This summer, Jon Willing and his family will be trading one capital city for another. Here’s what’s on their Toronto to-do list
Jon Willing, centre, his wife Nicole and their son Miles visited Toronto’s Ripley’s Aquarium in 2021 and plan to head back as part of a big-city vacation this summer. Photo Courtesy Jon Willing
We’re planning a family vacation in the capital. That is, our provincial capital.
Vacationing in Toronto brings back memories of school trips and family getaways up Highway 401 from my hometown just west of the city. Growing up in Kitchener, field trips to Toronto weren’t out of the ordinary in the same way that I’m sure school trips to Montreal were regular features of an Ottawa childhood. The drive between Kitchener and downtown Toronto was usually an hour long in the ‘80s and ‘90s, which meant a day trip to the Royal Ontario Museum or McLaughlin Planetarium was no problem. The bus driver’s voice would crackle over the speaker challenging kids to make the first sighting of the CN Tower on the horizon as we passed the Pearson International Airport in Mississauga.
School trips to Toronto became even more important in the later years. On one field trip, a group of us literally ran up Yonge Street on a lunch break to a shopkeeper who took our pictures on a Polaroid camera and laminated fake IDs within an hour.
We made a stop at Ripley’s Aquarium while passing through Toronto five years ago, but in parenthood, driving from Ottawa to southern Ontario has been an exercise in avoiding Toronto and the sluggish traffic on the 401 (hello, toll highways).
Toronto, as a family tourist destination, still exists in my mind like a grainy video from 40 years ago showing people with their hair standing up at the Ontario Science Centre, riding bumper boats at Ontario Place and boarding an “interplanetary shuttle” at Tour of the Universe. Back in the day, we did them all, and watched Toronto Blue Jays games at the old Exhibition Stadium and more games later at SkyDome, where seats in the nosebleeds were under $10.
Some of those classic Toronto attractions are out of commission today. No more hair-raising shenanigans at the science centre or water fights at Ontario Place. The McLaughlin Planetarium, where as kids we learned about the solar system in the dome theatre, was demolished earlier this year.
Many of the classics are still there. We have some of them, plus the newer attractions planned for our Toronto adventure this summer.
Casa Loma, the municipally owned castle-like mansion in Toronto’s midtown area, was always on the list of typical must-see attractions in the city when I was growing up. I hardly remember it, but I know kids like castles and we have a seven-year-old son who has some castle experience playing Minecraft and Super Mario Bros. So, we’ll add Casa Loma to our list. We’ll also hit up the CN Tower, the aquarium and a Jays game. I’m especially interested in seeing what’s happening these days at Centreville on the Toronto Islands, another nostalgic attraction.
Really, it’s the small things I’m looking forward to in Hogtown, like the street meat. Here’s hoping a hot dog cart is within striking distance.
-30-