A Country Mouse in the Big City!
The other day when I told my friend that I was going to take Isabel to the city for a "girl's trip" and that she was so too excited to sleep, he called her a "country mouse"...that name seemed fitting since my little guppy has rarely had a chance to swim in the big sea!
I thought it would be fun to show Isabel some of the city sights and since I am definitely not the city type, we likely looked like the Clampett's parading around the streets...I was at least going for Ellie Mae but sadly achieving Granny compared to the "fashion plates" downtown!! (on another note, who remembers the "Fashion Plates" toy from the 80's?!...my friend, Kathy had it and I was jealous!)
We started our trip off by taking the Go Train for several reasons...a) Isabel has never been on a train and she was giddy with excitement b) I think it's cheaper and easier than trying to find parking downtown and c) I would have had major road rage and a mental breakdown trying to maneuver us through the busy streets...it would not have been pretty!
When we arrived in the city, we checked into the Delta hotel, which was right down in the heart of where we wanted to be...easy access to entertainment and food...two big selling features for us both!
First order of business...check out the complimentary soap situation! Isabel has a bit of a thing for collecting soaps from hotels...she doesn't get out much! Lol!
...I think she could get used to this life! :)
As soon as we were settled in, we hit the streets for a look around...
...we found Canada's Walk of Fame along King street and Isabel was quite happy to find the star of her second favourite actor, Jim Carrey (incidentally, her number one favourite is Bob Denver...in case you are wondering, he played "Gilligan" on "Gilligan's Island"...told ya she doesn't get out much!).
Next, we had lunch at a nice little restaurant near our hotel...we decided to go full tilt and not only have steak, potatoes and salad, but we decided that we needed calamari to start...oh yeah, and bread with sweet butter as well! It was delicious...when Isabel ordered her steak medium rare, the waiter politely explained that the meat would be red in the middle...Isabel smiled and said "good!!" He laughed as he walked away...I don't think he was expecting that...or us to finish our meal either...he clearly had no idea what we were capable of! Haha!!
After lunch, we felt the need for something sweet, so we headed on up to Prairie Girl Bakery and indulged in some of their famous cupcakes...
...we each picked out a large cupcake and also bought 6 mini cupcakes of assorted flavours for later...I felt that it just wouldn't be right to leave the city after trying just one kind...what kind of a mother would I be if I did that?! After polishing off our treats, we walked back to the hotel for a swim and to work off a bit of our lunch!
After our swim, we walked over to Ripley's Aquarium, where we saw some pretty amazing things...
Isabel pointed out that this Sea anemone is the home of "Nemo" ...didn't know that!!
...she also explained that this is called a "Lion Fish"...I'm glad my child reads a lot!
...neon jelly fish,
...and I forget what these are called...but they are beautiful!
..and to give one tremors, there are sharks slowly circling the waters! One made eye contact and I just know it was daring me to take a swim...I'm still traumatized by watching "Jaws" in the 70's!!
...see, this kind of business solidifies my theory that I'm just not meant to dabble in ocean life!! When we left Ripley's, we looked into getting last minute tickets to see the Blue Jays play at the Roger's Centre, but the stadium was full, we settled for pizza and a movie in our room instead!
The next morning, to continue living the high life, we ordered room service for breakfast..oh, and we ate more cupcakes!
After breakfast, we ran across the street and checked out the C.N. Tower...
The glass bottom floor was a little terrifying when you aren't a huge fan of heights...Isabel didn't seem to mind though!
After the tower, we checked out of our cozy little room and hiked it up to the Eaton's Centre where we spent most of our time in the Indigo book store and at Yogen Fruz...we needed more nourishment after our walk to the mall!
On our way to Union Station to catch our train, Isabel was fascinated by the local wildlife which made her miss the chickens and kittens at home...
...even though, she had a great time in the city, I'm secretly glad that she is still my little country mouse!