Ron and Nancy took Tail of the Dragon on the road once again to the 2009 Toronto Motorcycle Show in December. This was our fourth year at the show and it still is one of our favorites. The crowds were good even with a big snowstorm to the north.

A live stunt show was there too. The Globe of Death drew big crowds.

Back once again was Mark Nash with his birds of prey from the Canadian Peregrine Foundation. This organization is dedicated to the preservation, rehabilitation and conservation of these amazing birds. Seeing the wide variety of birds close-up reveals their natural beauty.

We missed the now defunct fashion show and so did many other attendees. This had been one of the highlights for Ron in previous years, especially the bikini models.

All the major manufacturers were there with the new models for 2010. There were a lot of battery powered scoots this year as everyone is "going green".

Before and after the show we explored what we could of downtown Toronto. The first night we returned to Elephant and Castle Pub and Restaurant on King Street for dinner. We were disappointed as the fish and chips were no where near as good as they had been. Even worse they no longer served Brazilian Brahma Beer. All things must change.

We always stay at the InterContinental Hotel, the host hotel for the motorcycle show. It is convenient in that we don’t have to go outside to get to the show. It’s about a mile walk with some ten escalators, but you stay out of the snow and freezing temps. The rooms are expansive and offer great views of downtown Toronto. We always make use of the pool and hot tub in the spa.

We made a return to the St. Lawrence Market at Front and Jarvis Street, a half mile walk from the hotel and worth every step. This phenomenal sensory treat literally offers a food to suit everyone’s taste ….. no matter where you are from. We walked in at opening time on Friday (8:00 am) and just about had the place to ourselves. We spent over an hour before having to get back to the show. We could have spent all morning in this place.

Since 1901 the two level market has been famous for its variety of fresh vegetables, fruits, meats, fish, grains, baked goods, and cheeses.

The numerous meat markets sell everything from kangaroo meat to Ukrainian kobassa; from pheasants to quail; from buffalo to musk ox; from ostrich to wild rabbit. We watched the making of fresh crepes at one stall.

The fish markets sell everything from live crabs and oysters to gigantic shrimp; from fresh tuna steaks to Arctic char; from swordfish to snapper; from frog legs to squid; from crab legs to mussels of all types.

The cheese shops have such variety that we didn’t know where to begin. We chose a gourmet Stilton and a Sage Derby. Both were excellent.

The bakeries will take your breath away with bagels, cookies, European breads, Swiss chocolate truffles, cheesecakes, and anything else you have ever heard of. We chose a wonderfully light double boule sourdough that when we got home turned out to be the best pan fried bread we have ever had.

The fruit and vegetable shops had the freshest and widest selection of produce. Nancy stocked-up on fruits to snack on.

Nancy and I once again wished we had a kitchen in the hotel room. We could have had gourmet meals every day with the selections from the market. As it was we had to settle for some fruits, cheeses, deli meats and bread to take back for snacks.

And there are many specialty shops of interest. We paid another visit to Kozlik’s Canadian Mustard Shop with hundreds of varieties and bought another bottle of XXX Hot …. WOW; the St. Lawrence Smoke Shop; Aren’t We Sweet chocolate and candy store; Honey World (most from New Zealand); A Bisket A Basket jellies and jams; Organic Sprouts and Shoots; and craft shops offering unique creations from around the world.

We had a Breakfast on a Bun at the Carousel Restaurant. This Toronto tradition has thick slices of pea-meal bacon, fried egg, and melted cheese on a bun. The pea-meal bacon is actually cured pork loin coated with cornmeal and then sliced thick and fried. One of these popular sandwiches was enough for both of us.

We returned to the market on Saturday at 7:00 am and it was bustling with people even at that hour. There were lines at every store. Shoppers of every age were stocking-up for the week. Most of them had little strollers packed with food. Others struggled with half a dozen plastic bags looking like gastronomical Santas. It was difficult to find a seat at one of the many tables to eat our pea-meal breakfast sandwich.

Nancy and I both commented on how great it would be to have such a market nearby. But then we are deeply attached to our “out in the woods” style of life which we wouldn’t trade for anything on a permanent basis. It is great to visit places like the Florida Keys and Toronto, but where we live is what we find most to our liking.

We did encounter a couple of bumps in the road. Entering Canada we had all of our documnetation in place and in the past had never had anything more than a short questioning. This time after ten minutes of questioning at the booth we were directed into the open air parking area, told to get out of our car and stand in front in 10 degree weather. After ten minutes of additional questioning by officers who could not understand what a motorcycle show was all about, they thoroughly searched our car for twenty minutes. Then we had to enter the Customs Building and answer another twenty questions. Perhaps all of this was because when asked if I had ever been arrested I answered "yes, when I was sixteen I was arrested for running a red light."

Reentering the US was nearly as trying. Once again the officer at the booth could not quite understand why we were in Canada for a motorcycle show. Then he wanted to charge us $9.75 for advertising in Canada. The US must be in terrible shape if they need to charge for something like that. Here we are trying to promote tourism in the US and we get a hard time. He angrily told us that "we were now in the system and would be charged each year." I had to poke Nancy to be quiet as I could hear her ready to tell him that we wouldn't be back next year.

We can well understand security at the borders, but this was a little much going both ways.