I knew this road trip would be interesting once the elderly server at Long John Silver’s in Mentor, Ohio called me “Daddy.” We were near the start of a 14-hour drive to Quebec City. Why Quebec City? It’s not exactly Bordeaux, but for us Midwesterners with time and/or budget constraints it’s one of the more unique places you can reach in a day by car. 

Halfway through the drive to Quebec City, we made a two-night stop in Toronto. We got rained out our first night, but I tricked the family into walking a mile from our Airbnb for tacos. “It’s just down the street.” We returned a little damp, but at least the view from our Airbnb’s rooftop was cool.

The next morning, while on a 9 a.m. solo run to one of Toronto’s many dispensaries, Slash walked right by me. Top hat and everything. In case you don’t know, Slash is a guitarist with Guns N’ Roses. He’s worked with Michael Jackson and often appears on “CELEBRITIES YOU DIDN’T KNOW WERE BLACK!!!” clickbait lists. I didn’t ask him for a picture. I don’t like bugging people, and I still haven’t figured out what to do with my hands while posing. Plus I was more focused on buying “Dad’s special candies” before the kids arrived. 

After my celebrity encounter, I continued walking through Toronto’s Little Portugal neighborhood, where I was welcomed by a rabbit mural. The streets were busy with fit remote workers walking dogs and old folks taking up the sidewalk’s fast lane. I found shade under a shop’s awning and talked with a man whose company paints street art that doubles as advertisements for companies like Spotify. A college girl maybe 10 feet away cried while consolidating her luggage. Some dude wearing post-coital basketball shorts and a backward baseball cap gave her a side hug and walked away. She looked straight ahead, still crying. Seemed like a classic case of “flew’d out” and disappointed. 

Amber and the boys, all late risers in the summer, caught an Uber after breakfast and met me in Little Portugal. From there we began a 20,000 step, three-mile bike ride, and two hour subway ride tour to absorb as much of “The 6ix” as possible in one day.