Notes on Toronto
Have you reserved a Toronto hotel room yet? Seven of the rooms Laurie held for us have been reserved; if you still need a hotel room, please call the Days Inn at Toronto East Lakeview.
The festival is on Centre Island: please follow this link to information (fares -- $6 -- schedule -- every 30 mins or so) about the ferry we'll use to get over to the island: http://www.city.toronto.on.ca/parks/island/summerschedule.htm . This link includes links to Centre Island, if you want to get a pre-festival peek!
We will not (cannot) have a tent, so bring sunscreen and any shade-inducing paraphernalia you can come up with! There will be porta-potties, so a pocket box of kleenex and some antibacterial hand lotion might be in order, too. And there will be lots of vendors at this one!
posted by Kit at 6/10/2005 12:18:00 PM
7 Comments:
From Kathi and Bob:
Kathi: Bob just reminded me that in the magazine that Erie Insurance puts out, they recommend that you get an International Insurance card of some sort. It is sent from your insurance company, it is free and usually sent quickly. You do need to know which vehicle you plan to take--for most that is not an issue, but if we were undecided, I guess they'd send us one for each. We call our agent, and, like I said, it appears a day or two later. Pam is planning a trip to Canada and read about it in the AAA book about crossing the border. It probably just makes things easier if there is an accident, God forbid.
Bob: Wanted to let you know again about the Provincial Inter Porvence Proof of Insurance Card for those driving to Toronto. And I wanted to let the team know that there is a good place to convert U.S. currency. If they are driving up the Q.E.W. from Fort Erie(across the Peace Bridge), it's about 35 or 40 Kilometers up that road. Their rate of exchange is not quite as good as the Banks, but it's better than most stores and businesses.
Also some folks were asking for good places to eat along the way, and I would suggest that any Tim Horton Restruant is a good bet, and I especially like their Tim Deals that are quite good and inexpensive(if you like Molson's and Doughnuts). Just kidding about the Molson's, they usually don't sell it at the Tim Horton store because most Canadians bring their own. The doughnuts and coffee are VERY good.
One last bit of advise for traveling into Canada is to have Two forms of ID if you don't have a U.S. Passport, and to expect some delays at the border.
The Toronto Race Book is online (see http://www.torontodragonboat.com/documents/2005RaceBook.doc). Probably more detail than you want here, but....
Our first race is Saturday at 12:20 (Premier Mixed, Race #27). Six boats in this race, a steerer's dream!
CORRECTION -- Our first heat in Toronto is at 9:20 AM on Saturday; our second heat race is at 12:20.
We have to report to the "assembly area" 30-40 minutes before the race, so figure on being ready to line up to get to the assembly area by 8:30 AM. I think this means we'll be riding the ferry pretty early!
Two heat races on Saturday and then a final race on Sunday. Placement in the finals is determined by the average time in the heats.
Let's kick some butt.
I checked and the first ferry leaves at 8:00 am. I couldn't work out how long it takes but we are not going to have a lot of time to get ourselves together.
Anyone know how far the hotel is from the ferry stop?
A message from Allen Chan, Chair of the Festival re the post-Festival dinner party:
Dear Dragon Boat Teams,
I am happy to announce an exciting update on the celebration dinner party:
Early Bird Price: $19.00 each (Save $4.00)!!!
- All orders received by June 20 will be given the early bird discount.
- The ticket price will be resumed to $23 each after June 20.
- Tickets can be ordered by filling in the attached form and fax back to 416-595-7334.
- Tickets can also be purchased at the captain's meeting on June 16.
- Those who have ordered and paid for their tickets up to today will receive a refund of $4.00 per ticket on the credit card that was charged.
We look forward to sharing with you a full course buffet, Dance with DJ and prizes, and night full of funs!
Sincerely,
Allen Chan
Festival Chair
Laurie has made reservations for us for dinner Saturday evening at Quigley's on the Beach (http://www.quigleysonthebeach.com/).
Let's talk Saturday at practice about how many people are interested in doing this so Laurie can give the restaurant a better sense of our numbers.
Ferry business: Laurie has talked to the ferry folks, and they are thinking about adding a 7:30 AM trip because of the festival. Laurie's estimating a 45-minute drive (to be safe) between the hotel and the ferry, so this would have us leaving the hotel by 6:45 AM.
See Bob's note above about getting Canadian dollars after you cross the border in order to get a better exchange rate than we'll get at businesses (or the ferry!). Ferry fare is cash only.
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