No, this is not an episode recap. I didn't get around to getting 301 done like I promised so I just thought I would titillate you with my tales of Toronto. For those of you that don't know, I had the privilege of going to Toronto this past weekend for Pride. What fun. I had a blast overall. It was a chance to meet some fellow QAF fans that I have been posting with, corresponding with, and talking on the phone with for months now. It was a great opportunity to meet with a wide group of people from all over the world where we all have one thing in common. Our love for Queer as Folk. The fact that we were getting together over Pride weekend made it that much more of an event, and there was no way that I was going to pass this opportunity up. I had 2 reasons for wanting to go. I wanted to meet these people that had become my friends and I wanted to see all the sights that bring my favorite show to life. I was going. Period.
Now the husband and the child had different plans, of course, and it took some coaxing. I was feeling like a heel for wanting to go away for 2 nights and 3 days without them, but I had one thought that eased my guilt. If it wasn't commonplace for spouses and parents to do this, then how in the world would the show "While You Were Out" be able to pull off their shenanigans? Right. This does happen. It's OK. Besides, this was a once in a lifetime chance and my mom said I should go. LOL.
They agreed. Finally. Besides, in 17 years of marriage, we had never done this. I deserved it. I may be unemployed now and for the last 5 months, but before that, I worked long hours 6 days a week, and traveled a lot. So, yeah, I think I deserved this. And when the time comes that he wishes to do the same, I will have to remember this deal. And I will. He will deserve it then.
The agreement was that I only stay until Saturday, that way I will be home on Sunday for the second half of the weekend. This will still give us at least part of the weekend for family time. That was OK with me, because the parade was to be on Saturday anyway, so I would just head home after the parade. No problem. So everyone is happy. I was going.
Here are the cast of characters. Me and "J" from Michigan. We live 20 minutes from each other, but yet had never met. Funny how we would have to drive 4 hours away to hook up. But anyway... Then there is "P" from Georgia. We talk on the phone quite a bit so I already felt like I knew her, even though, again, we had never met personally. "M" from Las Vegas. Two from Australia, we will call them the Aussies. Two from Germany. Two from other parts of Canada, Edmonton and London. And then, the gang from Toronto; nine of them in all. That's 19 people. Can you imagine? Ages ranged from 20 to around 40. What a group. Everyone in the group, except for me, "M", and the Aussies, have all been to Toronto before, not all at once, but had been there at one time or another. The four of us were the Toronto virgins, so to speak.
Thursday - The Trip, The Team, and The TV
Woke up full of excitement. I'm packing and like everytime I travel, I am running around trying to remember everything. Clothes, toothbrush, make up, camera, cell phone. Check. Busy stuff for down time. (Magazine, book, the latest fanfic.) Check. Pictures of the hubby and daughter to share. Check. I had a 4 hour drive ahead of me. Gotta take the time to burn some QAF CDs. You can't go on a QAF road trip without QAF music, can you? I think not!! I had 2 already, but there was still some songs that I needed. So I am frantically downloading and burning while I am loading the car. OK, got my 3 CDs and I am ready to go. I am still full of excitement. I drop the daughter off at summer day camp. Sudden change in moods. She is fine and looking forward to a fun filled day with friends, but Mom is a mess. Is this the right thing to do? I think it is OK, but I can't help feeling teary as I am hugging her goodbye. Yikes! I have to get on the road, this isn't getting any easier. So I am off, with the Season 3 CD in the player. I am still on a finale high, and listening to all the Season 3 songs, just brings it all back again. Yep, this is going to be a blast.
I get to the border in no time. I pull up to the checkpoint and there is a very cute young blonde headed guy wearing some really cool sunglasses. He is asking me questions and for the life of me, I just can't hear him. I don't know why. LOL. He asks me all the usual questions. What is your citizenship? United States. Where are you going? Toronto. How long are you staying? 3 days. Why are you going? Pride. He turned to look at me, pulled his glasses down the bridge of his nose and said "Pride?" I said, "yes". So he winked at me and said "have a good time". I told him, I most certainly would and he raised the gate and I was off again. After going through the checkpoint and getting back on the highway, I realized that he didn't even ask for identification. Hmmm. Odd. Something to think about.
Then I get a phone call from "P" and she says make sure that I took my birth certificate or a passport to get into the country because "M" wasn't allowed on the plane to Toronto in Las Vegas. She had to go all the way home to get it and then missed her flight. So now she wouldn't be in Toronto until Friday. Bummer. I tell "P" that I have already entered the country, and that mister cute blonde guy didn't even ask for my driver's license. Odd, indeed. Interesting development for "M", but hey, I was on my way.
The Season 3 CD has run it's course now, so I go to put in the Season 2 CD. I have a 5 CD changer in my car so I push the load button. I hear some weird noise, but the changer takes the CD. I notice that the new CD loads into the "disc 1" slot. That's strange. What happened to the Season 3 CD? I never took it out, and it was in the disc 1 slot before. The newly added CD should have gone into slot 2. The music starts playing. Hmmm. Odd. Something else to think about. Listening to all the Season 2 songs starts giving me flashbacks, of course. Feeling pretty good. Yep, this is going to be a blast. After that CD is over, I push the load button to put in the S1 CD. Nothing happens. Hmmm. I push eject to remove the other 2 CDs and nothing happens. Well, something is wrong here, but oh well, if I can't play S1, then I will just listen to the others again. I push play. There is a grinding noise and then nothing. Oh NO!! This can not be happening. I am fiddling with it and can't get it to load, eject, or play. And what is with the grinding noise? I tune in a radio station thinking I will just deal with it later.
I stop for gas about an hour outside of Toronto. It is now 3:00 in the afternoon. I don't think about money at this point, because I just charge the gas and move on. Still no CD player. Still no QAF music. I am bummed. But I trudge along. Once I arrive in Toronto, I check into my hotel and run down to the McDonald's to grab a drink. What do you know? I am in another country and they don't take American money. Duh!! I am such a moron. So forget the drink. I am off to "A"'s house to meet up with some of the posse.
I get to A's house and P, J, and C (from London) are there. What a trip!! I swear, I felt like we had known each other forever. We have Chinese food delivered and we decide for the first night, that we are just going to hang out and get to know each other. Well, that didn't take long. We were like best buds after only a few minutes.
So we settle in and do what any QAF fans would do. Watch TV. P had brought a movie that we had heard was very similar to the Brian and Justin story, so that is what we watch. Very interesting similarities indeed. The movie is called "Leather Jacket Love Story" and if you ever get a chance to watch it, you should. It's an independent film and is in black and white, but still, I liked it. We all wondered if Cow/Lip took some notes while they watched it. There were just too many times that one of us said, "Oh, Brian did that." or "Oh, Justin did that." Too funny.
It was only natural that this put us in a Brian and Justin kind of mood so the next obvious thing was to watch some QAF DVDs. Yes, we are hopeless. LOL. It kind of turned into a challenge of the extras. We were flipping DVDs in and out trying to match up all the extras and how many times they were used more than once. We matched up the credits, of course, and disspelled some rumors. Needless to say, S1 Hotlanta, was not in a Season 2 episode. We can prove it. LOL. It was now nearing 1:00am and we decide to call it a night. I am off to my hotel and they are to call me the next day when they get up and around.
Now there is something that you need to know about me. I can be very lazy, but I am also slightly high strung with the thought processes. My mind is constantly moving so I don't sleep much. I usually go to bed at 3:00 and get up at 7:30. This is not the case for everyone else, obviously. They are on vacation, they want to sleep. Heading back to my hotel at 1:00 is kind of a bummer for me, but I am up late by myself every night at home so it is not really a big deal. I brought my book and the latest fanfic, so I had some entertainment. I still needed a drink though, and still didn't have any Canadian money.
I went to the front desk to change a few dollars just to use the soda machine. I give him a $5 and he gives me back $6.25. In coins!! They don't have bills lower than a $5 in Canada. How neat. He gives me what they call Tooneys and Looneys. The tooney is a $2 coin, and the looney is the $1 coin. I am thinking Looney Tunes, Bugs Bunny, Tweety Bird. How funny. I am kind of liking being in a different country. Yes, I am easily amused. But anyway...
I settle in with my fanfic and my drink to read. The next thing I know, it is 4:30am. Yikes!! How did that happen? I go to sleep and just like clock work.....
Friday
- The Tooneys, The Tantalizing Tavern, and The Taxing Talk
I am awake 4 1/2 hours later. Shower, get dressed, and I am ready to go. No phone call. Ok, so I will read some more. I finish the fanfic. Still no phone call. I am bored. No computer. Eeek! It is now 11:00. I turn on the TV. Of course, I can't find anything familiar. As I am channel surfing, I am stopping for a minute on each channel. On this one channel, there is a man talking behind a desk. The first words I hear him say is "Stockwell, what is your take on this?" Of course, my ears perk up. Stockwell? I had read on the boards that the QAF Stockwell character was named after a Canadian conservative politician, so my interest was peaked. They were talking about the new same-sex marriage initiative that had passed recently in Ontario. Needless to say, Mr. Stockwell Day was not a happy camper about this. He proceeded to say that he had received "thousands" of letters from homosexuals that were opposed to the new law. That marriage was an institution for straight people and they wanted nothing to do with it. Really? Interesting. Those uptight characters at the GLC on QAF came to mind. His point was that if the conservatives didn't want it, and if homosexuals didn't want it, then why was it a new law and how did this get passed? Duh, dude. Whatever. He was making me crazy. That show ended. I'm bored. It is now 12:30. No phone call. Some people really like to sleep late. LOL.
Finally!! 1:12pm. The phone rings. Yeah!! "M" has arrived at the airport, they picked her up and everyone is ready to go. We pile into the cars and head to The Village. Church Street to be exact. We pick up a couple more of the Toronto folk and we finally arrive.
But damn!! We still have no Canadian money. The Canadians head to the restaurant and us Americans head to the corner bank. It's Friday afternoon, it's Pride weekend, and we are at a bank on Church Street. I won't describe how long the line was, you can figure it out. One hour later, we have our Looneys and Tooneys (I just love saying that) and we are heading to Zelda's to join the rest of the gang.
Zelda's was great. An open restaurant with patio seating. Perfect for people watching and had great food too. For those avid fans out there....you can see Zelda's in the S3 episode when Debbie and Vic are trying to get people to sign up to vote (305 - I think) and Brian walks up to talk to them. Zelda's is in the background in that scene. Too cool. I am loving just being here.
We finish our late lunch and head out to walk Church Street. All the shops are all decked out in the their rainbow flags. There are even a few bear flags. Hehe. I had never seen the bear pride flags. That was cool. Woody's is across the street and we figure it's Friday night and Pride weekend so Woody's is going to be packed later. We think it is best if we go there now. You know, avoid the crowd. Plus we are still waiting on the Aussies to arrive at the airport and we need a meeting point. Woody's is as good a place as any. Right? We go into Woody's. Not too many people there. It is only 4:30. We grab a couple of tables and stake claim. I might add, we are the only women there.
Now to describe Woody's. Let's see. All the Woody's scenes from S1 were filmed here, but not the S2 and S3 scenes. They built a set for those. When you look at it from the outside, it seems so small. Even the steps look smaller than what I remember. I think back to the episode where Justin confronts Hobbs and then, of course, the S3 finale with B/J's scene. I just thought the steps were wide enough for 3-4 people to walk up them at once. They are not. The illusions of TV are very interesting. The red awning above the steps is black now and I was told that when filming, they replace with the red one to keep continuity. That's funny. When you get to the top of the stairs, it dead ends and you have go in the door to your right or the door to your left. There is no door straight ahead like in the scene with Hobbs. Once you are inside, Woody's is kind of long and narrow. The 2 doors that you can walk through kind of make you go out and around the huge bar that is on the other side the front wall. That is the front of Woody's. Once around the big bar the second room/area has a big floor, a bar, and some tables. This is where they removed some pool tables from for the anticipated crowd for Pride, so there is only 1 pool table and it is in the back. These tables in the middle section by the big open floor is where we camped. Beyond that middle section, in the next room/area is the one remaining pool table, another bar, and more tables. This is the back. When you see the S1 Woody's scenes, this is the area where it was filmed. The scene when Justin shows up with his new piercing. You can get a definite feel in the back area for that scene. But again, the front door thing is an illusion. That back area is the only part of Woody's that you see in the show, and trust me, the entrance that they show in the background while Justin is showing Brian the piercing, does not exist. So now, you kind of have an understanding of how Woody's is laid out. It's a bar. Not a dance club.
But that doesn't stop some. LOL. There are a couple of guys dancing in the middle section on the wide open floor all by themselves, not together, just by themselves. Really good dancers, BTW. One tells me later that he dances professionally. I can believe it. That guy hung out with us the entire time we were there. He never left and he never quit dancing. I didn't see him sit down once. He grabbed each of us, one by one, to dance with just him or with him and another guy. It didn't matter. He just wanted to dance, guy/girl, didn't matter to him. LOL.
And just so you know....those TV's with the naked men swimming and sunning that you see in the Woody's shots, really do exist. And yes, they can be VERY distracting. Sometimes I was just mesmerized. LOL.
So we are drinking (all of us), playing pool (some of us), dancing (some of us)...having a good time. Drinks were high priced, I might add. $5 Canadian for a beer, $8 for a margarita. Yowzaa!! Somebody else bought some Jim Beam shots, but I don't know how much they were. You can't go to Woody's and not drink Brian's favorite. It just wouldn't have felt right to not do a toast with Beam, you know.
The German's and the Aussies finally show up, so the gang is now more than 15.
Everyone was real nice. Maybe it was the spirit of Pride and all, but I was kind of surprised at the response we got. The bartender even told us that not too many women come in there and that they were glad to have us. Hmmm. I don't know. I was expecting to be treated indifferently. We were straight women invading a gay bar afterall. But it wasn't that way, we felt included. The guys were grabbing us to dance with them, buying us drinks, playing pool with us. We seemed to be the most popular table in the place. And this group of men were very touchey feeley. LOL. We didn't mind because let me tell you.... I think that every single gorgeous man in North America (except for my husband, of course) was in Toronto inside Woody's that day. How could so many converge into one place? Do they not make any ugly men in Canada? I was hard pressed to find a single one.
Let me tell you about the bathrooms. Of course, they are labeled men and women, but that doesn't mean anything. You go into whichever one you want. Now, some of the gang were freaked by this, and just wasn't used to a man being in the bathroom when you come out of the stalls. Cracked me up, honestly, I was just elated that the stalls had doors. Some of the previous gay bars that I had been to with my husband and his friends didn't have doors. Everytime I had to go, I dragged the hubby with me to act as the blockade. You know, stage fright can be tough. LOL. So, yes, I was glad they had doors.
10:00, my cell phone rings. It's my daughter and she is having mommy withdrawals. Big time. I can't hear inside the bar so I go outside to the front steps to take the call. So I am on the steps of Woody's, surrounded by gorgeous men and loud music trying to explain to my daughter that I will be home the next night. She is wanting to talk so I talk...I'm in Toronto...that's in Canada...did you go swimming today.....did Daddy rent you a movie....I miss you too....I love you too....etc etc. The gorgeous men surrounding me are looking at me and smiling and listening to every word that I am saying. I imagine this is entertainment they don't see too often on the steps of Woody's. LOL. I am so embarrassed. Guilt for going away has set in. Guilt for having a good time has set in. Gee, I used to travel 4-5 nights a week for my job...this was harder. We hang up rather quickly because International cell phone charge are very high, but now I'm tearing up. I am standing there looking at my phone and thinking I should go home. Some guy that was listening to the call snaps his fingers in front of my face and says "Hey, no sadness, this is Pride" and pushes me back inside. How sweet. See? No gay/straight issues going on at this place.
Seven hours after we first walked into Woody's, we are feeling no pain, (some more than others - LOL) Woody's is jam-packed with people and there are more waiting outside to get in. It was standing room only. It's only 11:00, but we are getting hungry, drunk, and very hot. Geez, it was hot in there. I don't know if it was the crowd, the liquor, or naked men on the TV's that was doing it, but it was hot. And it was time to go.
We go outside. (I am sure the first 15 people in that line were glad to see us coming out the door. LOL.) Aahhh, cool air. And you won't believe what we saw. Church Street has transformed into one big party scene. This was not the Church Street that we had seen in the light of day 7 hours earlier. The streets are crowded. Music is blaring. Go-Go boys dancing in store windows. Live dancing mannequins!! I love this place!!! Everyone is smiling. Everyone is friendly. Everyone was having a good time. It was like what Brian said....a magical kingdom full of sprites and fairies.
What a great place, but we had been drinking for waaaayyyy too long though, and had to end our night early. Where's the car? How do we get out of here? These were questions floating through our minds. After getting lost trying to find our way out of downtown we stumble upon the entrance to the highway. Yippee!! I know my way back now. We get back to north side of town, hit a fast fooder, drop everyone off where they are suppose to be, and call it a night. Of course, being only midnight, I am still wide awake, so again, I read until 4:00am.
Saturday - The Tarry, The Throng, and The Tour
As usual, wide awake 4 1/2 hours later. Shower, get dressed, pack up, and get checked out by 11:00. I head over the A's and find out that everyone is still lounging around. Tough night. Headaches all around. LOL. Of course, I am ready to go. What is wrong with me? All I know is, this is my last day here and I still want to see the filming sights. Then there is the Pride parade. But I find out that the Parade isn't until Sunday. Bummer. I am going to miss it. We have dinner reservations at The Keg (an old mansion that was turned into a fine dining restaurant in the heart of The Village) at 5:30, so I am thinking time is wasting away...."Come on, let's go"....Nope. That is not the mood in the house.
Like I said, there were only 4 of us Toronto virgins there and the 2 Aussies and "M" were staying longer than me, so they would have lots of time to see the filming sights. The only urgency to go to the filming sights, right now, today, was with me. I was panicked. Getting depressed. This was the 2nd reason for wanting to come there. I can't leave without seeing everything ...."Come on, let's go"....Nope. Still lounging, still napping. Argggghhh!!!
I settle in to watch the UK version. 4:00 rolls around and I am really thinking that I just want to go home. Finally, someone is willing to leave for the restaurant early and since it is in The Village we can swing by a few places on our way. Yippee!! I am back in a happy mood.
But, as things go, there was construction and roads were closed off already because of the Parade preparations and all I got to see was the Liberty diner. Very cool. It's an empty building and is not in use during the off season. The windows and the front door were all blacked out, but the words "Liberty Diner - Open 24 hours" were still painted on the windows. I snap my pictures. All the scenes come flooding back as I am standing there, just like I knew they would. In 102, when Mikey brings Justin to the diner for the first time and they go in the front door.....and then when Debbie comes out to meet Mikey after her shift and they talk. Yep, that was the front of the diner. Very cool.
We head to the restaurant. Awesome food. Even more of the Toronto clan shows up. We are now a party of 21. What fun!! It is kind of weird introducing yourself to online pals. When you say your name, they look at you like, who? So then you say your screenname, and the next thing out their mouths, is "oh, Hi". So funny. We knew each so well, but yet, not at all. We do now though, that it was well worth the trip.
Some of the people there write fics, and it was just strange meeting them. It's like, oh, I know you. LOL. During dinner, "N" is sitting next to me, and seems to catch that I might be a little disappointed. I am a little. I didn't get to see all the sights, I have to leave after dinner, and I am going to miss the parade. She says that I just can't leave without seeing everything so she is going to take me around before I leave and that is final. OK, happy mood, again. (Yes, I am moody - LOL)
We get the manager of the restaurant to take our group picture. Of course, he has to do this with everybody's camera. We are posing as he takes one with each and every camera. I am still seeing spots from all the flashes. LOL. After dinner, everyone is heading back to Church Street. We say our goodbyes, and me and my new best friend, "N", take off for a quickie QAF tour of Toronto. She lives in the area so she goes to most of the on-location filmings and knows where everything is. This girl is good!!! I am on cloud nine.
Mikey's apartment. It looks a lot more run down in real life than it does on the show. And again, the real thing is much smaller. I am standing in front of it, and I can clearly see Emmett and Mikey standing outside talking about the trick that followed them home in 101. I can also see Mikey, Ben, and Hunter coming out the front door to ride bikes, and the confrontation with Hunter's mom on the sidewalk in 314. When Hunter runs off and gets to the fence in 314 and then sits on the steps for their talk. The fence is gone. The steps are there. This is actually the steps out of the subway station. Too cool. I can look down the street and see the shops that are in the background when Mikey chases away the kids that vandalized the jeep in 101. It's all there.
The odd building. Remember in 101, when Brian and Mikey are driving down the street after dropping Justin off at St. James, and Brian is screaming "f*gg*t" and they come to a kind of fork in the road and there is this weird looking narrow building? Well, it's there. I saw it.
The park. The gazebo where Ethan was playing and Brian came up and gave him the line about "There's nothing noble about being poor" in 305.
The gym. Again, the small thing. It just amazes me. The gym looks so much bigger on the show. But yes, the front is all windows and the exercise bikes and stair steppers were right there. Every gym scene on the show flashed before my eyes.
Brian's loft. Well, well, well. I don't know why, but I got weak in the knees. How stupid is that? I can see Brian running out the door after Justin in 102 when he gave him his "I don't do love" speech. I just never wanted to leave that spot. My feet were firmly planted. I can't explain it. They don't film at that site anymore because a restaurant opened next door to this building and put up awnings. They refuse to remove the awnings during filming, so that's why. You can see the awnings on the front of the building in the picture. Too sad really. Because, like I said, this is the place where I felt the show the most. It wasn't the diner like I thought it would be. Maybe I am just hopeless when it comes to Brian. No, I take that back, I know I am. Geesh!! I felt giddy. Why? You ask. Because....I was at Brian's loft!!! Really. Besides 1/2 the gay men in Pittsburgh...who can say that?? I really didn't want to leave that spot. LOL
We ended the tour there because I was supposed to be on the road by 8:00, and it is now 9. Whoops! I am going to be in so much trouble. I drop my new friend off back at Church Street and I head for the highway.
Still no CD player. Damn! Then the Check Engine light comes on. Cripes! What now? This is a new car. Gimme a break. I pull into a gas station. Check the oil. Fine. Check the radiator. Fine. I don't know what else to do, so being a girl, I shrug my shoulders and get back on the highway. I got a cell phone and AAA, so all is good. Well luckily it was.
I get to the border and I remember mister cute blonde guy that didn't even ask for my ID when I entered Canada. I am thinking that the US inspectors will be more thorough so I get my Driver's License out. It is now 1:00am. There is a small wait to get through the checkpoint to go over the bridge. I pull up. Older guy, not cute. I can hear him just fine. LOL. What is your citizenship? United States. Where did you go? Toronto. Did you bring anything back with you? Yes. T-Shirts. OK, have a nice night. WTF??? No ID, again. Can anybody just waltz right into this country? I am amazed.
But I made it home, safe and sound. Totally exhausted. And just beaming. It was short, but I met a lot of great people and made some life-long friends, hopefully, and got to see some cool places. I had a great time. And that, folks, was my trip to Toronto. Enjoy the pictures. BTW - the CD player still doesn't work, but the Check Engine light didn't come on today, so beats me. Even my car is moody, I guess.
