One of our big plans every year in Toronto includes going downtown, eating fried pepperoni at the Nova Scotia bar, and hanging out with our good friend SGH (aka the HBuck). Even though she has been actively trying to steal my husband for at least a year or two now, I still look forward to this annual tradition and spent quite a bit of time planning our nightlong pub-crawl ahead of time. I even booked a room at the King Edward Hotel downtown on King so that we wouldn’t have to go all the way back home and lose our buzz mid-commute.
Having made a point of wearing the shoes my mother said would give me a blister mid-crawl, I headed downtown to check-in and get an early drinking start to my day.
First of all, my mother was wrong – they gave me TWO blisters, both of which showed up before I even reached the hotel. Second of all, there is nothing wrong with $1.99 socks that have teddy bears on them (these purchased to alleviate said blisters).
In any case, we met SGH at the hotel where she proceeded to undress my husband with her eyes while he undressed her with his hands. Okay, maybe neither of those things happened but that’s because I was there ready to “beat that Buffy down” and she knew she couldn’t take me. Or something…
Our first stop of the evening was the Irish Embassy, a bar near King and Yonge where we proceeded to down numerous pints of beer (for them) and cider (for the blogger with good taste). At one point, when it appeared that the gentlemen at the table next to us had left without paying their bill, we suggested that our waitress steal the laptop they had left behind. It turned out that the Dine and Dashers were actually the owners so we opted for merely increasing her pay scale.
(Random: My mother and I actually saw someone Dine and Dash at a rather nice restaurant in North York one day. We were shocked that anyone – even this obnoxious woman – would ever do that. Even more amazing is that the waiter seemed to have expected it and just shrugged when he saw his one-dollar tip/payment.)
After an incredibly long walk up King, we went in search of the Nova Scotia bar only to discover that it was gone! *sob* The stupid glut of condos that have been going up all over the downtown area took over our beloved bar and were using it as a construction office. Thus, it was three highly
annoyed people who made their way further down the street to a Firkin where we did not eat fried pepperoni with our many pints of cider and beer. Stupid condos!
The next bar we tried to go to was also closed – but this time it was a private party for federal government employees. (Your tax dollars at work, eh!) Down but not yet drunk or defeated, we went to our usual sushi place and didn’t eat any sushi with our fancy martinis. All during dinner, however, we were interrupted by this little kid selling chocolate covered almonds. Now, I love chocolate covered almonds as much as the next Fat Girl, but bugging drunken people is not a good way for an 11 year old to make money. So I started speaking Kiswahili to him and when he couldn’t respond, I simply shrugged and went back to my endamame beans (which weren’t chocolate covered).
Our final stop of the night was a very subdued 1 Blue Jay Way, also known as Wayne Gretzky’s bar. We have had really great drinks and dessert at this bar in the past but were greatly disappointed by the poor service and what we were told was the “new menu.” That said, Hubby still managed to drink an $11 glass of Wayne’s finest ice wine, which he declared to be “nyeh.”
Overall, it was a fabulous night, even if the HBuck lied about her bra size. (Size 32D? Pu-leze!) Hubby and I both agreed that this is one home leave tradition we look forward to every year. Drinks, good friends, good food, and blisters from walking all over downtown Toronto – it sounds like the perfect night to me!
Having made a point of wearing the shoes my mother said would give me a blister mid-crawl, I headed downtown to check-in and get an early drinking start to my day.
First of all, my mother was wrong – they gave me TWO blisters, both of which showed up before I even reached the hotel. Second of all, there is nothing wrong with $1.99 socks that have teddy bears on them (these purchased to alleviate said blisters).In any case, we met SGH at the hotel where she proceeded to undress my husband with her eyes while he undressed her with his hands. Okay, maybe neither of those things happened but that’s because I was there ready to “beat that Buffy down” and she knew she couldn’t take me. Or something…
Our first stop of the evening was the Irish Embassy, a bar near King and Yonge where we proceeded to down numerous pints of beer (for them) and cider (for the blogger with good taste). At one point, when it appeared that the gentlemen at the table next to us had left without paying their bill, we suggested that our waitress steal the laptop they had left behind. It turned out that the Dine and Dashers were actually the owners so we opted for merely increasing her pay scale.(Random: My mother and I actually saw someone Dine and Dash at a rather nice restaurant in North York one day. We were shocked that anyone – even this obnoxious woman – would ever do that. Even more amazing is that the waiter seemed to have expected it and just shrugged when he saw his one-dollar tip/payment.)
After an incredibly long walk up King, we went in search of the Nova Scotia bar only to discover that it was gone! *sob* The stupid glut of condos that have been going up all over the downtown area took over our beloved bar and were using it as a construction office. Thus, it was three highly
annoyed people who made their way further down the street to a Firkin where we did not eat fried pepperoni with our many pints of cider and beer. Stupid condos!The next bar we tried to go to was also closed – but this time it was a private party for federal government employees. (Your tax dollars at work, eh!) Down but not yet drunk or defeated, we went to our usual sushi place and didn’t eat any sushi with our fancy martinis. All during dinner, however, we were interrupted by this little kid selling chocolate covered almonds. Now, I love chocolate covered almonds as much as the next Fat Girl, but bugging drunken people is not a good way for an 11 year old to make money. So I started speaking Kiswahili to him and when he couldn’t respond, I simply shrugged and went back to my endamame beans (which weren’t chocolate covered).
Our final stop of the night was a very subdued 1 Blue Jay Way, also known as Wayne Gretzky’s bar. We have had really great drinks and dessert at this bar in the past but were greatly disappointed by the poor service and what we were told was the “new menu.” That said, Hubby still managed to drink an $11 glass of Wayne’s finest ice wine, which he declared to be “nyeh.”Overall, it was a fabulous night, even if the HBuck lied about her bra size. (Size 32D? Pu-leze!) Hubby and I both agreed that this is one home leave tradition we look forward to every year. Drinks, good friends, good food, and blisters from walking all over downtown Toronto – it sounds like the perfect night to me!
1 comment:
Had a great time, but obviously next time we will have to plan ahead a bit more!! Obviously high on the priority list is finding a new pub that serves deep fried pepperoni **sob** while still having Guinness on tap AND be within walking distance!
SGH
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