Posts by: WantsToTravelMore

I had not been to Belleville itself in many years; it’s more of an exit I never take on the 401. But a family event led me to be staying near the old part of town, Front Street. We had our GPS set for Front Street and she was thwarted by the street being closed. Once we parked on Pinnacle Street we had trouble finding our restaurant and had a scenic walk of the construction around the old city hall building, which is truly evocative of the times around the confederation of Canada. There’s a market, which was not open […]

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When you visit Ajax you may not be inclined to think about Sushi, especially along the mall lined Kingston Road. But Makimono near Salem Road, which is in a mall, is a decent choice. The portions are pretty large – my dynamite roll was bigger than I expected and the Udon was good. There were six of us at the restaurant and I did see some confusion from the staff over the orders. Nothing was wrong, but things were being handed to the wrong people. That aside, if you are looking for Sushi, this will work. See these for more […]

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The original name for Kelsey’s includes the suffix “Original Roadhouse”. It was a frosty January night when we visited Kelsey’s on Kingston Road in Ajax. I can’t recall when or if I ever went to one. It was not busy, but they were dealing with a bus load (literally) of people. We were seated in a booth in the bar area, which was quiet. The service was slightly slow because keeping on top of such a large group was challenging. But our server was friendly and surprisingly honest. My brother ordered a dish that she could not recommend. It had […]

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Fionn MacCool’s on Front Street in Toronto was a nice quiet place for a drink when visiting on an afternoon between Christmas and New Year’s. My suspicion is that it’s not so quiet at other times! Our objective was to catch up with a Toronto friend while waiting for other friends who were seeing a show at the Royal Alexandra Theatre. As reasons for drinking in an Irish pub go, I had seen White Christmas a couple of days earlier and thought, “Well, it’s not good, but it’s a reason.” I like trying local brews and was not disappointed by […]

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Step into Ted’s Restaurant on Old Kingston Road in Scarborough (part of the Greater Toronto Area) and you will have that retro feeling. It’s a diner; it’s rustic; and it’s in a light industrial spot with a collision repair shop out back; and it’s two minutes from a church. It’s really a place to go for the all-day breakfast. It was a cold day just before Christmas and had what was needed in the bacon and eggs and hashbrowns department. Obscure fact: the film Pushing Tin with John Cusak, Bill Bob Thornton, Angelina Jolie and Cate Blanchett uses Ted’s as […]

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Durham Region in Ontario is big (about 2500 sq km) and diverse as it covers truly rural areas as well as the cities of Pickering, Ajax, Whitby, Oshawa and Bowmanville. I can see why this region merits its own police force. I had the opportunity, for sad reasons, to drive the countryside between Ajax and Keswick. I could have taken the big highways (401, 404, etc.) but I wasn’t exactly in a big rush to head to a memorial service and Google Maps suggested that the highway route was the almost the same duration as the rural roads. If you […]

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If you are planning on driving in Southern Ontario, I have three tips for improved driving pleasure. If you are travelling from almost anywhere else in Canada (except maybe Montreal) the massive series of “400” highways in Southern Ontario, particularly around Toronto, will make you wonder if you should have taken fighter pilot training. Seriously, the way some folks weave through traffic at high speeds without signalling makes me think they are folks who never recovered from watching Top Gun. So, quick, memorize these. 400, 401, 402, 403, 404, 405, 406, 407, 409, 410, 412, 416, 417, 420, 427. The […]

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In the lull between Christmas and New Year’s you can still shop until you drop at many increasingly illogically named Boxing Week/month/year sales or you can do something better. In my case, meet with friends you have not seen in years at Joey’s on Dundas West right near Yonge Street. If you grew up in Toronto and then moved away, Yonge and Dundas is an alien place. The streets curve in ways they used not to and the whole faux New York Times Square attempt seems forced. Joey’s as a chain I associate with the west coast as it is […]

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The Bowmanville Zoo has the claim to being the oldest private zoo in North America, starting in 1919 with the unscientific name of “Cream of Barley Park”. The last time I was there was when I was a child and thus my ability to compare visits is non-existent. However, one should be prepared for a difference between zoos of this sort and ones like the Calgary or Toronto Zoos. This zoo is in the business of education but also of providing animals for use in television and film. This makes some people uneasy but for others provides an opportunity to […]

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When we drove into Parry Sound we wanted to try a restaurant not branded so as to just feel like we didn’t do the same old same old. We drove into the main section of town and at dinner time, it was closing up being the business area. I headed down James Street, which turns into Bay Street. We parked in the marked 2-hour free street parking spots and checked out a couple of places. We are constrained on choices by the children in our company. The menu looked pretty extensive and not anti-vegetarian. We dined inside as their wrap-around […]

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