We were up and at it by 7:30 am, enjoyed a great breakfast at the Comfort Suites, and then headed for the subway to a days worth of some of Toronto's best attractions in the heart of City.

CN Tower - Great idea... go up 16 friggin' miles into the sky so you can look down. Thank God the Olympics were on the TV's up there on top of the world (for me anyway). We did something right, we came early before I was awake!!! All joking aside, the morning visit was perfect... no lines and we were among the first to elevator up. We arrived later in the day (heading for Rogers Centre) and it was packed.

All things considered (such as my apprehension of heights), I enjoyed the visit. Unlike the Empire State building, which is about 100 metres shorter, I felt very safe. The ride up was quick and after a short "climatization" I was roaming about the observation floor. The kids and Jane were everywhere, running outside and taking pictures on the glass floor. No fear there. The view was incredible, with sunny skies and a sight line around the end of Lake Ontario. We circled the viewing areas and looked around the city and greater Toronto.

After about 45 minutes we took the elevator down (the one with the glass floor) and made our way back to the entrance where we took in Himalamazon, a motion ride which was included with our pass. Good fun and a freaky little time out which we all thought was fun. Then off to HHOF.

Hockey Hall of Fame - The hall is a quick jaunt down Front St. from the CN Tower. Before you even enter the memorabilia starts, with goalie masks and pucks there to browse. The sticks sweaters, skates and stories abound, with the excellent displays on the greats of the game. Bobby's golden skates, Ken's statue with the stick under his chin, the Habs dressing room... an all encompassing collection of artifacts. As a big fan of hockey as a youngster... this was a shrine of immense proportion.

We took time to get a snap of the family with Lord Stanley's Cup, Peter and Monica played nets and shot pucks in the interactive game zone, and we all enjoyed a couple of big games of bubble hockey. The International and Women's hockey displays were also informative. The Hall of Fame and Trophy room was gorgeous... a huge space (we thought it must have been a bank at one point with the vault at the back). Our tour ended with one last game of bubble hockey and picking up our family picture.

Royal Ontario Museum - We boarded the subway and cruised up Spadina to the ROM (the station is just outside). After a quick entry we headed upstairs to enjoy some of the carefully presented artifacts in the cultural and natural history exhibits. We spent most of our visit on Levels II and III... and took in displays concerning Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Ancient Greek and Aegean civilizations. Level II warehouses an excellent range of dinosaur fossils and skeletons which we all enjoyed. The ROM visit was slow paced and we got time to look at the artifacts, which are excellently presented, and explore a wide range of pieces. Along the way we stopped several times, in big "cushy" coaches, to relax, enjoy the artifacts and spend a comfortable afternoon at the museum. The museum is a must see while in Toronto. Great visit!!!

Blue Jays vs NYY - What a treat. We arrived at about 5:30 with new Jays hats on ready for the game. When we got in we roamed Rogers Centre ending up at field level to watch the Yankees batting practice. Rogers is an attraction in itself, a pretty spectacular building. We enjoyed the sights and sounds and then headed up for our seats in level two. We watched the seats fill and enjoyed popcorn, beer, music and lights.

The game was a blow-out, with the Yanks getting slapped with some great pitching (Halladay) and the Jays seeing every ball as a hit. The final score was 14-3 (the Box Score is at this link). As far as I was concerned... that was perfect. We saw a ton of hits, home runs, base runners, solid pitching and a very happy crowd. Peter and Monica went into the late innings and with minimal amounts of sugar added. Although somewhat "self-indulgent", everyone had a blast at the event and I'd do it again in a heart beat. Monica collapsed in the late innings, and got piggy backed to the subway on the way home!!!

We crawled into bed expecting an early start, breakfast, check out and our first big drive in three days.