On a recent foray from Toronto to Buffalo, SwallowFood.com’s Ivy Knight attended the Taste of Buffalo, with a stopover to one of her favorite watering Elmwood Village holes (see here). As much as this is nothing new for Ivy these days – she appears to have taken to Buffalo – her sentiments of the day trip were similar to the emotions that I feel when I head to Toronto for the day:
Buffalo is one of my favourite road trip destinations because, after just a few hours* on the road, you arrive and it feels like you’ve gone much farther afield than you actually have. It seems worlds away from staid old Toronto, just walk into a convenience store and gaze in awe at the beverage coolers stacked with insanely cheap beer. That alone can make my eyes well up.
Toronto is one of the fastest growing cosmopolitan cities in North America and we are fortunate to have it so close. Where Ivy finds fortune in many of the places that that we take for granted, I find hidden (and not so hidden) treasures upon a visit to her hometown. To know, as Ivy knows, that upon a whim I can immerse myself in the delights of Queen Street East and West, the Saint Lawrence Market and the Distillery District, it’s empowering to have such an incredible city so close. Even though I don’t head to these destinations on our doorstep nearly as much as I should, it’s comforting knowing that they are there. I’m happy to hear that Ivy feels the same way about some of our own neighborhoods.
*Regarding a trip to Toronto, it’s only an hour and a half a way and if you plan it right you can usually avoid the traffic at the bridge and traffic once you get there. Photo: Swallow.com