Toronto – day three

I left off yesterday’s recap before we’d actually been to our final destination. It was late and I had a suspicion that we wouldn’t get out of the show until after midnight so I’d miss a day of posting. Turns out, I was right and it was already 1am before we rolled in the door.

After we finished up at NXT Takeover, we headed over to The Rec Room to see a comedy show by Dolph Ziggler and friends. We struggled to find a place to stand (we certainly weren’t finding a place to sit because it was so packed) and ended up at the far end of the hall. Little did we know, we were right at the entrance from the green room to the stage. For the majority of the night, I had wrestlers and comics brushing past me, some of them literally rubbing elbows with me.

The show was good and fun. We got to see some of Dolph’s stand up routine, but much of it turned into a roast due to the casual nature of the friends influence on the show. It was rewarding to watch because it allowed those of us who were there an opportunity to see some of the wrestlers we watch on tv in a more natural setting, outside is the character they play on the shows.

As I mentioned, we got home late and went to sleep even later. We didn’t have too early a call this morning, but we did have to be across town for 11am. We stayed in bed a littler longer than planned so we took a cab over to Bloorcourt Village and The Hogtown Vegan.

We were headed over there for a few reasons. 1. To see our friend Katelyn, 2. To try this restaurant and 3. To visit the Bibliomat at Monkey’s Paw.

We got over there just a few minutes later than planned and dug right into brunch. The place is a little dive-y, but the staff were super friendly and helpful with the menu. I was so torn between two things and our waiter was able to work it out so that I could try both without ordering two meals which is what I’d originally planned. I got their French Toast Sliders with a side of Chili Cheese Fries. Kevin got the Southern Combo – fried (un)chicken, garlic collard greens, mac and cheese and bbq sauce – and Katelyn got the Tofu Rancheros with collard greens.

I liked the chili cheese fries more than I liked the sliders. They were advertised as: Two pieces of cinnamon-battered toast filled with peanut butter, banana, and tofu bacon. Served with chef salad or homefries. Fascinating, right? Well, they either fell a little short in the translation or I’m just not that into that kind of rich, sweet food anymore. It might be the latter, but who knows.

Everybody liked their meals just fine and I would probably recommend it to someone who was in the neighbourhood.

After we left there, we went in search of The Monkey’s Paw. This is the bookstore I’ve been talking about wanting to go to for months and years. One, it’s a vintage bookstore. Two, it’s the home of the Bibliomat, a vintage book dispenser!

We took a few minutes looking around the store and then we went in for the book dispenser fun. The machine only takes tokens that are purchased from the store. Once you get your token, you put it in the machine and after a bunch of bells and whistles, out pops your book! Katelyn got a book on the history or Canada. I got a book of dramatic poetry. We both got a little thrill.

We continued down the street to prolong our visit a little and to see what we could see.

Eventually, we came across the Bloor and Gladstone branch of the Toronto Library.

The building was originally opened in 1912 and was renovated and received an add-on more recently. Walking through, it was nice to see the blend of the historic and the new.

By the time we wandered out of there, it was time to head back to our hotel to get a little nap in before we headed to Summer Slam tonight.

We said goodbye and promised we’d see each other again soon. (We hadn’t all been together for nearly seven years, back when she was living in Victoria.)

Nap time came and went and we were ready to leave for Scotiabank Arena at around 4:45. (Doors were opening at 5pm.)

We arrived to a ridiculously large crowd awaiting the opening of the doors. it was hard to imagine how it would all be managed, but the staff working there did an absolutely outstanding job of getting everybody in quickly and securely.

We went straight down to our suite to await the arrival of our friend Julie. She got there shortly after we did, but not before we had a visit from the Street Profits, NXT tag team champs. She just missed those guys, but after she showed up, we had some of the hot food we’d ordered for the night before heading to our seats.

I’ve always said I wanted to be one of the fans just going crazy on tv. It always makes me happy to see people getting totally immersed in the events and I wanted to feel that. I’m excited to say that tonight was probably the closest I’ve ever come to feeling that. It was such a great time to just go with it. We were all booing and cheering and chanting. It was great. And you might have seen us on tv.

Match-wise, I wasn’t really happy with anything that went down during the event, but I had a great time while we were there.

We’ll be back there tomorrow for Raw and on Tuesday for Smackdown. It’s going to be great to see the fallout from today’s events and I’m hoping to keep up the crazy Dan spirit. Watch for me.