Month: July 2019

Urban landscape – Underpass Park

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While driving into the city for dinner the other night I drove passed an underpass that looked like it was covered in street art. I had seen it on a website and if I had enough time I would have stopped. After dinner I asked my friend if we could go and take a look at what it was.

Parked the car by this underpass to discover this urban escape of activity and creativity. This space is called Underpass Park. The sign at the edge of park reads: “It is the first park built under an overpass into Toronto. The park was opened in 2012 and transformed previously underused and derelict space into an urban neighbourhood amenity. The park features a number of spaces designed to encourage both active and passive recreation. The public artwork “Mirage” was created for the unique space and is comprised of mirrored octagonal stainless steel panels attached to the overpass to reflect light and movement”.

The space was quite expansive as it carries through the length of the highway above. It was quiet, yet you can see how it is busy during the day and I am sure into the evening. There are basketball courts, skateboard and bike ramps, benches and areas for people to congregate. There was something happening in each of the spaces.

What was the most impressive to me was the Street Art. I know from my Graffiti tour that was offered by the Tour Guys in Toronto that there are areas of the city where creating art is not ‘illegal’ but artists are able to create with freedom and expression. This is one of those spaces. I am not sure if the artists are commissioned in this area or just free to paint, but the art was amazing.

I will go back and explore this area again at some point. If you want to find it, it is Lower River street south of King Street. It stretches for a few city blocks and there are places to park if you can find them. From someone who lives in the ‘burbs, I am happy to always discovering new places in our city.

Dining out in the six – White Lily Diner

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I am a foodie and always in search of new and interesting places to eat, in Toronto and on my travels. I like to follow people who also enjoy food. One person I follow was having brunch at a place I had never heard of before in the city called White Lily Diner. The food looked good, I checked out the menu and website.

I was meeting a friend who I worked with at WE and here is what our conversation went:

Me: I saw that a friend went to a place on Queen Street called White Lily Diner, check it out and let me know what you think.

Friend: haha….I love that place. It’s at Queen and Broadview, works for me.

The first thing I noticed as I walked up to the restaurant was the chalkboard sign saying the doughnut of the day was butter tart doughnut. Um, hello…butter tart doughnut? We will come back to that.

The menu isn’t very large which I think is a good thing. I think it means they do a limited number of items very well. I was right about that.

We started off with their homemade pickles, bread and butter and dill. We both looked at the menu and agreed on the same item to share – Sourdough Toast – Strawberry-rhubarb preserve. Ricotta. Fresh strawberry. Toasted hemp seed. Basil is what the menu said, although it wasn’t basil, it was dill which didn’t quite fit, but everything else was divine. See for yourself below:

We looked at the menu and there were a few items that looked interesting to share and it came down to two – the meatloaf dinner or a hot smoked turkey dinner. We opted for the hot turkey dinner which consisted of – Smoked turkey. “Stuffing” french toast. Cranberry chutney. Gravy. 

Four years ago when Wahlburgers opened in Toronto I had heard about their Thanksgiving burger which is basically the whole turkey meal in one bite. I would say that this dinner was almost the same. It was the taste of the hot smoked turkey that added such a depth of flavour in every bite. Each bite was a bit of the stuffing french toast, the chutney and the smoked turkey. All I can say to this is winner winner turkey dinner.

I mentioned at the start of the piece that the sign coming into the diner said the doughnut of the day was Butter Tart. When the server told me it was a ‘filled’ doughnut, with a vanilla glaze topped with raisins it sounded great, a doughnut and a butter tart have a baby. This was not the case. It was filled, but with custard, which really didn’t give it any comparison to a butter tart with the exception of the raisins on top.

It was a It was a great experience overall, quiet for the time of the day and no line. I am sure that the weekend brunch crowd or even the weekday lunch crowd would have had us waiting in line. It is a fantastic local spot that I would return to anytime.

Always in search of the next place to try in our fabulous city!

A Portrait’s view of American History

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I am a very proud Canadian and love my country. I do have to admit that I have seen much more of the United States than I have my own country. It is not intentional I suppose, I have had many opportunities through family and friends living in different cities and states, combined with my career in the travel industry has netted me out some amazing American experiences.

When we were planning our trip to Washington DC last year I made a list of things that were on my ‘to see and do’ list, and after that, whatever else we could fit in would be bonus items.

While we barely scratched the surface on the Smithsonian museums, we did get in 3 out of 18. Not a lot, and the one I wanted to get into (the newest one Museum (African American History) was still too new and still need a ticket to get in.

On the list was a visit to the National Portrait Gallery to see President and Michelle Obama’s portraits. Their portraits were unveiled as part of the 50th Anniversary of the Gallery. One the second floor is where all the portraits of all the presidents are on display. Outside of the White House it is the only place to house all the Presidents of the United States.

It is quite a large gallery and to be honest, I wasn’t overly interested in the ‘first’ Presidents, but more to the times in my life that were actually relevant. As you would expect there was a line to see President Obama’s portrait. It was interesting observing some of the folks in line to take their turn at taking a picture. Many of them were African American and wanted to take a selfie with both portraits. The Gallery had a record-breaking 2.3 million visitors in 2018, about a million more than in 2017. Many I am sure were there just to see The Obama portraits. You don’t have to be on the same side of the political aisle, but there is something to be said of the “first” person to do anything, let alone be the leader of the free world. I stood there when it was my turn and thought about that for a moment. Took my photo (NOT selfie) and then moved on.

Michelle Obama’s portrait hangs on the third floor. The exhibit is called 20th Century Americans . It took some time to find the room she was located in, but once there, again there was a line, mostly young women waiting for their moment.  The combination of people showcased was from a wide range of backgrounds—Jane Addams, Douglas MacArthur, Robert F. Kennedy, Sandra Day O’Connor and Michael Jackson, among others—tell the story of America’s 20th century through today. Michelle Obama’s portrait hangs on the third floor. Mrs. Obama’s portrait hung prominently in the centre of the room beside a unique painting of LL Cool J.

Mixing my love of tv and pop culture to this story, as I was staring at Mrs. Obama’s portrait I was drawn back to the series finale of Scandal just a month before my visit. If you remember, the show ends with Olivia Pope staring at her portrait in the Gallery. Knowing now that there isn’t a display for first ladies but only a hall for Presidents, one’s imagination is left to think – Did Olivia end up becoming President?

If you are planning a trip to DC, I would add the National Portrait Gallery to your list of museums to visit.