The True North Strong and Free

Ahhh, Canada. Land of beavers, maple syrup, moose, snow, loonies and toonies. Oh, and also home of Toronto, with awesome neighborhoods, great beer, tasty food, and friendly people. This past weekend I took a quick trip to America's hat to visit with friends, ride some coasters, and enjoy summer on the 44th parallel.

What better course of action shortly after landing than getting some local beer? We went to the Indie Alehouse, which had awesome beer and food. My IPA was fantastic. We made a quick stop at Bellwoods Brewery for another beer before bed.

Awesome beer at Indie Ale House

Drinking beer al fresco at Bellwoods Brewery

On Saturday we had a nice easy-going day, with breakfast, a quick driving tour around Mississauga, a stroll around the Port Credit neighborhood, yummy Pakistani roti and mangos, and a trip to the Distillery District. At the Mill St Brewery I fulfilled the requirement to eat poutine while visiting Canada. I also bought some awesome chocolate from Soma.

Two crazy condo towers in downtown Mississauga

Strolling in Port Credit, where the Credit River flows into Lake Ontario

So patriotic!

The remains of the roti

Someone broke down in the distillery district

Mmm, beer...

Cheers!

Liz and Nav are in awe of their charcuterie

Another IPA? Yes please

Liz's dog Parker. I think she remembered me!

Me with Parker in 2006 on Liz's Ikea chair

DORK ALERT! I usually don't give  much detail about my amusement park visits on this blog, but I want to share my thoughts on a few of Canada's Wonderland's rides. So skip this part if you're not a roller coaster fan.

I had an awesome time at the park with Brad, Andrew, and Jason. We bought Fast Lane Plus wristbands, which allowed us to skip the lines on most of the rides in the park. That gave us plenty of time to ride everything, have multiple rides on our favorites, and even time to leave the park for lunch. I highly recommend Fast Lane Plus if you're visiting the park on even a slightly busy day. My thoughts on a few of the coasters:

Leviathan - This monster coaster is tall, fast, and fun. It's easily my favorite B&M hypercoaster. The first drop is incredible, and the third hill, which is a twisting bunny hop, is awesome. We took full advantage of our wristbands and rode this sucker about 7 times in the last hour before the park closed. I still prefer Millennium Force, but Leviathan is a world-class coaster and makes my top 10 steel coasters.

Behemoth - Another good B&M hyperoaster. It may seem odd that the park has both Behemoth and Leviathan, but they're really quite different rides. I liked Behemoth a lot, but I prefer some other B&M hypers, like Goliath at Six Flags over Georgia and Nitro at Six Flags Great Adventure. It's still a great ride, with some good airtime and a powerful turn-around.

Vortex - This is the best Arrow suspended coaster I've been on. It's fast, intense, and has some insane swinging action (even in the final brakes). It really makes me wish I had the chance to ride Eagle's Fortress at Everland before it closed.

Skyrider - Ahh, Togo stand-up coasters. In Mitch's steel coaster poll, Skyrider ranks 316 out of only 365 entries, putting it almost in the bottom tenth. It has uncomfortable restraints, slow loading procedures, and a few jarring turns. But here's the thing - I love this ride. It's fantastic. The airtime on the two hills is phenomenal, the loop is intense and smooth, and the final bunny hops are insane. If it weren't for the bizarre rib-cage restraints and the roughness encountered in the helix and final turn, this honestly could be a top 10 coaster for me. The airtime is just *that good*. I'm not sure why the other Togo standups (for instance, at King's Dominion) aren't as good. So if you visit Wonderland, give Skyrider a chance, and ride in the front row!

Overall Canada's Wonderland is one of the best parks in the Cedar Fair chain. They could use a good woodie or a launched looper to complete their collection, but it's already a well-rounded park with something for everyone.

Front entrance of the park

Andrew and Brad in front of the mountain and fountains 

Snoopy!

Leviathan flies past the parking lot

Behemoth's beautiful parabolic hills

Swings!

Leviathan has a pretty cool sign

Fountains at night

I hope to visit Toronto again soon with David. Liz and Nav were awesome hosts, and it truly is one of North America's great cities. In conclusion, Canadian accents are adorable.