East Coast: Day 1

Just like day 1 of my west coast trip, day 1 of the east coast trip was a long day with plenty of travel and a baseball game. I left Ann Arbor at 7:30 AM, hoping to make it to Toronto by 11:30 AM for the 1:00 game. I was planning on parking downtown Toronto so I could walk around before the game and leave soon after its conclusion. Unfortunately, the traffic around Toronto was pretty bad. I was within view of the CN Tower by noon by the exit for Rogers Centre was backed up for about 2 miles. I finally got off the freeway and parked in an underground garage ($8) by 12:45. I made the brisk walk over to Rogers Centre, bought a ticket from a scalper, and made it to my seat for first pitch. In hindsight I should have gone to the next exit, found a quick parking spot, then walked to the stadium.

I will talk about Rogers Center and the game in an upcoming post. At the game I sat next to a guy from Australia who is traveling around Canada and the US for the year. He had just got off a 35 hour train ride from somewhere in the Canadian plains. On his walk over to his hostel he saw people selling tickets so he decided just to go to the game on a whim. He said he played t-ball for a year when he was a kid and only knew the most basic rules (3 strikes and you're out, ...) so I talked him through some of the more complicated plays and strategy. He also gave me some traveling advice for staying in London when I head to my conference next month.

After the game, I walked around the stadium district to get a feel for the city since I was short on time before the game. The Rogers Centre is literally right next to the CN Tower, the tallest building in Toronto. I didn't venture too far from the stadium because I was slightly turned around and I didn't have a map (and didn't want to use international data on my phone). I feel I was in Toronto just for the game and didn't get a chance to really experience the city, violating one of my lessons learned from the west coast trip. I guess I have plenty of time to take a vacation to Toronto in the years to come.

The traffic leaving Toronto was equally bad as coming in. I ended up taking Lake Shore Boulevard out of the city rather than the highway to avoid traffic and get a good view of Lake Ontario. Toronto kind of reminded me of Chicago in that it runs up against a great lake with parks along the water. I also saw an amphitheater and a water park next to the lake. I entered back into the US without any problems at the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge even though there was a huge backup going into Canada. I spent the night at a hotel in Rome, NY (about 4 hours from Boston). The hotel wasn't much but it was a place to sleep. For what it was, the rate was expensive and got me thinking staying with friends and family really saves a lot of money.