Keep on truckin’ folks! After spending a night in Niagara Falls, we
\nmade the short trip up to Toronto for a quick visit. We figured as long as we were in Canada, why
\nnot look around a little?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Prius can
\nonly go so far before you eventually have to put gas in the tank and we all had
\na time trying to figure out the math of liters and gallons.<\/p>\n

Plus we got a real kick switching the
\nspeedometer over to kilometers…I can assure you that’s the first time my
\nslow-as-a-snail driving husband has ever had his car in the triple digits
\nrange!<\/p>\n

The drive to Toronto cracked us up! The
\nlittle car on our GPS literally stopped on the border and refused to drive into
\nCanada. Remember the days of using a map
\nto actually get places? It took some
\neffort, but we finally found our hotel after we realized that the signs reading
\n“TO” meant Toronto rather than “to.”
\nSometimes I think it’s a wonder we found our way to New York from
\nMississippi.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

We loaded up on the Toronto subway, or TTC, and
\nheaded towards the downtown area.
\nToronto seemed to be a lot like New York City, except cleaner. The subway was nice, didn’t smell like urine
\nand was easy to navigate. Honestly, I
\nthink if you can get around NYC’s subway system, you can probably do just about
\nanything in life.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Our first official stop in Toronto: the CN
\nTower! The signature building of Toronto
\nis a beacon! Standing 1,815 feet tall,
\nit’s the world’s tallest tower! Every
\nyear, more than two million international visitors check out the tower and we
\nwere tickled pink when we were generously given tickets by the CN Tower
\nmarketing department to come visit it ourselves.<\/p>\n

Coming in the winter was a good idea too, the
\nbusiest season for the tower is between May and October so we had no wait to
\nget in. Most people visit between 11:00
\na.m. and 4:00 p.m. so if you go before or after those times, you’ll also
\nshorten your wait time.<\/p>\n

If we thought Niagara Falls was a natural
\nwonder, then the CN Tower is certainly a modern wonder! Its amazing stature literally towers over
\nCanada. The tower was built in 1976 and
\nfeatures a Look Out Level, Glass Floor (it was crazy!), Sky Pod and 360
\nRestaurant, which makes a full rotation every 72 minutes.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

Wow, that’s tall!<\/b><\/p>\n

Our tour started in a quick elevator ride to
\nthe top. No really, we shot up to the
\nLook Out Level in 58 seconds in an elevator with a glass floor! No reason for awkward elevator silences or
\nbad Kenny G music here. We got a chance to
\ncheck out the city of Toronto from 1,136 feet high in the sky! The view was amazing and the lights of the
\ncity were spectacular.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

A staircase from the Look Out Level led us to
\nthe Glass Floor…well, not all of us. My
\nmother stuck to the wall like Spiderman as my dad, Brett and I pranced, posed
\nand cheesed it up for the camera on the 2.5″ thick glass panels 1,122 feet
\nabove Earth. I’ll admit my stomach sort
\nof dropped when I first walked across it…but it was too amazing to miss! I’m sure we were a sight sprawled across the
\nfloor trying to get a good shot with the street down below. Good thing that glass is strong enough to
\nhold 14 large hippos!<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

I’m laying 1,122 feet above the Rogers Center!<\/b><\/p>\n

Just outside of the Glass Floor is an outdoor
\nobservation deck. Caged in securely, you
\nfeel absolutely safe when walking around the outside<\/i> of the CN Tower. At
\nnight it’s a little tougher to grab a decent picture though of the scenery, so
\nwe had to settle on photographing ourselves. (Notice the death grip my mother has on Brett)<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

The highest level is the Sky Pod and from
\nhere on a clear day you can see across Lake Ontario to Rochester, New York! Up here you’re at 1,465 feet and its pretty
\nmuch all glass. My mother barely made it
\nout of the elevator. She really missed
\nout because the view was amazing! The
\ntime we spent in the Sky Pod was totally worth the trip to Toronto.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

Our tickets to the CN Tower also included
\npasses to watch Himalamazon<\/i> and The Ultimate Wave Tahiti 3D<\/i>. Both films were great additions to our
\nexperience! Himalamazon<\/i> is a motion theatre ride with special effects. You do have to be at least 42 inches tall to
\nride it. The show features an
\nenvironmental story that follows a Super-Tree on its journey from seed to
\nharvest. <\/i><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Ultimate Wave Tahiti 3D<\/i> reminded us a lot of The Perfect Summer<\/i> but with cool 3D
\neffects. One of the newest attractions
\nto the CN Tower, the film is the first 3D surf movie ever created. The movie runs about 45 minutes and the
\nscenery will make you forget you’re in Toronto. Plus, Brett really likes wearing those 3D glasses, can’t you tell?<\/p>\n

If you’re visiting the best bang for your
\nbuck is to purchase the Total Tower Experience ticket package. For $34.99 you have total access to the Look
\nOut Level, Glass Floor, Sky Pod and Himalamazon<\/i>
\nand The Ultimate Wave Tahiti 3D.<\/i> You can purchase tickets online at
\ncntower(dot)ca or get them at the box office when you arrive. If you have a reservation at the 360
\nRestaurant, access to the Look Out Level and Glass Floor are complimentary.<\/p>\n

If we would have had more time in Toronto, we
\nprobably would have done the Toronto CityPASS.
\nOnly $59 for adults and $39 for kids 4-12, you get access to the CN
\nTower, the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto Zoo, Casa Loma and the Ontario Science
\nCenter. You can purchase a CityPASS
\nonline at citypass(dot)com for Toronto and several other travel
\ndestinations.<\/p>\n

I don’t think you can come to Toronto and
\nmiss the CN Tower! Even though my mother
\nis a bit of a scaredy cat when it comes to heights, she promised she had a good
\ntime. Toronto turned out to be a
\nbeautiful city that really offered a lot of things to do. Brett and I hope to come back in the spring
\nor summer to check it out again!<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

We heart Toronto!<\/b><\/p>\n

\n<\/b><\/p>\n

*Special
\nthanks to the CN Tower marketing department for providing tickets and
\nadmissions to the Look Out Level, Glass Floor, Sky Pod and Himalamazon and The
\nUltimate Wave Tahiti 3D. Thanks y’all…it was amazing!<\/i><\/p>\n

Photography image credits: Ed Flanigan, Heather Flanigan, Brett Garrett.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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