Stratford Sunday — The Tugboat

I woke initially close to six and got showered up and ready to seize the day. I got bacon going and prepped for perogies. The Big T always likes to have perogies on a Sunday. I had the coffee ready to go and even finished the perogies in the pan for him so it had some char like he prefers. The others slowly stumbled out of their beds and everything was laid out for them. My Sudbury’s sister’s partner, the Irish Gal slept through it all. It was a pretty decent effort on the food. The Big T requested an egg as well, he put it with his toast, basically the same meal he’d have had at home, thus keeping his streak alive. My plate was less picturesque than his.

The stores didn’t open until late morning so there was no rush to get a move on. The early breakfast made for a bit of a gap and my parents don’t do well with downtime, well Mother can hang but Big T needs things to do. As such we didn’t wait the full time until we should have departed for the day’s adventure. We made a call to go to Stratford as it appeared to have the lowest chance of rain today rather than tomorrow (the original plan). We were actually trusting the weather idiots. The forecast had changed since we made the amendment to the plan so we had to make sure we had some rain gear. We rationalized an earlier departure to allow the girls to scout out some shops they’d find interesting but in reality it was because we weren’t doing much at home. I had extra time so I prepared everyone’s mug of water to keep the gang hydrated. We got rolling around ten I think.

The two girls had no agenda, just wanting to explore things. Mother wanted to get some specific chocolates and a specific coffee for her friends. We parked in the free parking area and did a circuit of the shops, all closed. It was raining steadily the entire time. The chocolate store was closed Sunday and they didn’t sell that coffee by the bag, just the actual drink. That closed out the agenda. We walked the entire downtown loop twice and then went down to the river. The two girls split off to do their own exploring.

It was lovely in the gardens and at the river but not as nice when it’s pouring rain. There were several flowerbeds that just weren’t planted this year. I’m going to blame the pandemic and the expected decrease in tourists until recently. Even then, it was pretty dead for a weekend, despite the rain. The flowers that were there were spectacular.

We didn’t see anyone renting boats or eating ice cream on this miserable day but luckily the bathrooms were open. We all took our turn. You can see in the below photo, not much of a crowd. This part of the world is just starting to open up now. Hopefully people start to move around safely and we can get the economy going again. We climbed back up to the high street and went in the Scottish shop, which is right beside an English shop that we also visited. I was surprised to see myself buy things in both, I’m usually more Scotch with my spending.

Now that some of the shops were opening up we did another tour of the area but made few stops. By the time we’d completed most of a second tour it was getting close to lunch time and some were getting hungry. Mother reached out to the girls and we met up to decide which of the few patios we’d eat on. Many spots didn’t do patios and some that did weren’t open on Sunday so the selection was limited. We happened to have met up next to Fellini’s Italian Cucina on the main drag so we tried there. They not only could seat the five of us, but also put us under umbrellas. The lunch menu had nice variety but we all went for the sandwiches. They looked like a screaming deal until you realize the salad isn’t included, that didn’t slow us down though. The server was excellent, coming back to make sure she’d gotten the order correct, which is good, or Sudbury sister would have ended up with just meatballs rather than a meal. Everyone but the Tugboat had cocktails and enjoyed the meal. I had the chicken parma ciabatta sandwich. After an intense discussion on salt and pepper applicators it was time to pay the bill, I treated.

We again split up to cover more ground (?) before retreating the rains for the truck. It wasn’t long after that the two girls showed up, ready to leave. From Stratford, home of the Shakespeare Festival, we ventured to Shakespeare itself. There are a couple of antique stores there, they are higher end but they are there. We picked the one they liked best and I dropped them off and went to park. As it happened, the lady there told them the others are closed most of the time, one folded and the other was a junk peddler. So I guess they picked right. Nothing was purchased, prices and quality are very high there, more for rich city people who are serious about design. From there we stopped at my old research farm just to show the girls where I used to run the universe from. I had my keys so we went inside for a minute. They didn’t seem to care at all so it was a very short stop, mostly for them to use the bathroom. From there it was back to the Harbour and it was nearly four. The Big T asked for a scotch and I put on some guitar riff videos (first one we did of many) that we could guess at. It’s a fun game to play. The women were having cocktails as well. I served some snacks and apparently not enough ice for the T. You can see I gave him whiskey stones but he wanted some cubes for the dilution. I just stuck to the cold balls in my fancy glass that my former assistant Red gifted me at the end of a long year together. Eventually we started playing some euchre while the other person ran the music. The Irish Gal and I lost in a historic comeback from Mother and sister. We were up 9-4 at one point I think. A loner hand and a euchre later and it was over, that quick. Low card draw sat out, it was me. The next game went quickly and I was back at the table with Mother as a partner this time, Sudbury sister was out. We built a bit lead up on them before the food arrived. Leading 8-3 before the break.

The original plan for tonight was to have some sushi but since things aren’t open enough for all you can eat, we decided on takeout. We thought about some of the chains like Boston Pizza, Kelseys or Montanas but dedcided to get some Indian food after seeing a Butter Chicken Food Truck driving around my neighbourhood promoting their menu. They’ll be parked at the Canadian Tire apparently. That makes four Indian spots on my side of town, pretty good for a town of 41000. But still no good Thai, had the thai train left the station at this point? We ordered from the Royal Turban and got the preset menu for four. It was a huge meal that resulted in leftovers even though there were five of us. I don’t think we’d have finished it even if it were five of me. The Big T treated for that one. After eating it only took one more hand to finish them off and it was decided that a walk was in order. I stayed back to finish cleaning up.

After they got back from their walk the Big T wanted to watch the Jays game. The two girls went upstairs to work on the homework and to have some down time and Mother and I went to the basement to watch a film. I don’t recall at the time of writing what it was exactly but it ended ahead of ten and it was time to shut it down. My parents selected the basement knowing that it was cooler and were primed to have a great sleep. The girls were concerned about the heat in the spare room so I jumped the AC up and they cracked a window. Better sleeps were obtained with these measures I’m told.