Blake and Deb Far Away

Here are a few interesting signs spotted around Toronto: No ambiguity about what they sell here. Misspelled Halloween attraction? Or real estate search service (possibly for bats)? Dreadlock Cleaning business. (photo by Deborah) Surely "Everyday Special" is an oxymoron. (photo by Deborah) Despite the name this place gets really good reviews on Yelp. (photo by Deborah) (photo by Deborah) Their seats are toilets. (photo by Deborah) (photo by Deborah) Public Service Campaign from Toronto Fire.

Toronto has no shortage of green spaces – or more like gold and red spaces this time of year. Museums are plentiful as well, and we visited a good number of them during our month in the city. Here are a few highlights. Trinity Bellwoods Park Royal Ontario Museum (ROM). Dramatic 2207 expansion to the 1914 building is appropriately known as The Crystal. ROM's Gem and Minerals exhibit was probably the best such display we've seen. Lots of weird and wonderful stuff like this sandstone concretion from France. (photo by Deborah) Casa Loma - this 1914 mansion is now a museum and frequent setting for movies. View from Casa Loma toward downtown Toronto. Our friends Jan and Jeremy in front of the conservatory at Allan Gardens, a warm refuge on chilly days. (photo by Deborah) Autumn blooms inside the Allan Gardens Conservatory Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) Paining by Franklin Carmichael, member of the Canadian Gr

Toronto in November? It does seem an odd choice, save for the promise of fall color and the fact that culturally rich big cities are a joy to visit any time of year. Besides, we thought we were being strategic when we planned this trip a few month in advance. The house building project I am involved in back in Olympia was supposed to be in a phase that didn’t require much of my attention, plus our traveler’s health insurance required us to be out of the US at least six months per year. So it made sense to dash off to Canada for a month. As it turned out, a schedule shift in the building project had me away while framing was still going on (not ideal), and we decided to ditch our crappy traveler’s insurance (IMG, by the way, sucks) so the six month requirement went away. Oh well. I lived and worked in Toronto back in 1997-98 and always had fond memories of my time there, so naturally I wanted to return and share it with Deborah. Perched on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario, T