Sometimes you look for fun things and can’t find them. And then sometimes, you just stumble upon them.
Such was me and my first experience with Canada Day, our neighboring country’s version of the 4th of July.
It was a Sunday early evening, and I had just arrived in Toronto. It’s one of my favorite cities and I was there for two weeks, on assignment to help promote the Molson Indy, one of the city’s best parties of the year at the time.
I knew that meant busy days and beer-filled nights. (You see, I tended to run amok at “the Indy,” what with Team Red, the John Street block party, the Gretzky’s VIP party and simply being in vibrant Toronto.)
The Best Laid Plans Defeated With The Festival & Beers
My plan was to check into the Holiday Inn on King (it’s apparently a Hyatt now), and pop over to one of the awesome cafes on King Street for dinner and a couple of Canadian brews on a patio.
I was then going to call it a night and get some rest, something I knew would be in critically short supply the remainder of the trip. I would then hit the ground running on Monday.
But as I approached the hotel, things got really crowded and were very busy. A couple of blocks from the hotel, the street was at a standstill. It wasn’t just the traffic – that’s always slow moving in downtown Toronto – but all the people crossing the street (and they jaywalk in T.O.).
As I inched my way to the small street by the hotel where I needed to turn in order to park, there were people everywhere!
A barricade was even in my way and I had to convince one of Toronto’s finest that I was an incoming hotel guest and needed to get onto the property. There was a huge white tent in the normally vacant parking lot on the other side of that small street and it was full of people (and beer, I happened to notice). “What in the world is going on here?,” I wondered.
Well it turns out it was Canada Day, or actually pre-Canada Day. And that area of Toronto was on FIRE!!! I called the Molson Indy PR gal and she said that the next day was a holiday and there was no work to be done and we would catch up on Tuesday.
Well, there was no choice except to go out and celebrate Canada Day!
So into the party I jumped. I checked into the hotel, threw the bags about the room and sprinted to the tent (and the beer). I partied with Canadians deep into the night, though I was never quite sure exactly what it was I was celebrating.
But ya know what – it set the tone for a fantastic two weeks in Toronto and for the Indy. And it makes me think fondly of Canada Day whenever the calendar approaches July 1.
That parking lot, by the way, is now occupied by condos anyway. So, too, is much of downtown Toronto, dang it.
Still, Happy Canada Day.
Cheers!
Leave a Reply