In mid-June, I took the VIA Rail train from Chatham to meet some friends in Toronto for a guys weekend. Though the train was an hour late due to speed reductions and delays, it was still a far more pleasant experience than driving into the city and finding parking.
Keith and Kevin were waiting at Union Station when I arrived, and we promptly Uber'ed out Lake Shore Boulevard to BMO Field, home of the CFL defending Grey Cup Champion Toronto Argonauts. Due to some renovations, some entry gates were closed, making for long lineups and some delay getting into the stadium. We did luck out in that the first 10,000 fans were given a heavy souvenir Grey Cup ring, which was surprisingly heavy!
Once inside, I sated my immediate needs with a hot dog and a beer. We found our seats and were very impressed with the view. Being the home opener, we also got to see the Grey Cup take the field and were treated to some fireworks and extravaganza. Kickoff followed and the Argos squared off against the visiting Calgary Stampeders on a beautiful day for football.
The Argos didn't play particularly well, and the offence struggled to find rhythm with backup QB Nick Arbuckle at the helm. The defence struggled to contain the Stamps QB on scramble plays that resulted in critical first downs after backing them up to long yardage.
The dog show at halftime was arguably more entertaining than the game - mainly small dogs doing frisbee tricks with trainers but also racing an obstacle course at midfield.
In the end, the 29-19 score wasn't as close at it seemed, with Toronto mounting some late game offence when it was too late, including a few Hail Mary attempts into the endzone right in front of us. Calgary was the better team on this day and we filed out of the stadium.
After securing an Uber along Lake Shore, we hit the hotel for the night (Don Valley Hotel and Suites) and settled in to watch Game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals - Edmonton lost to Florida to go down 3-2 in the series - and some UFC.
The next morning, we headed back downtown and had lunch at the Loose Moose before touring the nearby Hockey Hall of Fame. Ironically, we saw The Cup the day before it headed down to Florida for Game 6, from which it did not return as Florida won the game handily to repeat as Champions.
I bid adieu to my companions as they headed back north. I returned to the Loose Moose to kill some time with beer and a Jays game while awaiting my late afternoon train. We made a little better time on the return trip but were still about 20 minutes behind schedule, pulling into Chatham about 9:15pm. Clearly I am spoiled by European trains and their efficiency!
Jane was waiting to pick me up and the whirlwind weekend was over as I arrived home in time to round up the garbage, set up the coffee, and head to bed for another work week.
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