Travels with Tish Girlfriends’ Getaway Guide

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Toronto definitely fills unique shopping needs. Queen’s Way West (West of Spadina) had a wealth of fabric, button and bead shops. People in that area must really sew! Seems like good fabric stores in the U.S. are gone and we’re left only with marginal fabric chains. I also noticed a number of milliners in Toronto. Hats are very much in fashion and they have not abandoned the practice of shopping at millinery shops.

La Cache and Roots. It was a delightful surprise to run across a Roots store at Spadina and Queen’s Way West. Very nice merchandise. Saw some trendy flat purses (called Roots Flats) that I loved — about $108 for a mid-size version. You’ll find a number of Roots stores around the city. LaCache was another terrific find and practically next door to Roots. All the merchandise is based on the designs of April Cornell — a contemporary of Laura Ashley. Her designs are for women, children, the home — focusing on natural fibers, pretty designs, and comfort in clothing. Plus everything seemed affordable. She had a spectacular collection of baby christening gowns — most around $99. Lovely little girls’ coat/hat/dress outfits — most with a matching dollie (an April Cornell original). Her table linens were lovely and I purchased a nice luncheon tablecloth and napkins in a lively rooster print on black fabric. Roots and LaCache were our two “finds” of the trip.

Vintage. Shoes. We found plenty of vintage design shops around Toronto — clothing, purses, jewelry. One we had time to stop in was Shoppe d’Or at 18 Cumberland. Very fun. I had The Shoe company on Yonge Street on my list of “to do’s” but would not recommend you bother with it. Not quite the caliber of store I thought it would be. But if you’re interested in shoes, you might enjoy the Bata Shoe Museum on Bloor near Spadina. Footwear fashion throughout history. We didn’t have time to stop, but it was a fairly large building and looked interesting. Many antique shops are located around Bloor and Avenue Road.

More Shopping. The large department stores are around Blooor and Yonge — an area you might want to consider for your hotel as it is close to many things. Holt Renfrew is there as well as Hudson’s Bay Company and you’ll find most of the top designer shops there as well. Hold Renfrew is absoutely elegant to browse, if only browse. Spacious, elegant, a real treat to wander through.

Entertainment. Toronto has much more to offer beyond shopping. Art galleries, museums, historic sites, top entertainment. We only had time for one venue and we chose The Reservoir Lounge. It’s a swing/jazz and blues bar with light meals as an option. Very laid back, low key, down a few steps from the street. It’s said that a number of celebrities stop by when they’re in town, including Nick Nolte, Peter O’Toole, Rod Stewart and Tom Jones. The Reservoir is small and intimate and a terrific way to spend an evening in Toronto.

Getting to Toronto. Of course, I recommend Midwest Airlines (Midwest Connect). Two daily flights between Toronto and Milwaukee. A comfortable regional jet gets you there and back quickly — barely an hour each way as I recall. (You can connect to the Toronto flight on Midwest from many other cities.

Don’t forget to bring a passport. New regulations for air travel between U.S. and Canada require that you have a passport.

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We started out with an aggressive agenda. Queen’s West, Yorkville, Little Italy, Kensington Market, the Garment District, Bloor-Yorkville, Yonge Street. I wanted to be sure to visit Holt Renfrew and really wanted to get to the Holt Renfrew Last Call (outlet). Had some vintage stores on my list, a much-touted (on the Web at least) shoe markdown store and the Reservoir Lounge. All in two days! Every section of town held some fascination that we didn’t want to miss.

Garment District.
So like a whirlwind, we set out to the Garment District along Spadina Avenue between Dundas and Front Street. Along the way we ran across Dream Home Fashions at 215 Spadina. Very cool leather furniture and a large discounted linens & bedding section. I saw an awesome black leather futon in a Mies van der Rohe design. Just $650. If only it would have fit into my suitcase! I’m still thinking of making a return trip for that sofa/futon.

The Olde Hide House/Acton Leather Company is on King Street West, just off Spadina. Very nice styling in leather coats, blazers, jackets. Excellent quality. Reasonable prices. Also had a great selection of fine leather furniture. If you’re looking for a leather jacket that has gorgeous styling and color, don’t go to the mall. Try this store instead.

Little Italy.
Had lunch in Little Italy — north and west of the Garment District. College Avenue, some blocks west of Bathurst Street. Stopped at a nice little place called Vivoli at College and Beatrice. Woodfired pizza was a specialty. Our Margharita pizza had the most beautiful presentation I’ve ever seen on a pizza. As we were dining, the waiter told us they had just received word that they were voted Best Pizza by Toronto Life. I’d agree, it was the best and just $11.95.

NEXT: Fabric, Button, Bead and Hat Stores

TIPS:
1) Study the subway and streetcar routes. You can save a lot of walking. Because Toronto streets are designed in a grid system, it’s relatively easy to find your way around town. Streets with streetcar service: Spadina (N&S), King Street and Queen Street (E&W). The two main subway routes are the Yonge/University/Spadina route (N/S loop through the city) and the Bloor-Danforth route (E&W). We took the Yonge route south from Bloor street back to Union Station a few blocks from our harborfront hotel. Clean, quick, efficient.

• Airport Transit.
• Downtown Transit Map

2) PATH — Toronto’s Underground. PATH is the world’s largest underground walkway linking 27 kilometres of shopping, services and entertainment. Access the subway, traverse the city, shop, dine and be entertained by city-approved street musicians. (We only saw a small portion of PATH as we exited Holt-Renfrew. Looked like some very nice shops down there. Will explore it more on my next trip.)

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People have told me that Toronto is a lot like New York. Now that I’ve been there, I would dispute that comparison. I’d say instead that Toronto shares New York’s finest qualities — ethnic influences, great food, sophisticated shopping, bargain shopping, the arts and top-drawer entertainment. Plus it offers terrific transportation options for getting around town. It’s definitely a good destination for a girlfriends’ getaway.

Planning Your Days. We flew to Toronto on Midwest Airlines in barely more than an hour. Taking an early flight out and a late flight back, you can get in two full days of activities. But I have three recommendations: 1) Plan out where you want to go in the city; 2) Make a transportation plan; and 3) Wear extremely comfortable shoes.

I’ll give you tips on what we liked in Toronto and you can supplement that with info from the links I’ll provide. So it can be relatively easy to plan a getaway. Decide how much walking you want to do and then supplement it with Toronto’s streetcars or subway system — both easy to access. (We did plan out where we wanted to go and how we’d work our way around the city, but made the colossal mistake of setting out on foot and continuing on foot for most of the day! I underestimated the distances. It’s a big city and I think we covered most of it on foot!) Then again, you do get to enjoy the nuances of each neighborhood when you see it on foot.

A Hotel Bargain! As I checked out hotel rates before the trip, I thought about trying out Priceline. Never used it before for hotels as I usually want more control over the selection. But I went for it, specifying a 4-star hotel in downtown Toronto. I put in a bid of $85 — about a third of the going rate around town. And it bounced right back with the Westin Harbour Castle. Wow, couldn’t believe it. We got two nights for less than the normal price for one. And it was truly a splendid hotel. We got a mini-suite for that money, with two walls of windows overlooking Lake Ontario! The hotel had great amenities, including a coffee bar in the lobby and a luxurious open lounge off the lobby where you could enjoy a casual drink or something light to eat. The hotel was a regular stop for the airport bus as well.

NEXT: Kensington Market and Little Italy

TIP: Don’t be put off by pre-conceived notions about Canadian weather. Toronto is on par with the Midwest — it was in the fifties at home and about the same in Toronto.

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