Alex… what are two of the things most greatly affected by Bikini
(both the place and the thing of course).
Oddly enough, Toronto doesn't have a rope drop.
Weird, I know.
If it’s like most cities, they have rope-up instead.
That point in the morning after which no one can get anywhere.
Also known as rush hour.
I, of course, was a perfect gentleman (as always)
and didn't rub her nose in the fact that I got an extra hour of sleep.
Nor did I gloat that I had a day of fun and frivolity planned while she
toiled under the heavy burden of work.
Perfect gent, or simply cautious diplomacy?
I might not have done those things because she would hit me if I did.
But I prefer to think it was because I was gallant.
Question answered.
Let's go with gallant.
Sure.
Wink, wink… nudge, nudge… say no more.
After seeing Ruby off to work <snicker... sorry>,
I sadly turned back to the now empty room and gleefully... uh...
I mean sadly, oh so sadly, rubbed my hands together in anticipation.
I mean regret! Rubbed my hands together with great, Great! Regret!
Chivalrous to a fault.
"I'll have to transfer you to customer service." Came the terse reply.
For they have ways of making you talk…
I mean consent...
Or would that be surrender.
Oh whatever, so what happened next?
"Oh! I'm so sorry Mr. pkondz. I've marked your file with a note.
I don't believe I can completely remove the charge from this end,
but when you return the car, just tell them there's a note on file
and the charge will be removed.
Hummmmm…
Not sure if stall tactic, or actual customer service…
Hopefully the latter …
I should have asked her to grant me the ability to walk on water,
since she was handing out miracles.
“Get me… I'm handing out wings!”
Now some of you may be thinking to yourselves,
"Sure. You saved yourself some cash.
But if you so much as scratch that car... you're in deep do-do!"
“You watch your phraseology!”
And third. When I rented the car, I put it on my credit card.
You know. The one that gives me free car insurance on rentals?
Good that you remembered that little tidbit.
Now let’s see if they actually drop the charge if a couple days.
I headed out to the car and plugged in Betty.
She seemed to like that.
Double Entendre Alert.
Interesting… didn’t know that was there.
Wonder why he chose a Spanish name for what looks so much like an English manor house?
Actually we’ve got something similar in the Carolinas…
Biltmore House.
Sir Henry was forced to sell off his art and many of his furnishings.
I do believe he would come under the category of: House Poor
In the late 20s, the castle was run as a luxury hotel.
During prohibition, wealthy Americans would come... for the air.
Because with great wealth, comes great exemption.
I suppose the front lawn isn't really what you want to see is it.
Nooo... You're going to insist I go inside and show you around, aren't you!
Fine! But it costs $24 of cold hard cash to go inside, so you owe me!
Steep, but cheaper than Biltmore
Sheesh! The things I do just for my readers.
And we appreciate it mightily.
And now you're wondering if Poo Pourri is something I made up.
No I figured the K9000 was made up.
Poo Pourri, sounds completely legit.
And it saddens me that I’ve become that jaded by marketing and pop culture.
I passed posters depicting some of the movies that had been filmed here.
Ahhh…
The Clasics.
I exited the Oak Room and entered the Great Hall....
Quite the room. Immense, really.
Too bad I didn't take a single picture of it.
Yep… too bad; especially since I didn’t take one either.
From the Great Hall, I wandered outside onto the patio overlooking the gardens.
I didn't dally as it looked like it was going to rain at any moment.
Quite the view, actually.
I saw an ark drift by.
I was glad I was inside,
I’d have been glad as well…
Besides, they’d never have allowed me on the ark in the first place.
you can just make out what looks like wasp nests hanging down.
They are actually ceramic "grape clusters" that are lit from the inside.
That’s quite the extra detail, there.
Sir Henry's study has two secret passageways on either side of the fireplace.
Very cool…
I imagine that most folks would like to have a “secret” passage of some type built into their home.
Too bad most folk don’t have the wherewithal to pull it off.
Would you feel a little bit special if this was your room as a guest???
Don’t know…
Believe I’d probably sleep on the floor and try not to touch anything.
Mary Pellatt took an interest in and became the first
Chief Commissioner of the Girl Guides of Canada.
She would hold meetings with the girls in this room.
Now that’s an Interesting detail.
Give’s one some insight on the individual, and makes them a bit less monolithic.
You can also climb up inside one of the turrets
I wouldn’t have been able to resist doing so.
You can ascend another (spiral) staircase to get to the highest point in the turret.
Again, I’d have been puffing and wheezing but I’d of had to do it.
The rain had completely stopped!
For the third day in a row, I'd completely missed getting rained on.
I think my Disney luck with the busses
has transferred over to luck with the rain.
Excellent!
And may it transfer back once you get to return.
Well, I was in Toronto, right?
The dining possibilities are practically endless!
So what did I do?
Stopped in at a Wendy's.
And Dave thanks you (well, his heirs do, but still…)
Not much more to say about it.
Glad I went. Saw some nice bikes. Bought a T-shirt. Adios.
So literally: “Been there… done that… bought the t-shirt”
Apparently, Guy Fieri has reviewed six restaurants in Toronto for his show…
…We settled on The Lakeview.
I’d have done something very similar for choosing.
As Mark likes to point out, trying a dive like that will at least result in an interesting story.
Apparently, everything in Toronto is half an hour away from everything else.
Because once again, it took us about that much time to get there.
So it has that in common with Charlotte as well, then.
We walked about a block and stepped into The Lakeview and back in time.
Does this place look cool or what???
Yes, yes it does.
We grabbed a booth, snagged some menus and perused.
I had seen two things on the show that I knew I was going to try.
Number one on that list was the Apple Pie Milkshake.
They make a vanilla milkshake... then blend in an entire slice of apple pie.
Pie ala mode…
certainly sounds intriguing
And on Guy Fieri's advice, I ordered The Lakeview Clubhouse Stack.
What can I say about this sandwich?
Well.. in a word... disappointing.
Unfortunate…
There are two potential problems I can see resulting from the kind of attention brought to a place by such shows…
1 - Increased traffic can overwhelm a mom-n-pop shop beyond their ability to cope
2 – they are generally compelled to do their best work for the camera and may not necessarily maintain that standard for the regular crowd on a typical Wednesday evening.
But even still, such places are a good bet when you have nothing else to go on.
Good that the shake made up for the old oil.
Save for your review though, I’d still have tried it as well.
May still.
But by the time we finished eating and paid our bill,
the rain had finished too!
And the streak continues.
We watched The Gambler with Mark Wahlberg.
My recommendation? Don't bother.
Duly noted (but I watch so few anyway)
Ah well. Tomorrow's another day to explore and discover.