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Toronto Ale
Sep. 7th, 2007 10:02 amLast weekend, I traveled to the Toronto Ale (a gathering of morris dancers) with Red Herring. Way too much driving, but it was a lot of fun.
The weekend began early on Friday morning. I met Rickland at 8am at Budget Rental in Cambridge to pick up the van we were renting. It turns out that they wanted $50 per extra driver ($10/day * 5 days), so after consulting with other team members, we nixed the original plan of adding three drivers, so it was just Rickland and me for the weekend. Google Maps estimates just over 9 hours of driving to Toronto, but that's with no traffic delays and no stops; in the real world, the total trip length with a group like ours was 11-12 hours.
There were some delays getting everybody together and packed up; we actually left Rickland and Vonnie's house in Belmont around 11am. We crossed the border into Fort Erie, Ontario around 9pm; by that time, we were feeling doubtful about the original plan to drive to Toronto and check in, as our hosts were located in Hamilton (about an hour closer than Toronto), and we would have had to turn around and drive another hour after checking in at the Tranzac (Toronto Australia and New Zealand Club). We worked out a plan to meet them in Hamilton instead, which we did at around 10. People got distributed to the various places we were sleeping; it was past midnight by the time I was horizontal.
Saturday, another early start, as we were supposed to be at the Tranzac at 9 for breakfast. (We only missed by a few minutes.) The first dance stand was in Queen's Park, a moderate walk from the Tranzac; that was a mass stand with each team doing one dance. In the afternoon, we went down to the harbourfront (Canadian spelling, eh) with a couple of other teams, including Cold Barn (the team that was hosting us Herrings) and did more dancing, ending up at Wally Magoo's pub. When we were done there, we had some time before dinner at the Tranzac, so I decided to take a couple of hours to wander around downtown Toronto. (I needed a little time away from the morris crowd.) I bought some black socks, which I needed for my Herring kit; I actually didn't own any plain black ones, as I mostly avoid such boring socks, but I'll make that sacrifice for art. I also bought some candy, mostly so I could end up with some Canadian change to pay for the trolley ride to the Tranzac.
Dinner on Saturday was the one formally served meal; all the others (breakfasts both days and dinner Sunday) were buffets. Lots of yummy food. I had a bit of a disappointment later in the evening; there was a contra dance scheduled, but no contra callers were around, so it was all Irish ceilidh dancing instead which I don't enjoy as much. The music was good, though, with so many excellent morris musicians present. Even later to bed (perhaps 1 or so); fortunately, also a later start the next day.
Sunday, breakfast at 10. After that, teams dispersed to various stands; we toured near the U of Toronto. This time we got to tour with the Belles of York (a northwest team based in the Toronto area) and Handsome Molly (a New Jersey molly team that dances to a capella sung music -- wonderful and a bit eerie at times). The afternoon was a group stand at Dufferin Grove. We had a bit of spare time again before dinner, so I checked out some of the shops near the Tranzac, mostly a book store and a grocery. (I have an odd taste for seeing the everyday places in cities that I visit, rather than the touristy ones.) After dinner, we went to a bonfire at the home of one of the Cold Barn people, and talked and sang and toasted in front of the fire until REALLY late.
Monday, the long drive home. After four days of sleep deprivation, I was concerned about the driving, but I handled it well enough; getting to take naps during Rickland's driving shifts helped a lot. The traffic was shockingly light for the Monday of a holiday travel weekend; we had no traffic-related delays to speak of. We rolled into Belmont at 9:15, and I was home by 11. But not quite to collapse; first I had to shower, because I had spend three nights in a house with cats. I ended up walking dazed through most of Tuesday, but I'm not complaining (much).
Highlights:
The Cold Barn people: friendly, charming, and great hosts
Dancing and watching the dance
Getting to call some of our dances
The food: yummy and plentiful
Getting to see Toronto. Glimpses of the CN Tower (a weird needle things) and the S/k/y/D/o/m/e Rogers Centre.
Lowlights:
Surprisingly, the beer. There was plenty of it, but to me it didn't live up to Canada's reputation as a beer place. To be fair, I usually favor dark beers, and Toronto seems to be mostly a light beer place.
No contra dancing on Saturday
Too much driving (though I didn't do any of the driving while we were there, just the long trips)
Having to de-cat immediately on arriving home
Not enough time to see Toronto
There is a street next to the Rogers Centre named Blue Jays Way; they missed the opportunity to accurately name it for a Beatles song (Blue Jay Way).
The weekend began early on Friday morning. I met Rickland at 8am at Budget Rental in Cambridge to pick up the van we were renting. It turns out that they wanted $50 per extra driver ($10/day * 5 days), so after consulting with other team members, we nixed the original plan of adding three drivers, so it was just Rickland and me for the weekend. Google Maps estimates just over 9 hours of driving to Toronto, but that's with no traffic delays and no stops; in the real world, the total trip length with a group like ours was 11-12 hours.
There were some delays getting everybody together and packed up; we actually left Rickland and Vonnie's house in Belmont around 11am. We crossed the border into Fort Erie, Ontario around 9pm; by that time, we were feeling doubtful about the original plan to drive to Toronto and check in, as our hosts were located in Hamilton (about an hour closer than Toronto), and we would have had to turn around and drive another hour after checking in at the Tranzac (Toronto Australia and New Zealand Club). We worked out a plan to meet them in Hamilton instead, which we did at around 10. People got distributed to the various places we were sleeping; it was past midnight by the time I was horizontal.
Saturday, another early start, as we were supposed to be at the Tranzac at 9 for breakfast. (We only missed by a few minutes.) The first dance stand was in Queen's Park, a moderate walk from the Tranzac; that was a mass stand with each team doing one dance. In the afternoon, we went down to the harbourfront (Canadian spelling, eh) with a couple of other teams, including Cold Barn (the team that was hosting us Herrings) and did more dancing, ending up at Wally Magoo's pub. When we were done there, we had some time before dinner at the Tranzac, so I decided to take a couple of hours to wander around downtown Toronto. (I needed a little time away from the morris crowd.) I bought some black socks, which I needed for my Herring kit; I actually didn't own any plain black ones, as I mostly avoid such boring socks, but I'll make that sacrifice for art. I also bought some candy, mostly so I could end up with some Canadian change to pay for the trolley ride to the Tranzac.
Dinner on Saturday was the one formally served meal; all the others (breakfasts both days and dinner Sunday) were buffets. Lots of yummy food. I had a bit of a disappointment later in the evening; there was a contra dance scheduled, but no contra callers were around, so it was all Irish ceilidh dancing instead which I don't enjoy as much. The music was good, though, with so many excellent morris musicians present. Even later to bed (perhaps 1 or so); fortunately, also a later start the next day.
Sunday, breakfast at 10. After that, teams dispersed to various stands; we toured near the U of Toronto. This time we got to tour with the Belles of York (a northwest team based in the Toronto area) and Handsome Molly (a New Jersey molly team that dances to a capella sung music -- wonderful and a bit eerie at times). The afternoon was a group stand at Dufferin Grove. We had a bit of spare time again before dinner, so I checked out some of the shops near the Tranzac, mostly a book store and a grocery. (I have an odd taste for seeing the everyday places in cities that I visit, rather than the touristy ones.) After dinner, we went to a bonfire at the home of one of the Cold Barn people, and talked and sang and toasted in front of the fire until REALLY late.
Monday, the long drive home. After four days of sleep deprivation, I was concerned about the driving, but I handled it well enough; getting to take naps during Rickland's driving shifts helped a lot. The traffic was shockingly light for the Monday of a holiday travel weekend; we had no traffic-related delays to speak of. We rolled into Belmont at 9:15, and I was home by 11. But not quite to collapse; first I had to shower, because I had spend three nights in a house with cats. I ended up walking dazed through most of Tuesday, but I'm not complaining (much).
Highlights:
The Cold Barn people: friendly, charming, and great hosts
Dancing and watching the dance
Getting to call some of our dances
The food: yummy and plentiful
Getting to see Toronto. Glimpses of the CN Tower (a weird needle things) and the S/k/y/D/o/m/e Rogers Centre.
Lowlights:
Surprisingly, the beer. There was plenty of it, but to me it didn't live up to Canada's reputation as a beer place. To be fair, I usually favor dark beers, and Toronto seems to be mostly a light beer place.
No contra dancing on Saturday
Too much driving (though I didn't do any of the driving while we were there, just the long trips)
Having to de-cat immediately on arriving home
Not enough time to see Toronto
There is a street next to the Rogers Centre named Blue Jays Way; they missed the opportunity to accurately name it for a Beatles song (Blue Jay Way).
