We woke up late (for us) around 8:00 and headed up to the top floor where we could get breakfast in the concierge lounge. Since this was a big hotel it was quite busy with many of the tables taken and a long line to get to the food in the buffet.

We eventually found a table as they had opened up some rooms in the back to hold the overflow. We still got a window seat overlooking the city with some spectacular views of the park below.

We all gathered our food and enjoyed what we got. It wasn’t the best buffet but far from the worst, we’ve ever had. They had a solid selection of bread and pastries and breakfast items, though they didn’t have bacon which seemed like a glaring omission. Not even Canadian bacon!

Hockey Hall of Fame

We had a few hours to fill in the morning as we wouldn’t be meeting the in-laws until the afternoon. There were several museums close by, though none really caught Tomatico’s interest. We then noticed that the Hockey Hall of Fame was only a few blocks away so we decided to go there.

The building that contains it looked like a mall and we weren’t quite sure we were in the right place but eventually found the entrance. Tomatico and I went in to see what it was all about. It was pretty neat, even though we’re not really hockey fans. There was a big exhibit on Gordy Howe and Wayne Gretzky with videos and lists of accomplishments and displays of memorabilia. In another room, we got to see the Stanley Cup. You could pay to get your picture taken with it but we cheated.

There was also an interactive area where Tomatico got to take shots on a video goalie and another where he got to BE the goalie. Being the goalie was CRAZY tough even on the easiest settings.

Lunch Time

It was getting towards lunch and we decided to head back to King Taps, the place we had gone the previous evening. It was close by and we wanted to try more of the menu.

The kids ordered the same thing as the previous day, though. They enjoyed it a second time. I wanted to try the pizza as others had said theirs was excellent. I wanted just a plain cheese pizza, which seemed like it would be simple to order, but in the end, I had to get a pepperoni pizza without the pepperoni. It felt like I was speaking a different language trying to order, but in the end, I got what I wanted and it was pretty decent pizza!

Lyft to the Suburbs

We had decided not to rent a car on this trip because Lyft was available and car rentals were extremely expensive, not to mention the cost to park and the logistics of picking it up and dropping it off. When it was time to head out to our in-law’s house, we hailed a ride using the app. I was a little worried the driver might not be thrilled about going out that far (about 45 minutes) but he said he had just come into the city from that same town.

The driver was great and we talked about sports almost the whole trip. Tomatico got involved in the conversation as he is our resident sports guru and encyclopedia! Traffic wasn’t too thick, but it was relatively slow going as it was mostly surface roads and stoplights the whole way.

After an afternoon with the family, it was time to head back to the hotel so we got a Lyft back as well. It’s nearly a mirror of the trip out only with a different driver and car. This driver was also into talking sports so Tomatico got into it with him as well!

Early Flight

We had an early flight back on Monday morning so we didn’t get a chance to take advantage of the lounge on our second morning. We had packed the night before so all we had to do was get up and get dressed. We hailed a Lyft back to the airport about 90 minutes before our flight was set to depart. That was plenty of time given the airport was nearly deserted at that early hour.

We checked in for our flight and made our way to the gate in hopes we could find something for breakfast. There was one cafe open with a few people in line. I say that it was open, but there wasn’t anyone behind the counter which was really odd. There wasn’t any place else to go so we just waited. After about 15 minutes someone finally showed up and started serving people and we were able to get something just before our flight boarded.

The flight itself was uneventful as the flight was only about 3/4 full. We had been assigned a full row for this flight as well which worked out nicely.

When we landed in Boston we had to go through immigration. Normally we use the Mobile Passport app which is free. They recently changed the app to a subscription model. You can still use it for free, but it doesn’t save your passport information which is a very valuable feature. On the free version, you have to enter your information each time you use it. I decided to try to go through immigration the “old fashion way” because I was too tired and lazy to scan everything in again. I’ll consider paying for it when we have more of a cluster of international travel.

The lines weren’t too long as there weren’t many flights arriving at that early hour on a holiday. It took us a few minutes to scan our passports and get our pictures taken by the automated machines. My wife and I both have Global Entry which would speed things up for us, but we can’t use it on family trips because the kids don’t have it and everyone in your group has to have it.

Using the automated machines wasn’t difficult, but it made me appreciate how much less stressful it is to use the Mobile Passport app. I’ll definitely sign up for it before our next international trip. Since it’s subscription-based now, it makes no sense to sign up before that trip.

Once through immigration and customs, we were off to get a Lyft home and enjoy what was left of our holiday weekend!

Summary

We had a great time in Toronto. It’s a fun city and downtown is very walkable with lots of things to do. We’ve very happy we stayed there. The hotel choice was excellent for the price and the suite upgrade was a bonus. The pool was a great outlet for the boys and their cousin and we found some great restaurants near the hotel, especially King Taps. The hockey hall of fame was a bonus as well as we wouldn’t have gone there otherwise.

The flights worked perfectly and we have no regrets about getting the basic economy tickets based on how it worked out. Even if we hadn’t been able to sit together it was short enough that we would have been fine. Since the plane was small there were no middle seats anyways.

Using Lyft to get around was definitely the right choice for this trip and saved us a lot of hassle. We had a great time visiting family and it was a nice way to tend the summer and spend the long weekend.9