Coming Clean

I have saved this story for several years, but I believe that the statute of limitations has expired. In the summer of 2022, we took a family trip to Niagara Falls, Toronto, Rochester, and Ithaca. Niagara Falls is absolutely stunning, and there’s so much to do in Toronto. We went to a Cirque du Soleil show, Blue Jays game, visited the Hockey Hall of Fame and Toronto zoo, and checked out a few museums. In Rochester, we saw some friends and went to The Strong National Museum of Play which is worth it particularly if you have younger kids. We went to Taughannock Falls outside Ithaca and toured my alma mater, Ithaca College.

Let me double check with my lawyers if I’m allowed to continue. Please hold.

I got the okay. We visited Ithaca on a summer weekend when the campus was completely empty. This was the first time my kids had been to Ithaca, so I was excited to show them around the campus. The bookstore was closed and many buildings were locked. I saw the Athletics and Events Center for the first time which made me a little jealous since that facility wasn’t there when I was a student. Maybe I would have actually gone to the gym to try to counterbalance late night Rogan’s pizza and D.P. Dough calzones. There were one or two staff members there, and we got kicked out since the building was closing. 

Finally, we wandered into the Whalen Center of Music. And we heard music. In one of the main concert halls, there were maybe 25 adults on stage. We didn’t know who they were, but we felt like we were intruding, so we listened from the outside for a few minutes before moving on. Except that I noticed a table with bags and coffee mugs. I figured this was nice memorabilia for people visiting the building, so I took one of each. 

I later learned that there was some sort of IC Band reunion with a performance later that night. So were the mug and bag for me? Probably not. Does the mug get used in our kitchen four years later? Yes it does!

I’ve included several pictures from the trip that have been saved for nearly 4 years. For example, you can enjoy this Canada Dry can on the ground close to Niagara Falls where it definitely is not dry!

National Capital Trolley Museum, 90s Advertisements, & Trivia Tuesday

Over the weekend, we took a trip to the National Capital Trolley Museum in Colesville, Maryland. It's a small venue with a room of about a dozen trolleys/streetcars, and then you can take a ride on one of the streetcars. The one trolley you could ride when we visited was built in the 1950s and was still operational in Toronto until the mid-90s. Maybe more interesting to me was the ads still on display in the trolley. While this isn't necessarily a Trivia Tuesday post, I'm giving you a challenge today. Can you name the albums from the following ad:

U2, Tom Petty, Pink Floyd, Peter Gabriel, R.E.M., and Eric Clapton immediately jumped out to me. It looks like there are also Hootie and the Blowfish, Melissa Etheridge, and Seal albums. Since this is a Canadian station, that's probably Barenaked Ladies on the top left. Please help fill in the ones I'm missing in the comments section below.

Here are a couple more pictures from the museum. (Not pictured is the one woman who yelled at us for having a loud 4 year old. You're in a trolley museum. There are going to be kids there!)

Now, I need to make sure I get to Toronto by 4:00 this afternoon to catch Ricki Lake!

Canadian Road Trip

Let’s say that you are taking a road trip to Canada with stops in Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto. Where would you go in each of these cities? The reason for this post is because I am taking a road trip to Canada with stops in Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto. What a coincidence!

I attended a wedding in Montreal almost 10 years ago, but don’t remember much about the city besides taking a river cruise and visiting the William Shatner Center at McGill University. I’ve never been to Ottawa, and figure that since I’m there, maybe I can be Prime Minister for the day. Toronto is one of my favorite places, and I plan on visiting the Hockey Hall of Fame on this trip since I’ve never been there before.

I’m heading to these cities as part of my third annual hockey road trip and will be attending NHL games in each place. Besides the hockey games, I’m looking for suggestions of things to do. Therefore, please feel free to add any suggestions about things to do and see in the comments section below. In addition, I’m also looking for ideas about places to eat/drink in each city, preferably near the arenas.

Thank you!