Toronto

Recently, Heather and I went to Toronto to see my favorite band, the Replacements, play their first show in 22 years. They only announced three shows, with Toronto being the first, so-

Yo, yo, yo, look who's back. It's me, Bold Imaginary Question guy. How's that pepperoni shortage going, loser? That's not my question. It is: Who the heck are the Replacements, loser?

Oh, great, you again. Well, the Replacements, also known as the 'Mats, which is short for Placemats, which kind of sounds like the Replacements, are an American rock band from Minneapolis, active from 1979 to 1991.

Oof, you're so old. Harry Styles was born in 1994, loser. That's it, I'm out of here. No more questions for you.

OK. The 'Mats are my favorite band, so over the last 22 years I have kept tabs on possible reunions. I have always told Heather that if the 'Mats get back together we are going to see them. I always pictured this meant flying to Minneapolis for a weekend and going to First Avenue. It would be a nice trip to a city we used to live in. Instead I went to a foreign country and stood in a field for five hours for a 75 minute concert. And it was the best concert I will ever go to.

So let's finally get to some photos of our trip. I bought a crappy sandwich at the airport:

We took some weird airline called PorterAir to a tiny airport that is in the middle of the city. If you ever fly to Toronto, try to fly into Toronto City airport. It is awesome. Everyone who lands there needs to take one of the shortest ferry rides in the world. Here's a picture from the ferry ride:

things

Here's Heather on the ferry ride, she was really sick of hearing from me that this is one of the world's shortest ferry rides:

We then got passes for the Toronto bike share and biked to Kensington Market. We went to a burrito shop and this was my burrito:

It was good. I've now had burritos in three countries and two continents. Doesn't sound impressive, but it's probably more than you, internet reader. We then biked around and went to another market, St. Lawrence's market. I guess we are market enthusiasts. I took a picture outside while Heather goofed around with her backpack:

Later that day we went to get some dinner. Right next to our hotel was a brewery/restaurant called Amsterdam Brewery. There was a big line, but we went and just ate at the bar, as is Heather's wont, and I got chicken schnizzel.

It was really good, and the beer was good, so I recommend.

Our hotel had a decent view from the rooftop pool. No big whoops, just one of the tallest structures in the world:

We then walked around and thought we might go up the CN Tower but the line was too big and the cost was too high. But, hey, what's that across the street? Oh, just a choo-choo:

I guess I am trying to make Connor jealous that we saw some trains here, that's if he had any way to read a blog. There were also weird nerds posing on the trains:

Here's me on a choo-choo track:

They are called "trains" not "choo-choo"s apparently:

If Connor ever saw this playground he would never leave:

Choo-choo. Researching our trip, I noticed there was a "beach" next to our hotel. Toronto is on some sort of great lake, and they set up a sand area and put some umbrellas in one area. This is the "beach":

I told Heather about this "beach" and I apparently didn't do air quotes when I did so. She went for a run while we were there, and came back and said "There's no beach! Just sand and umbrellas!"
I said "What did you expect, to walk into the lake and ride some waves."
"That's what you implied!"
"It's an urban harbor. So, first, you don't want to swim in it because it's not too clean. Second, harbor means you would walk into it, and then immediately you're just swimming."
"You called it a beach!"
Whatever, lady. It was time to go to the concert. We stopped at a bar on the way there, and I got a pretzel that looked like a sad face:

We went pretty early to the concert. One of my other favorite bands (Dinosaur Jr.) was playing early in the lineup so we went to see them. Here's a crappy photo of them:

I took Heather to see Dinosaur Jr. once before in a small club. Twenty minutes into that concert she made us leave, because it was so loud. I told her it wouldn't be so loud this time because it was a big festival and outside. Five minutes into their set, this was Heather:

After Dinosaur Jr.'s set we sat through some other bands, including Iggy and the Stooges:

We got also some snacks, and beverages:

Those are "Riot Fries" which are fries with chili, cheese, and guacamole on them. I was in the mood for a shrimp cocktail, but that wasn't available. That was the joke solely meant for Heather in this post.

Eventually, the 'Mats came on and I took a crappy concert photo with my phone:

Anyway, the concert was great. But when they came out for their encore, Paul came out wearing a Canadiens hockey sweater. We're in Toronto, and that's like walking out wearing a Yankees jersey at a Boston concert, but also with a Lakers hat on since they take hockey so seriously in Canada. Well, as a Bruins fan, I was also not happy and proceeded to boo my favorite band coming out for their first encore in 22 years.

The next day I brought up to Heather how I would like to go to the Hockey Hall of Fame, and that immediately led to me going there by myself and Heather seeing some big house by herself:

More some big house:

Ugh, yeah, the big house has some path or something:

Meanwhile, here's the original Stanley Cup:

Timmy!

Here's the Cup:

They organized the Hall of Famers chronologically, but in columns. These two just happened to wind up together, which is appropriate:

Yeah, the ring:

Eventually I got near the cup:

I was amazed watching random people go see the Cup. Most immediately touched it. I was appalled. I refused to touch it, and if Connor was with me he would have strict instructions not to touch it, and I would have a vice like grip on both of his hands.

Later after Heather finished seeing a house and I finished seeing a cup, we met at the Blue Jays/Yankees game:

My tip for selfies is to make sure you look directly at the camera lens. It makes you look weird as most people look at the picture on the phone, like Heather.

I got a hot dog. I like to get a hot dog at each new park I go to:

I put my usual mustard and onions on it, then I noticed they also offered banana peppers, so what the heck. The hot dog itself was pretty bad. I went back to my seat and noticed they had opened the roof and I hadn't even noticed:

Later, here's A-Rod coming up to bat:

I have now booed A-Rod in two different countries and three different cities. Doesn't sound impressive, but it's probably more than you, internet reader.

Well, this is abrupt, but that looks like that's all the pictures I uploaded, and this post is way too long already, so I'm not uploading any more. The next day we flew home is what you are missing.

 Oh, here's a Gordon I drew and accidentally uploaded to blogger for this post for some reason.