Come From Away

I had a late birthday surprise in store for Jane - once I learned that broadway smash "Come From Away" was returning to a run at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto, I grabbed tickets as soon as they went on sale. Unfortunately, her birthday happened to fall during opening week and demand was high....so I opted for a St. Patrick's Day surprise instead!

The play details the events of 9/11, when 38 planes were landed on emergency notice in Gander, Newfoundland, with thousands of stranded passengers being embraced by the locals.....told with typical Newfoundland humour!

I also arranged for train tickets to Union Station and a hotel nearby in downtown Toronto, to make for a relaxing trip and enjoyable weekend getaway. Jane did not know where we were headed - she only found out on the Friday night that we were going on an overnight trip - having told her we had plans for St. Patrick's Day on Saturday to keep her from booking some art show!

Saturday morning, we arrived at the train station in Chatham.....hmmm, where is he taking me????

We enjoyed a sunny and scenic rail tour of southwestern Ontario, followed by a great lunch in Toronto at the Loose Moose.

Of course, when I booked everything back in October, I could not have known that Jane would be on crutches due to knee problems! Luckily everything I arranged was within a few blocks of the train station.....our hotel even had a quiet pub in the basement (complete with elevator) to avoid having to go out on a busy St. Patrick's Day and fight for a seat.

OK - maybe the many MANY stairs up to the balcony seats were a BIT much - but excitement and adrenalin got her through it! I even managed to keep the surprise until we were less than a block from the theatre - when I turned around and saw Jane crying, I assumed it was her knee.....but no, they were apparently tears of joy.

What a wonderful and memorable weekend!!!

Where are we going?

VIA Rail 72 to Toronto

Union Station's cavernous interior

No - we are NOT staying HERE....

.....but the Strathcona was pretty nice too!

St. Paddy's Day Guinness at the Loose Moose

FU

FU 2

Great lunch at the Loose Moose

Union Station

Brookfield Place retail mall

Roy Thompson Hall and the CN Tower!

King Street West - the Entertainment District!

The Royal Alexandra Theatre - balcony view!

Warming up the instruments

What a great show!

Toronto by Night

Good thing we already had return tickets!

Where is a caboose when you need one???

Home to spring bloom!