Day Seven: Toronto -> Detroit
Thus begins our two day trip back home. I had noticed right before we left that you could actually see part of Maple Leaf Gardens from our hotel, so I thought it was a worthwhile trip. Beforehand I had to fill up my car - do you know it cost me $10 more to fill up my tank? For God's sake I drive a Honda Fit! No wonder everyone takes the Subway in Toronto. In any case, I made a quick look-see at Maple Leaf Gardens. Which was cool but also reminded me that the Chicago Stadium currently is a parking lot for the United Center *sniff* The stadium hasn't really been used since the Leafs left for the Air Canada Centre in 1999. They're currently converting it to a sports centre for Ryserson University - I'm glad they're not tearing it down like so many others.
After sitting in some horrible construction traffic (see - take the subway!) we headed over to Honest Ed's store. Imagine a dollar store, flea market, TJ Maxx and a retrospective to stage stars of the 60s and 70s in a block long building - that's Honest Ed's. Honestly the cheap crap was a bit overwhelming, but it was a fun look. Remember that I mentioned we'd see the Elvis bust that I saw in Silver Creek, NY again (ok, I know you don't, but humor me)? Well Ed's has a plethora of the King's Busts, some even complete with eyeshadow! They were around $50, so drag king Elvis did not make the trip home with us.
Before leaving Toronto, we made a stop at Kensington Market, the famous blocks long outdoor market. Maybe I was too tired, or itching to get on the road, but I wasn't incredibly impressed. Much like the Maxwell Street Market in Chicago, it was probably much better before it was catered to tourists and more trendy types. It would have been more enjoyable if we had had more time to explore I bet. So around lunchtime, we took one last look at the fine city of Toronto and headed west.
On our way, we stopped in London, Ontario for some photos of a drive in on the outskirts of town, food and shopping. By food I mean a marginally tasty meal at a local mall as there really wasn't much selection on the way and we were fucking hungry. By shopping, I mean a failed attempt to buy either a Kris Versteeg Maple Leafs shirt for my brother or some sort of Patrick Kane London Knights merchandise. The sports store we went to was utterly lacking in both, and I'm kicking myself for not looking for Versteeg stuff WHILE I WAS IN TORONTO. The only successful part of this detour (aside from the pictures) was a pilgrimage to Bulk Barn. Amy had seen Bulk Barn advertised on various Canadian dasher boards during NHL games, and insisted we stop at one while we were in Canada. In a way I'm sad that we did, because it was awesome and there are NONE in the US. Where am I to get chocolate covered banana chips and that yummy trail mix they had? Goddammit.
We were only about two hours from the US/Canada border at Sarnia, and I had visions of breezing through customs as we did when we crossed at Niagara Falls. As you can see from the photo above, this definitely was not the case. Perhaps the traffic was worsened by the fact it was a Friday, but this was ridiculous. It took us 45 minutes to get to the toll booth ("Thanks for visiting Canada! Now give us $3!") which pretty much extinguished any hope I had of getting cheap booze at the duty free shop as I had to pee and the Blue Water Bridge was backed up as well. At least there was a bonus for sitting on the bridge - it offered really nice views of Lake Huron, and I also got to take a picture of this:
I'm in two countries at once! *head explodes* We finally got through customs at the other end of the bridge - the whole ordeal lasted about two hours. My first act upon re-entering the States? Peeing at a rest stop in Port Huron, MI which smelled like the primate house at Lincoln Park Zoo. Gross. Welcome to America!
By the time we arrived at our hotel in Southfield (a "nice" suburb in Detroit), it was almost dark and we hadn't eaten dinner. So we ate and pretty much went to bed. Whee.
Day Eight: Detroit -> Chicago
We started our morning with one last visit to a TimHos *wails* On the way into downtown Detroit, I had to stop and take some pictures of this awesome sign. It sits right off the Lodge Freeway, and back in the day the phone used to light in different colors to indicate the current weather. I hate to play into stereotypes, but I did have to jump out of the car, snap off a few quick shots, and get back in the car as this was not in a very good neighborhood. We finished off our quick Detroit area tour with a stop at John K. King's Used Bookstore (thanks for the suggestion KofC!) where I picked up an old Chicago convention book with some cool turn of the century ads and a rather rushed drive through Hamtramck for some photos of a sausage sign. See:
The last exciting thing we did on this roadtrip was a lunch stop in Ann Arbor. I had been to AA several times before as my former employer, the bookstore's, headquarters are there, and I spent many hours bored in assorted trainings. How I never managed to eat at the famous Zingerman's Deli while I was there previously I'll never know, but we made a point of eating there on our stop. Believe the hype folks - sure it was super crowded, and it's pricier than most sandwich joints, but the staff was really nice and the food was so, so good. As a bonus, the AA Farmer's Market was going on across the street, so we bought an assortment of veggies to bring home.
And that's about it. It took us about five hours from there to arrive home. We got home fairly early (dinnertime) which was nice as I had plenty of time to not unpack and basically pass out. Overall, I think this was a great vacation. Although one of these days we're actually going to go somewhere where we just sit in front of a pool/beach/bonfire and not do anything but lounge, drink and eat for a week. Yeah, right.
If you've actually read all of my recaps, I applaud you. I promise I'll have more interesting content upcoming. Especially because the Blackhawks Training Camp Festival is this weekend, and that means that HOCKEY IS ALMOST HERE!!1!
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