Definately a 2!

# 12 THE ENTERTAINMENT DISCTRICT

With excellent dining options and unique boutiques this bustling area, known for its vibrant nightlife, offer plenty of daytime entertainment as well.

DATE: Wednesday, July 17, 2009.

TIME: 3:39 pm – 6:02 pm

(This is deceiving though- the only reason it took so long to complete is because sought refuge from the rain in a coffee shop 

along the way)

To be honest, I wasn’t all that excited about this particular walk from the beginning. From my years as a partying UofT student (that’s an embelishment – it was really just a few nights in 1st year) I had seen enough of the Entertainment District. However, the route covered on this card really isn’t the Entertainment District as most Torontonians and university students would think. But perhaps the heart of the Entertainment District is covered on another card. We’ll just have to see. But anyway, I digress….

Entertainment District. No preconceptions about this area. Just know a couple of places on this card like MEC… I’m not excited about this walk either, but atleast it’s not the ROM!

We begin at Bathurst and King admist a light rain. But hey, a little bit of water never killed anyone…. except the witch in the Wizard of Oz… but I digress…

Before we actually begin though, Mon tells me a story in the rain… concerning a bachlorette party.

I did? I do remember talking and then thinking we probably should have stood in the bus shelter. 

Monica – who despite the umbrella is still quite soaked.

Alma, and her ’seasoned’umbrella; still in relatively good shape….. or is it???? (Ooo, sense the foreshadowing?)

 It’s a pretty brolly but it headed to retirement shortly after this trip.

1. Wheat Sheaf Tavern (667 King St. W.)

The oldest pub in Toronto dating back to 1849.

The pub seems pretty cool. Would definately like to come back some time and have a beer and some good ol’ fashion greasy pub food.

The pub still has its moose from that moose-tourist campaign from years ago… ahhh, if they were all still around that would probably be another mission.

2. Lee (603 King St. W.)

A "somewhat casual" restaurant of Susur Lee of Iron Chef fame.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susur_Lee

http://www.susur.com/

Oh boy. Finding this restaurant was a bit of a challenge. We first walked past it, completely engrossed in our own conversation, and then we just couldn’t figure out where it was because it doesn’t appear to have a proper sign or street number. But I figured it had to be this one cause the sign is a giant "L". Good reasoning?

I thought the restaurant would be more classy looking on the outside or at least a little more appealing… boy…

3. GotStyle (489 King St. W.)

A mensware boutique that boasts a male-only spa and television lounge.

How intrusive of us to be spying on this man as he shops! By the way, those are mannequins grouped to the left.

After taking this pic, Mon asks "Ooo! Is he cute?"

4.  Acton Leather (522 King St. W.)

URGH! Sense the frustration? So first of all, this attraction was not labelled properly on the map in reference to GotStyle. According to the map on the card, Acton Leather should be a little east of GotStyle. If anything, it was a foot west!!!! So first off it took a while to find, some backtracking involved. The second reason why we couldn’t find it, was because it appears it has closed down. Peering inside the premises of 522 King St. W. we see open spaces, hard wood floors, and fitting room doors. We will have to e-mail the makers of the cards about this! 

Yeah, I think from this point on, I wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about this walk. Maybe it was the rain, maybe it was the amount of concrete that surrounded us… I just wasn’t feeling this walk but we trek on.

 Oh, like the world really needs yet another shot of my ass!!!!!

 Doesn’t seem like enough floor space to sell furniture and clothes though.

On route to our next stop, shortly after we turn and go north on Spadina Avenue, we pass a hostel (as I’m told by Alma) and there was water coming down a spout by the side of the building. Shouldn’t be odd – as it was raining, but there was soap in this water. Was this someone’s shower being poured out into the street???

A foaming sidewalk isn’t the most attractive thing for tourists, is it? Welcome to Toronto!

5. Mosaic (410 Adelaide St. W.)

"…a cafeteria-style restaurant serves delicious fare to a crowd populated in part by the models whose agencies are headquartered nearby." 

Well, this is another let down. It appears that Mosaic is no more. Either out of business or getting a new sign. From the picture below you can see the lettering of where the individual letters used to be. There is still a restaurant/catering business – type place occupying the premises but we have no desire to do further investigating.
Man… just looking at his picture gets me frustrated…

 410 Adelaide Street West – where Mosaic should be

This building has a very U of T feel to it for me. Kind of reminds me of that grad house across the street from the Athletic Center. The one with the giant "UTORONTO" sign that half sticks out over the street and a restaurant on the street level. I’ve eaten at that place before- pricey! Was it with you Alma?

I know the place you’re talking about and no, it wasn’t me. Was it good though?

Pricey. Oh but my friend Emelie from OISE lived in the rez. It was kind of a cool apartment style place. The layout was interesting. You’d enter the unit and there was the sitting area and the kitchen. Then you had go downstairs to get to the bedrooms and bathroom.

6. Uniform Measure Stack (Spadina & Richmond)

"…an installation art piece that pays tribute to the area’s ‘garment district’ designation."

The nameless installation art piece

Nice shot Alma! I’m not sure what I expecting but it definately wasn’t this. Think its pretty cool and would be nice if there was a plaque or something explaining what it was. No title? No artist? Who knows how many times I’ve driven and walked by it without noticing it? If it wasn’t for this card…. well I guess the art piece is self explanitory, but still….

"Planter" beside the nameless installation art piece. 

 Is it just me, or does this have a very ‘Canada’s Wonderland’ feel to it?

 I think this was one of the highlights of the walk for me. It’s different and I like the idea of having a tree growing out of a button.

7. Le Gourmand (152 Spadina Ave.)

A cafe "for excellent coffees, teas, and pastries…"

Ready to warm up with a coffee and take a break from the rain, we stop in . I order a medium coffee – FYI: it is the equivalent to a large at Timmy’s – and Alma a 30 cent pastry. Cute place. The lunch menu looks good and quite afforable. The washrooms are clean. Would definately come back. We end up spending quite some time here as the rain only gets harder for awhile.

The outside 

The inside. The wall is full of jams, spreads and other items items for purchase.

 To the left of Alma’s (right) shoulder, is the back of a gentleman in a suit. He and another professionally dressed woman were interviewing a very casually clad young man. Not sure what the job was, but the guy seemed very confident and it seemed like it was going well.

How long did we stay at this coffee shop? I did enjoy the cookie that I had… oatmeal raisin! We did a lot of complaining about work at this point. Totally blaming it on the rain!

I took a picture of my coffee cup, but when I got home I realized it was a video… I’d like to blame alma’s stupid camera but it was my own…

8. Canadian Mountain Equipment Co-Op (400 King St.)

A 42 000-square foot mecca for outdoor sports enthusiasts.

9. Wayne Gretzky’s (99 Blue Jay Way)

A restaurant/sports bar owned by famous hockey player, Wayne Gretzky. The restaurant "showcases memorabilia related to his illustrious career".

Our last stop on the official walk. We do not go into Gretzky’s but find shelter across the street and stare at it. I’ve never been – though would like to someday- but I still can entertain you with a few anecdotes. As the story goes, the premises, prior to being developed into the restaurant, had a different street address. But after it was purchased, built and developed, they got the city to change the street numbers so that it would be "99" – just like his uniform number.

FYI, the number 99 is retired in NHL. Meaning that no player – on any NHL team-  can wear that number. This is unusual as usually athlete jersey retirements are applicable to their team, not the entire league. 

And now a spontaneous trivia challenge: who is the only player to ever wear the #99 for the Toronto Maple Leafs? …… To read the answer, highlight the section between the red stars.)  ***Answer: Wilf Paiement. *** …. And now you know.

I took a video of the hockey player on top of this building but since I have the luxury of HTML… I’ll upload it another day.

Well our official walk is over. However, we continue to wander in the general area for awhile, shopping for dresses, almost getting drenched when passing a construction site, a highpressured sales attack… but I guess you will hear those stories later?

Monica Rating –   - 2 umbrellas out of 5! (seems only fitting that we use umbrellas!) The walk was uneventful, and a tad diappointing as mentioned earlier. Also quite short- though I guess they expected us to shop.

Alma Rating -  - 2 sad faces out of 5… i really didn’t enjoy this walk… notice that this entry doesn’t have many comments. Let’s just blame it on the rain like milli vanilli… that’s right a milli vanilli reference. who does that?!