Toronto, Sunday, 17-Jul-2022
This was the first of our "split" days, where Melody and I do different things. At least for part of the day. I went to a Blue Jays game while Melody walked around a bit and had dinner with some people at the conference.
Since we didn't have a train to catch, we had a more leisurely morning and were able to have the breakfast provided to us.
Managing keys
This was the first time we were out of the room at different times, and since we were only given one set of keys, we had to make sure to plan accordingly. Normally the only lock we need to worry about is for the room. For the most part, we're able to arrange things so the last person to leave is the first person back to the room.
We do have contingency plans, however, There are places to sit in the basement which don't require a key (but most of them have no cell coverage and Wi-Fi is spotty). There are also cafés nearby, but we haven't had to use that option yet.
The complication is that sometimes the outer gate is closed. For the most part, it seems to be closed from the late evening until early morning, and on Sundays. This day being a Sunday, that meant we couldn't just walk up to the room without a key, but fortunately, Melody was planning on being back in the room when I returned. She was going to register for her conference and walk around the area a bit while I was out.
Blue Jays vs. Royals
Being a baseball fan, I try to make it to a game at a stadium I've never been to before. Sometimes it doesn't work out (the team is away or the scheduling conflicts), but I try to at least go by the stadium. The timing worked out well to see the Blue Jays play their last game before the All-Star break. The Seattle Mariners were trying to catch them in the wild card race, and having swept them in the midst (as of this writing) of a 14-game winning streak, Toronto is now trying to catch up back with the Mariners.
The other reason why watching the Blue Jays felt significant is that when they're in Seattle, hordes of Canadians cross the border to go to the games. There are so many that at times it feels like Seattle is the visiting team. If the Blue Jays fans were that dedicated on the other side of the continent, it would be interesting to see what they're like in their home park.
We went through Union Station when arriving from the airport and when we went to Niagara Falls. This was another trip to Union Station since Rogers Centre is nearby. I saw quite a few Toronto jerseys on the train (didn't realize they also had red jerseys in addition to white and dark and light blue). Getting off at Union Station, I knew I didn't need any directional help since I could just follow the crowd. Walking from the subway side of Union Station to the train side, more jerseys were around me. By the time I got to the skywalk between the station and the plaza near the stadium and CN Tower, it was a genuine crowd.
Walking toward the skywalk, it occurred to me that I had left early to avoid crowds. What were all these people doing going over an hour early? As it ends up, Sunday games in the summer are geared towards kids, with lots of events (bouncy castle, face painting, games of all kinds) both outside the stadium and on the main concourse. Most of the crowd wasn't going in yet, so I was relieved.
My plan was to buy a ticket at the stadium, but the booths were all closed. Out came the phone to buy a ticket. Seeing that it was going to be sunny and that I was near the 1st base entrance, I made my best guess and tried to get a seat in the shade. I went inside and started to wander around, getting a feel for the concourse and scoping out the food options.
We must be spoiled in Seattle since there is a very wide variety of food you can get. All I saw were stands that sold hot dogs and poutine, with a smattering of burgers and pizza. The rest of the concession stands were snacks and beer. I found something to eat, then went to find my seat.
Since I bought a seat on the top level, I eventually found the way up. You go back and forth on ramps, which reminded me a lot of the Kingdome. Up I went, and yes, my set was in shade, at least for the time being. There were a lot of available seats around me, so if I needed to move, it would be no problem.
The girl who sang the national anthems was quite good (having young people sing as part of the kid's day). It was strange, though, that there were no cheers when she hit the high note ("land of the freeeeeee") on the U.S. anthem. They did cheer the high note of the Canadian anthem, but that was the last note, too.
The game itself was fun to watch, even though the Royals had a large number of their roster not there (Canada requires everyone, even players, to be vaccinated). The crowd was very into the game, and being Canadians, even gave a smattering of applause when the Royals hit a home run. As the game went on, I moved up a few more rows to stay in the shade. Around the 6th inning, I decided to start wandering around.
Since I was already on the upper level, I checked out the concourse. Pretty much the same as the first concourse, but with concessions only on the field side. I did go towards the seats in a few places to catch the different views. I then went to the middle level and saw that the view actually wasn't that different, so went back down to the main concourse.
By the time I had gone all the way down the ramps, it was nearing the 7th inning stretch. And that's what the crowd did, with people guiding the way like an aerobics class, they went through a stretch routine before singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game".
When Mariners fans try to do a wave, it usually dies out before about halfway around the stadium. Blue Jays fans had it going for more than twice around.
It was no surprise that the fans were ecstatic when the Blue Jays got a go-ahead home run, and even more so when the last out sealed their win. I stuck around after the game to watch kids run around the base paths.
Rest of the day
After the game, I joined the swarms of Blue Jays fans back to Union Station. The platform and train were quite full, considering I didn't live right as the game was over. Instead of going directly back to the room, I walked past a laundromat so I could pick up a small amount of detergent for laundry. As it ends up, we walked past the place on Thursday. It was near a huge sinkhole that was in the middle of the street. After the few days, the pavement was broken up about 4 times the length of the original hole, and the whole thing was filled with gravel. Presumably, they fixed whatever the problem was.
I got back to the room, and Melody let me into the outer gate. The two of us hung out for a bit until she went off to have dinner. I went looking for something not long after. I decided to go to the place that Melody would go to on Monday since a bento box sounded good. I was also able to let her know what the place was like.
When Melody was done, I went to let her into the gate, and we relaxed and caught up on things for the remainder of the evening.
