Saturday, October 20, 2018

HAMILTON COMIC CON

I was grinning from ear to ear when I got to sit in "Optimus Prime"! 
Last weekend Rob and I attended "Hamilton Comic Con". We hadn't been to a comic con in a few years, and were happy to be entertaining our inner nerd once again! We browsed all the booths, enjoyed all the cosplayers, stayed for the legends of wrestling panel, and purchased a few things.



The 501st Legion is a world wide troop of Star Wars cosplayers. They promote giving donations to charity when taking pics with them. Great idea!



I had so much fun with this droid! I called him R2-D2 decked out for Halloween, but honestly, I'm not up on my Star Wars trivia and he may have another name. Anyway, I got quite excited when I spotted him, and whomever was controlling him must of noticed, because suddenly he was following me around and making all sorts of noises! And that only made me more excited! So much fun!

Rob got a pic with my new friend. 
It was really cool to get up close with some of Bill Diamond Production's Puppets.
Rob with Gizmo, yes, the real Gizmo! 
My turn!
Salacious Crumb from Star Wars.
Audrey from "Little Shop of Horrors"
Another shot of me in Optimus! I was so excited. 

One of my favorite moments of the day was when we took a break and grabbed something to eat at the little cafeteria they had set up. There weren't many seats, and I asked a couple guys if we could sit with them. They turned out to be long time wrestling fans as well, so we had a great conversation, and we all stayed for the wrestling panel that took place in the afternoon.

Some great cosplay!
Found another original"Sabrina" for my collection. I only need 13 more to complete it.  
Rob had got the highest score on Ms Pac Man by the time we left.
We had a great time and look forward to attending again.
 

Tuesday, October 16, 2018

STRATFORD ROADTRIP

Built in 1885, this double arched aqueduct bridge is the only one in North America still in use by automotive traffic.
I made the Thanksgiving weekend an extra long one this year by taking the Thursday and Friday off work as well. Thursday morning had a girlfriend and I hitting the road to Stratford for an overnight getaway.

I had never been to Stratford before, and quickly fell in love with the place. It's quaint, beautiful and lively. It's "touristy" without feeling touristy. After we arrived we enjoyed lunch at "Surreal Soup", followed by a lovely walk along the river and through some of the town to take in some of the shops. We stayed at the boutique hotel, "The Parlour Inn", where we also enjoyed a delicious 3 course dinner as part of our package.   

Friday, after breakfast at Madelyn's Diner, we did some more exploring/shopping around town before seeing the afternoon performance of "To Kill a Mockingbird" at the Stratford Festival Theatre. We headed back home to Toronto after the wonderful production.

A couple of the famous Stratford Swans.
There is a "Swan Festival" in April. 
We saw these "interesting" flowers everywhere.  
We found out they area called "Elephant Head"....Oh! I see that now!
After dinner we came back to our room to find "turn down" service and a rose on our beds. 
Statue of Shakespeare at the playhouse. 
I have to talk about Justin before ending this blog, you know, Justin Bieber? He grew up in Stratford and my youngest neice, Tayler, is a huge fan. I knew that the Stratford Museum was hosting an exhibit about him, so we also visited there, where I took many, many photos of the exhibit and sent to my niece in Alberta. She was thrilled. I also told her that if she got her butt to Toronto to visit, we'd take her to see the exhibit in person.
My foot on Justin's star in front of the Avon Theatre where he would busker as a kid.
Justin grew up in a fantastic little town, and I can't wait for a return visit.