but quelled the hunger pangs temporarily.

Friday night at Casino Niagara is ""Ladies Night" - which means they hold draws for prizes (for the women) and try to give all the ladies roses when they arrive. I had to turn down no fewer than 4 pink roses - who wants to carry a friggin' flower around all night? (Carrying a flower around all night would seriously impede my ability to gamble my money away as quickly as possible - you'd think that casino management would realize this floral gift program is to their money-grubbing detriment!)

I love Niagara Falls in general and the casino specifically. The cross-section of people is unfailingly amusing. For example, you very rarely see such a high concentration of mullets in one place nowadays. I also love the fact that I get ID'd everytime I go there - and they're always surprised when they find out my actual age.

Poop played poker for a few hours, I played some slots & some Caribbean Stud - neither of us had much good luck that night, so around 12:30 we decided to leave and get something to eat - after our wholly unsatisfying buffet experience, we were hungry again. We decided on Kelsey's - because it was nearby and because it had a huge patio (and it was an absolutely beautiful night). And while I normally try to avoid this type of conveyor-belt/chain restaurant, it was actually quite good. I had a Cosmopolitan and some sort of cheese/spinach dip thing served with crispy pita pieces - tasty & filling. Poop had a Jack & Coke and a brilliant innovation called "Buffalo Perogies" - basically, perogies tossed in buffalo wing sauce - genius! All in all, an enjoyable end to a fun evening.

We headed back to the hotel and crashed pretty quickly...and slept soundly til we were awakened by the alarm on the Iphone in the morning...Poop had set it to go off in time so that he could partake of the "Free Breakfast" that was included with the cost of our room, the availability of which ended at 10:30 (he really loves a good deal and hates to miss out). Poop went downstairs and got us some egg sandwiches and yogurts - not bad! Though he was somewhat dejected since one of the brochures promised a waffle station - he was really looking forward to making (and eating!) his own waffles. Poor Poop. Didn't they know it was his birfday weekend?!?!!

We lazed around for a bit, debating what we should do with our Saturday. We decided to go to Dave & Buster's and spend exhorbitant amounts of money so we could play games. Wheeee!

The forecast was calling for a storm and the sky over the falls was threatening to open up and pour at any second - every time I looked out the window it appeared that the velocity of the wind had increased - litter was flying everywhere and little girls in spandex & hooker makeup looked like they were going to blow away! We decided to wait for a bit before heading out, to see what was going on with the weather, since neither of us brought an umbrella nor did either of us feel like participating in a tornado. As it turned out, we didn't have to wait very long - the storm was over as quickly as it started (though it sure poured down hard for a few minutes) and we were off on our next adventure.

Before leaving the hotel, we raided the brochure area of the lobby and ripped out some Dave & Buster's coupons from one of the tourist guidebooks. We love our great deals!

Stepping outside was a bit of shock - the humidity was atrocious, particularly for early May - hot & sticky. I definitely didn't need the fleece jacket I'd brought with  me!

We walked over to Dave & Busters and had a great time, playing skeeball, air hockey, a random shooting-at-monsters game (that made my hands really sore) and a basketball free-throw game where you get as many baskets as possible in a certain amount of time.

I was at a disadvantage in all of our competitions, never having played any of these games before, whereas Poop grew up playing them! He was incredulous that I didn't have any experience with skeeball or air hockey - I guess you just can't comprehend the "growing up in Dryden" experience unless you've been there...we 5-pin bowled in Dryden, we snowmachined in Dryden, we fished in Dryden - we did not play skeeball in Dryden!!

One odd occurrence while we where there: A woman carrying a baby who (along with her family) followed us from game to game, watching us as we laughed, hooted & hollered and, in my case, liberally used four-letter words. There was even a long, intense air hockey rally that they got a bit too into (emotionally) - when I eventually scored on myself (yes, I'm that kinda girl), they appeared devastated!

All that activity made us very thirsty (a sad commentary on our physical fitness), so we ventured out to the Clifton Hill area to grab a tasty beverage and a snack. The area is pretty much always overrun with tourists, from all over the world, but none of them annoyed me (much). I do try to be a good Canadian ambassador as much possible, you know!.

We grabbed some soft drinks (mmmm..fountain soda..) and a hard, salty pretzel (with mustard, of course!) and found a seat. We were impressed with how well they maintain the area - probably 20 or more park benches/picnic tables where we were situated and every single bench had a garbage can beside it - I know people will still litter (lazy assholes) but this certainly must reduce the urge!


We returned to D & B to use up the rest of our credits. I just assumed we'd give all pf our prize tickets to some kid when we were finished - I know I wasn't interested in anything from the "prize" area? Apparently, Poop had other ideas and the birfday boy gets what he wants! He used our meagre allocation of tickets to purchase a maple, moose-shaped sucker. He saved it for the drive home on Sunday where he proceeded to eat an entire antler & half the moose's head before asking me to take it away and never let him near it again (see pic).

After our D & B adventure, we decided to get some ice cream cones - seemed like a hot day/birthday kind of thing to do - I got a Rocky Road cone (Gross - I had no idea there were marshmellows in Rocky Road. I'm not sure what I thought it was going to be, but that wasn't it!) and Poop had something else, that escapes me at the moment, cuz I'm so upset thinking about a delicious ice cream cone opportunity spoiled by marshmellows!! ARGH!!

We went back to the hotel to relax for a while (i.e. so Poop could have a 2-hour nap) and shower before dinner. Our plan for the evening was to go to Mamma Mia's, an Italian place that we used to frequent, but haven't been to in a few years, and then go back to the casino. I was also looking forward to having a nice, relaxing bubble bath - I haven't bathed in ages (well, I've washed myself, but I only have a shower at my house, so I almost never get to have a bath!) so it was going to be a treat!

To my surprise & delight, Dirty Dancing was on the TV! And, even though I've seen it about 175 times and I know all the dialogue by heart (and it's always somewhat bittersweet to watch, since both Jerry Orbach and Patrick Swayze are with Phil Hartman now), naturally, I had to watch it. It was as delightful as ever.

We had a nice dinner at Mamma Mia's - Poop's newfound love of Eggplant Parmesan is a revelation. He declared Mamma Mia's version to be "melt-in-the-mouth delicious". My dinner wasn't spectacular, but it was OK. Here's a picture of Poop holding up the "candle" on the table (it wasn't lit, so we looked at it more closely and realized it was plastic and had a switch that needed to be turned on - classy!).

The whole weekend was a lot of fun - thanks, Niagara Falls! Happy birthday, Poop!

Weekend in The Cleve

For those of you who are wondering why I keep referring to Cleveland as "The Cleve", it's a "30 Rock" reference.

"For God’s sakes Lemon, we’d all like to flee to the Cleve and club up at the Flats and have lunch with Little Richard, but we fight those urges."

And for those of you who didn't know it was a "30 Rock" reference, we are officially no longer friends--I have no desire to associate with anyone who doesn't watch 30 Rock. What kind of asshole doesn't watch 30 Rock? An asshole with whom I don't want to be friends, that's what kind!

Anyway...

My (# 1 in the AL East) Toronto Blue Jays were playing a series in Cleveland over Easter weekend and, naturally, we decided to go!!

After a leisurely Good Friday, doing a whole lotta nothing, we drove down to Niagara Falls for the night...gambled for a few hours and got a good night's sleep, since we had to hit the road pretty early in order to make it to the stadium in plenty of time for the 1 pm game.

Before we left, we managed to grab a pair of 2nd row tickets (below face value, no less) from "StubHub"--right behind the Blue Jays dugout!! Woohoo!

We woke up Saturday morning and it was a beautiful, sunny day (a huge improvement over the previous day's rain--and the previous day's 3.5 hour rain delay of game in Cleveland!), however, once we stepped outside we realized it was fucking freezing!! Good God.

We had an uneventful drive to Cleveland's "Progressive Field" (formerly known as "Jacob's Field" and (still) affectionately referred to by those "in the know" as "The Jake"). Once we found parking (right across the street from the stadium), we exited the car (with fingers crossed no one would vandalize the car for bearing an Ontario license plate)and realized it was even colder, in Cleveland, than it was in Niagara Falls!! D'oh!

Speaking of "d'oh", I stupidly forgot my gloves in the car. Nor did I bring the blanket with me from the trunk. I'm so stupid.

Indians fans were everywhere, heading in to the stadium, though we did spot more than a couple of Blue Jay hats, here and there, in the crowd. Cleveland is the closest city for which Torontonians can travel for professional baseball or basketball, so it's no surprise that a number of folks made the trek--particularly since this was a long weekend!

I've travelled a lot and been to a number of cities for both Jays and Raptors games. For the most part, people in these cities (and inside the sporting venues) have been remarkably, overwhelmingly friendly and welcoming, even when I'm sporting my team's paraphernalia!

That's not the case in The Cleve.

Fans in this city are rabid & vicious! We previously attended a Cavaliers vs Raptors game and encountered exactly the same thing. Psychos abounded!!

We had wandered around the concourse of the stadium for a bit (freezing!) trying to locate our seats...(and what great seats they were!!). However, when we went to sit down, a crusty old man in the seats beside ours snarled, "I go to ONE GAME A YEAR and I have to sit by JAYS fans...why didn't you just stay home??!"

Well, thanks for the warm welcome!


I ordered a cocktail (something called a "Jelly Bean" w/vodka, watermelon liquor & cranberry juice...it's allegedly some kind of Cleveland Easter treat, though my friend Kimmy, who's lived in the area her entire life, had never heard of it...anyway, it was DELICIOUS! It was also very well iced and the ice didn't melt even a little bit, due to the extreme temperatures, so it was semi-painful to hold).


I'm not sure how cold it actually was, but we could see our breath, and the wind off the lake was very strong that day and, obviously, extremely chilly. Thank goodness there was not a cloud in the sky--it would have been far more uncomfortable than it was if the sun hadn't been beating down all afternoon. In fact, the staff were actually moving people from one side of the stadium (that was becoming more and more shadow-covered as the day wore on) to the other so they could be in the sun!


The game was amazing...the Jays pulled out a victory despite the best (aka worst) efforts of BJ Ryan (the Blue Jays' ostensible "closer") to ruin all the hard work done by ace Roy Halladay, the starting pitcher, and the collective Blue Jays bats....

The Jays were up 5-1 (I can't recall if it was in the 8th or the 9th that Cito brought Ryan in) and Ryan managed to walk the bases loaded. I was so distraught I actually left my seat and paced around the concourse--I couldn't watch! It was too painful!

Anyway, final score was 5-4 for the good guys. :)

Oh, and, Indians fans: Well done! You made us feel so welcome in your city!

"JAYS SUCK!!" ~ Some guy coming out of the washroom, upon seeing a Blue Jays cap--charming!

"She's a JAYS fan." ~ Dad, grumpily, explaning to his young child why I was cheering when the Blue Jays got a hit.

"JAYS SUUUUUCK!" ~ Dad a few rows behind us

"Daddy, what's suck mean?" ~ Child of the dad who believes the Jays suck

"It means they SUCK! I hate them! They SUCK!" ~ Same dad, doing some just excellent parenting...


Overall, we had a great time...I'm also pleased to report that not everyone was as rude to us as the Indians fans inside the stadium were. As we left the game, a gentlemen wished us a "Good night" and then, noticing our hats, laughed and said, "I *know* you two will have a good night..you're Jays fans!!"

After the game, we went to meet my friend Kimmy & her wonderful son (yep, he's one of the few kids I actually LIKE!) JD for dinner at one of her favourite restaurants, with lots of veggie options, called "Tommy's" on Coventry Street. If you're in the area, I highly recommend it!

We arrived pretty early so we parked the car and explored the neighbourhood a bit (after cleverly side-stepping some puke in the parking garage...stink-o-rama!) Very cool area, major hippie vibe, lots of places I'd like to go eat should I ever make it back to The Cleve!

We decided to go for a drink at a bar/restaurant called the "Laughing Lizard" (I could be wrong about the "laughing" part...but I know it had an adjective before the word lizard in the title...it could have been "laughing"...). The drink selection was gargantuan...I was having trouble deciding...I ultimately settled on a Bloody Mary and it was GENIUS! Mmmm...(((Genius Bloody Mary)))...

After dinner, we went to what must be one of JD's favourite places on earth, a crazy novelty store called "BIG FUN". As you can see, it was, indeed, BIG fun.



The GPS lady decided to take us on a scary trek through Sketchville (not a real place) on our way out of town...we were stopped at a light, for what seemed like an eternity, and I don't mind telling you, I was becoming a little bit nervous. In any case, we glanced over at the mini-strip-mall style store to the left and noticed that the windows were all covered with ads for the store's products/services..."Bibles: $6.95 and Up!"... "Crucifixes: Sm/Med/Lg"..."Rat Bait"

Wait--what?

Then we noticed the name of the company:



Wow. What a combination of services!! And, from the looks of things, they started out exclusively selling Christian supplies. Then, for whatever reason, they decided to expand--logically, into pest control!

I have a theory that perhaps, over the years, customers would come in for their religious materials and mention how bad off they were, pest-wise...and T & L, being shrewd business owners, decided to take advantage!!

And that was our trip to The Cleve! A whirlwind of adventure!!

See ya next time, Ohio!

And Cleveland sports fans: Stay classy!

My Weekend in Chicago--Part II!

Saturday morning we awoke in Chicago--woohoo!

It was just as cold, if not colder, on the Saturday and, as such, we decided to hit the Lux (again) for brunch, since it was so close.

My brunch was great. Since we were heading back to the hotel after the meal (instead of heading right off to an event), I was able to bring what was left over from my brunch in a take-away box to snack on later...it was pretty much a full-size meal...Oh, and, in case you were interested: They make a kick-ass Bloody Mary there. :D

And, in case you weren't aware, the Bloody Mary recently had a birthday--75 years! Gotta love the Bloody Mary...to quote a friend of mine, "Cheers to the Bloody Mary--telling hangovers to 'fuck off' for 75 years!"

I headed over to the convenience store and received a call from my (then very pregnant) friend Gill in California...almost the first thing she said was, "Wow, you sound COLD!"

We had a nice chat while I picked up a few things at the store before heading back to the hotel.

Our plan was to meet up with some friends for dinner before the concert we were going to that night. My buddy Bryan works with the band and he said he'd be done setting up around 6 so he could meet us for dinner then.

I spoke to our other friend, Duck (an awesome guy whom I met many years ago at a music festival..I'm thinking Vibes '02?...anyway, we run into him from time to time, at various music events...now he happens to live in Chicago, so it we were excited to see him). Anyway, I told Duck the plan, such as it was, though we hadn't quite decided on a location, yet, for dinner and he was pretty much game for whatever we suggested (my kind of guy!).

Upon consultation with various sources & the folks who were to be attending, we finally decided on a highly recommended Costan Rican restaurant, not too far from the venue where the band was playing, called "Irazu". Everyone seemed to be enthused at the idea of Costa Rican food...though nobody could confidently attest to what "Costan Rican" food would entail (I guessed "lots of beans & rice" and that turned out to be fairly accurate).

We were warned it was a very small restaurant and they didn't take reservations. After all was said and done it appeared there were going to be 7 of us for dinner...when 3 of us showed up early to try to get a table (in light of the "small place, no reservasions" tip), we were told they wouldn't seat us until our entire party arrived..oops..


So...we waited. I spoke to Bryan on the phone, who was running late...very late...

We had also been told that this resto was "BYOB"...though we didn't find out til we had already arrived that, unlike restaurants in Ontario, it wasn't "BYO" wine and they charge a corkage fee, it was BYOW(hatever booze you want) and they don't serve alcohol otherwise.

This reminds me of a note about Friday night at the basketball game that I forgot to mention...if you go outside at half-time at the United Center, in Chicago, you're allowed to bring your drink out with you! That's crazy! (at least for Canadians) In Canada, the only time you can bring a drink outside is if they have a heavily contained patio or some such nonsense...in Chicago, you can just walk outside, put your beer on the garbage can, light up a smoke..or walk away...I was shocked!

Anyway...

Luckily, since Bry was running late, I had time to go over to the wine store, conveniently located right across the street.

It was a very, very cool place--the architecture/design of the interior was amazing. Unencumbered by the rules governing alcohol sales (and, I assume, interior decorating) in Ontario, this place looked like a cozy restaurant in a ski lodge..semi-low lighting, walls done up almost like a log cabin, candles in beautiful glass domes scattered about.

The folks who worked there were so nice--we got into a great chat about Toronto (and baseball) and travelling. And, as wine-store owners should, they really knew their wine! They helped me pick out a couple of nice reds (excellent suggestions from the folks at the store) and headed back to the restaurant.

We waited a few more minutes and Bryan and his crew finally arrived--turned out, 2 of them (whom it was great to see) were just dropping him off, which left us with 5 for dinner. Unfortunately, they didn't have a table for 5, nor would they allow us to pull an extra chair up to the table for 4 they did have. We decided to split up the group, Bryan and I sat at a 2-seater and Brian, Duck & Mike at another table.

So we ate dinner and the food was pretty freakin' great. I think we all had a good time. Afterwards, we all headed over to the concert venue. It was well before the show and we were lucky enough to be with a guy who works with the band so we actually got to hang out on the band's phat (yes, PHat) bus. Seriously, these buses have everything! Wow. Had a drink. Marvelled at modern technology at all the fancy shit you can fit on a freakin' bus. Good god.

I think we might have been kicked off the bus at that point (though no one said that specifically) so we all headed into the venue.

We had to stand in a "special line" since my friend very generously had put us on the guest list. After waiting an interminably long time (in the insanely freezing lobby, due to the doors being open), I finally got to the front of the line and told the guy I was on the guest list. He could not find my name. I insisted I was on the list. He insisted I was not. I saw another friend (who was with the band) walk by and appealed to him--he pointed out that they were looking for my middle name, instead of my first name, on the list, and that I am on the guest list and I get "all access" passes immediately.

Thanks, Mike. You rock.

So we finally got in...beautiful venue...my friend told me that we should meet him backstage...so we approached the wings of the stage...naturally, I had no idea where I was supposed to be going...the security guard at the edge of the stage stood tall and imposing, til he saw our "all access" passes and then he backed right off immediately..unfortunately, I had no idea where to go...so I texted my friend and he came and got us. :)

Anyway, we were escorted backstage and got a little tour...saw the crowd from the stage view..had some drinks...even got an interesting mini-tour of the bowels of the building....

All in, it was a great night. :D

My Weekend in Chicago-Part I!

The weekend of January 24th included a jaunt to the balmy shores of Chicago!

(...they don't call it "The Windy City" for nothin', let me tell ya! )

Luckily, being from Toronto, the cold--while significant--wasn't painfully shocking...but painful, nonetheless...

Anyway, travelling for a Raptors' weekend road game has become a bit of a tradition, and since they were playing on a Friday night, and we managed to secure a fantastic deal on a flight from Buffalo ($111 all-in/return) we decided to make the trek.

Thursday night we enjoyed a complimentary night in a fancy-pants room at Casino Niagara (compulsive gambling is good for something after all!) and Friday morning, we got up super early to ensure we had enough time to get across the border, parked and through security in time for our flight.

I must say, the ability to print one's boarding passes 24-hours before one's flight is such a wonderful convenience, it saves so much time (unless, of course, you put your boarding pass down on the table at a restaurant and forget it there..*oops*..not that *I* would ever do that, though,..perish the thought!).

Turned out we needn't have worried--we got across the border with no delays whatsoever and had plenty of time to spare in the terminal once we got through security. We had breakfast and I purchased a USA Today.

I love USA Today. It's total brain candy. Like Smarties. Tiny little bites of multi-coloured deliciosity (Yep, I just made up a word. Suck it if you don't like it). You can bounce back and forth between colours and it's all delectable and you don't even have to think! Wheeeeeeeeee! :)

Our flight was great, too. No hassles, no annoyances. The flight attendants on this particular flight were remarkably amusing (failed stand-up comedians with a penchant for inflatable slides, perhaps?)...very funny, actually. We each got TWO packets of peanuts and--the best part!--unlimited tomato juice! I'm sure whichever non-alcoholic beverage you'd chosen would have been unlimited, but I just looooove tomato juice(especially on airplanes, for some inexplicable reason), so it was tremendously exciting for me.

We landed in Chicago--ahead of schedule!--and since we didn't check any bags, we just headed straight for the El. The transit system in Chicago is incredibly convenient and efficient. We bought our 3-day passes, got on the train, switched trains once, arrived at our destination station and walked a few blocks to the hotel.

On the way, we passed a "soup" restaurant (looked like a take-out place)..in the window, they had a big list of the soups they were serving that day, including a few that were described as vegetarian/vegan. Being a soup lover, and being that it was 8 million degrees below zero, we made a note of the place for future reference.

We checked in to the hotel (Omni Suites on the Magnificent Mile--fantastic experience--everything was great all weekend long. I highly recommend it.) and headed up to our "suite". This particular hotel is "All Suites" so the room was amazing--even better, we got it for 50% off! Some kind of reimbursement dealie for a previous stay at another one of their properties that had gone awry--hey, I'll take it!

We decided that soup from the soup place was in order as it was almost lunchtime and our breakfast had been verrrry early in the morning. We ended up getting the veg chili & the mixed vegetable soup. Neither were overwhelmingly impressive--chili was so-so (I like some KICK in my chili, dammit!) and the veg soup was somewhat bland--but the crusty bread that accompanied the soups was AMAZING!

Prior to our arrival, we hadn't really decided what we were going to do with our afternoon before eating dinner and heading over to the United Centre for the game. With the weather as miserable as it was, we didn't really feel like wandering around and sightseeing--besides which, I think we saw all the top tourist spots on our last trip to Chicago--so we decided to have a nap. Actually, I don't think the nap thing was a conscious decision, it just sort of happened...laid down to watch a bit of TV..woke up 2 hours later...it happens..:)

Feeling revitalized, we showered and got dressed (in Raptors shirts, naturally) and headed out for dinner. We decided on "the Grand Lux Cafe"..which is a chain restaurant, tourist-trap, affiliated with "The Cheesecake Factory" restaurants...anyway, I'd heard really good things about it and, most importantly, it was only 2 blocks from the hotel.

Turns out, it was pretty damn good. The food was fantastic. The service was impeccable. I will, however, warn you--in case you ever have the chance to eat there--the portions are HUGE. Actually, one adjective doesn't come close to adequately describing the enormity of the portions they serve there--gargantuan, mammoth, collosal. There. That's better.

I had a "dinner-size" salad (see below). It pretty much looked exactly the same when I was finished with it as it did before I dug in. But, boy, it was GOOOOOOOD.

Actually, the elephantine portions bother me a bit..unless you're planning to split one meal with one or two other people, it seems like a tremendous waste. Considering half the patrons are probably tourists for whom doggy-bags would be inconvenient, you have to assume a really big quantity of food is wasted at that place every day. A shame.

After dinner, we pondered the route & train(s) we'd need to take to get to the United Centre from our location...the wind and the temperature helped us decide: A cab it was!!

Turns out, it was only about $10 to the United Centre...well worth the expense...I need my butt and I'm almost certain it would have frozen off had I been forced to stand on an elevated platform for any length of time waiting for a train.

We got to the arena and found our gate. We did do a cursory glance around the outside of the building in search of the "famous" Michael Jordan statue that lives there but, not finding it immediately, we abandoned the quest and went in where it was blessedly warm.

The tickets we bought off the internet from a season-ticket holder turned out to be just about the greatest seats in the entire place--5th row (3rd row of permanent seats, 5th row if you include the floor seats) centre, across from the benches--a perfect view of everything! We had a great time and everyone was incredibly friendly--even though we were cheering for the visiting team(some of us..aka ME...being VERY loud about it, too).

I went up the aisle to go the bathroom at one point and asked the usher which way I should go--he said, "Are you here from Toronto?"

It took me a split-second to determine how he knew that I was Canadian--was I emitting some kind of Canuckian vibe that only dogs and ushers can detect?!?

Then I remembered that I was wearing a Raptors shirt. hehehe.

I responded that I was, indeed, from Toronto, and he bellowed, "Welcome to Chicago!"

Isn't that nice? I also saw these signs all over Chicago saying "the mayor welcomes you to chicago"...at first, I was skeptical...by the end of the weekend, I truly believed Mr. Daly was welcoming me to Chicago!

My old friend Chuck Swirsky, who was the TV play-by-play guy for the Raptors for years til he moved back to Chicago to cover the Bulls, told me to get in touch with him when we got to the arena, which I did and he came over to say hello. We chatted for a bit and we got some restaurant recommendations.

We wanted to get a pic of us with Chuck in the home of the Bulls, for souvenir sake, so we asked an usher (not the one who welcomed me to Chicago) to take a pic of us--methinks it might have been her first encounter with a digital camera, as she looked both perplexed and a little frightened, when we handed it to her and the resulting pic (as evidenced by its exclusion from this post) was a classic "heads-cut-off" disaster. Thanks anyway, lady!

I yelled out to Jose Calderon during the warm-up and he turned and looked and saw us and gave us a big wave & a smile and I gave him a thumbs up. A couple of the other Raptors saw us (fans in Chi-town!) and gave us a wink & a nod...they were happy for our presence. :)

Turns out, for the first time in a game for which we travelled, the Raptors kicked ass--it was the return of the Raptors' previously injured starting point guard, Jose Calderon, and he ran the floor like he'd never been gone. It was great. No one booed us, even though we cheered for the visitors, and..the Raptors won!

After the game, we met up with some friends at a random bar for a few drinks..didn't last too long..though we did meet up with some Bulls fans who'd been at the game and, yes, we did gloat, just a little bit...then we went back to the hotel and crashed.

My Trip to The Cleve! (Part I)

This past weekend, I took a roadtrip to The Cleve! The original purpose was to see the Raptors play the Cavaliers on Saturday...I mean, how frequently do the Raptors play an away game, within driving distance, on a weekend? Hardly ever!! Of course we had to make the trek.

Then I discovered that a band I like, Ekoostik Hookah, was playing Friday night at the House of Blues--so I immediately ordered a set of tickets for their gig.

Of course, I was also overjoyed at the prospect of visiting with my friend Kimmy, who lives outside The Cleve, and whom I haven't seen in AGES!

We left Thursday night and stayed overnight on Grand Island (we planned to do some shopping for clothes and we wanted to ensure that we were in the U.S. for the required 48 hour period, so we could return home without having to pay any ridiculous duty charges).

Grand Island is a tiny strip of land on a body of water connecting Lake Erie & Lake Ontario (I'm unaware of what it's called) between Niagara Falls and Buffalo--where they actually make you pay a toll to leave the island.
Pretty sweet scam they're running, if you ask me.

Prior to this trip, I assumed the whole point of Grand Island was to operate the world's crappiest amusement park (if you've ever driven between Niagara Falls and Buffalo, you know what I'm talking about) and making money by forcing people to pay up to get the hell outta there.

Evidently, the island has one more purpose: they host hockey tournaments (the hotel at which we stayed even had a stack of sheets titled "Hockey Agreement" on the Front Desk counter...I guess those hockey players are habitually rambunctious or something and other hotel guests, like myself, frown upon that type of activity. Unless, of course, I'm the one instigating/perpetrating said shenanigans--in that case, it's OK).

Anyway, we had a decent sleep and got up and went to Denny's for breakfast. It was great. Having never eaten at a Denny's when I was growing up, it's still sort of a novelty for me. I had a great veggie omelet (no cheese) and some excellent rye toast (with flax seeds) and a tomato juice. God, I love tomato juice. I wish it was better for you--it's like 98% sodium, though. Boo.

Oh, and they had kick-ass hot sauce...that, now that I think of it, I probably should have stolen. Curses!

After breakfast, I grabbed a coffee (to go) and we hit the road. It was a beautiful sunny day and we wanted to stop by the big mall in Erie, Pennsylvania. Ah, Pennsylvania--the land of no sales tax on clothing. Gotta love it.

We stopped at the mall, bought a few things and decided we'd stop on our back to do some more shopping, since we were a bit pressed for time--we wanted to enjoy our visit with Kimmy before we had to head into the city for the concert.

We headed out of the mall and, lo and behold, the weather had turned from sunny and clear, to a full-on blizzard!!

This is typical of Pennsylvania (or at least typical of our luck whilst in Pennsylvania)--the last time we passed through Erie, we pulled off the highway to do a bit of shopping (and take a break from the blizzard-conditions). In the 30 minutes we were in the mall, they CLOSED the INTERSTATE!! We were stranded in Erie for 12 hours. Luckily, we got the last hotel room in the Greater Erie Area. Not so lucky was the condition of the room--disgusting--but we were in no position to complain.

Anyway, this time, we hit the highway and held our collective breaths in hopes that the snow storm would be brief and we'd make it to The Cleve as planned.

A couple of hours later, we pulled into Kimmy's driveway and the sun was once again peeking through the clouds and the snow had dissipated. We had a great visit with Kimmy and her husband, George, and it was SO much fun to meet their hyperactive, energetic & crazy Lab puppy, Evy. What a sweet (and aggressive) character!

Kimmy made us some delicious lentil soup and I enjoyed a couple of very nice glasses of J.Garcia red wine (Thank you Kimmy, thank you Jerry!) before we hit the road once again.

We arrived downtown, without any hassles or wrong turns--gotta love the GPS! Unfortunately, the GPS doesn't take into account all the roads that are closed in downtown Cleveland (or the fact that it's basically impossible to get around downtown) because of all the road construction they're doing. Apparently, they're putting in some kind of streetcar/trolley system? I dunno. It's a mess, whatever the higher purpose, and we had to circle the hotel area about 5 times before we were able to find a road that would actually allow us to pull up in front of it!

After checking into our hotel, we popped out for some provisions (booze, snacks) and headed back to the hotel to chill for a bit before the concert. The folks at the CVS were incredibly friendly (even though they were trying to close early and had already turned off most of the lights) and they were obsessed with our $1 & $2 Canadian coins. What a novelty!

I know I shouldn't get so excited about American television, but some of the channels in the States are just so much fun. Like that USA channel? When ISN'T there a version of Law & Order on? How cool is that?!

The concert was fun, we met a bunch of nice, friendly people (none of whom could believe we came all the way to The Cleve from Toronto for a basketball game!). We headed back to the hotel around midnight, ordered & enjoyed some delicious pizza and watched the New Jersey Nets lay a beating on Seattle (Boo. Burn in hell, Wince Carter. Scumbag.).

--To Be Continued--