Toronto Bound

There's a Science Museum that i totally enjoyed...Ontario Science Centre.

I remember especially liking the electricity experiment where all of my hair stood on end. ;)

ASM! Too bad I'm not going to get to go this year! I don't have any suggestions, though. I have never been to Toronto.

I would like to suggest that you stop in at the Textile Museum of Canada. http://www.textilemuseum.ca/

When I was there in the fall they had a knitting exhibit up. But the whole museum is intersting.
There is also a dye shop (as in a place to buy dyes and fabric for dyeing) a couple of blocks away from it.

Also the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum) is nice.

Have a great time, Toronto is a cool city.

For an accurate description of Victoria day "celebarations", check here.
http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/archives/2006/05/23/got_a_twofour.html

Hospitals: some people might say Women's College Hospital or Mount Sinai, but I particularly enjoyed St Michael's. Twice. St Mike's is also slightly closer to where you'll be. (It's further downtown than the other two.)

The OSC is either a drive or a long transit ride away from downtown. The Royal Ontario Museum is closer, but because of the ongoing construction (of the new galleries, aka the giant crystalline entity crashing into the heritage building) not everything is open.

"How Canadians usually celebrate" the long weekend: they leave town and/or drink and/or have barbecues. I think there are fireworks somewhere in the city.

I wouldn't necessarily walk from your hotel to LK, but it's not far. Not coffee break far, though. Long lunch break far, considering that it is, after all, a yarn shop.

Food: name your price range and cuisine!

Kelly (marmalade.ca) recently posted a list of notable places to visit in toronto: http://www.marmalade.ca/?p=2586. What she has listed and linked there are primarily outdoor destinations. (Shopping here is like shopping in any other similarly sized city... although if you're minded to buy fabric, the textile district is lies between you and LK...)

Enjoy your trip to Toronto. Women's College Hospital isn't far from where you're staying (http://www.womenscollegehospital.ca/) and there are many other hospitals in the general area as well. The Royal Ontario Museum is a great way to spend an afternoon, or the Art Gallery of Ontario. Have fun!

Well I hope you won't need the hospital -- but I'm in the same boat (will be 24 weeks along when I go to California for our huge medical meeting -- I am taking phone numbers for UC Irvine and UCLA just in case!)

Good luck on your trip ... maybe the Harlot would meet you? Fun!!

It's museum construction season here, though -- the Art Gallery of Ontario is undergoing serious construction as well. Exhibits are seriously limited (although they did drop the admission price during construction). If you had to choose between the ROM and the AGO, I'd choose the ROM right now. However, this doesn't mean I'd pick the ROM over the Textile Museum!

Okay, one more thing: the dye shop Wendy mentioned:

http://gsdye.com/Canada/reach_us.html

Lettuce Knits is a quick bus ride from downtown & walk into Kensington, you'll love it, if you go that far it's worth popping back to Queens St. to Romni Yarns, although I find the huge stock a bit overwhelming & around Romni there are many fabric shops. I love the museums of Toronto & a fun one I'd add to the list is the Bata Shoe Museum, if you love a great breakfast & don't mind a wait, try The Senator across from the Canon theatre.

There are some amazing fabric stores in the fashion district (Queen St W of Spadina). There's also a beautiful ribbon store called Mokuba. As previously mentioned, I would take a cab or streetcar to Lettuce Knit.

I would also recommend a stop at St Lawrence Market and while you're there a restaurant called C'est What. Another nice restaurant is the Rivoli (not too far from your hotel). A nice place for an evening walk would be Harbourfront (http://www.harbourfrontcentre.com/noflash/frontpage.php)there are usually lots of things happening down there.

As for museums, I would suggest the Textile Museum and the Bata Shoe Museum - they are both very interesting and have excellent exhibits. I would stay away from the AGO this trip, the construction has limited the public to one gallery (I have personally found that their attempt to compress a whole museum into one gallery is disappointing and ineffective).

Good luck and be sure to tell us where you ended up when you get back!

Dude! You'll be right across the street from my office. If you're free on the Wednesday night you need to come to our Knit Night at LK. That's what makes the place really special to all of us. We were remarking on it last night actually. It's a wonderful, welcoming bunch of knitters.

Two hospitals close by, one is St. Michael's and one is Womens College. Both are great, Womens College in particular has top notch obstetrical staff. You must promise to keep my cell number handy at all times though so if you feel you need to go I can go with you. Promise. You're not spending time in a hospital in my city alone.

As for where to eat and what to see, there's too much to suggest in a comment. When you get the all clear from your doctor we can talk more.

This is very cool.

Can't help with Toronto, though I'm a bit envious of your visit because it looks beautiful. Good luck with the trade show, those are more exhausting than the travelling.

Your stars are amazing, you may just tempt me into learning to quilt yet.

Toronto is a great city. I was there a few years ago and broke my thumb at the Ontario Science Centre. It was great though. The ROM is also fun and we enjoyed the Hockey Hall of Fame (it was a family trip).

I liked the CN tower a lot. There is a rotating restaurant at the top, and the view is amazing. Plus, the glass floor is... quite interesting.

Wow, people have already listed a bunch of my recommendations (St. Lawrence Market, The Senator, the ROM). If you have some time off during the day, you should take the ferry over to Toronto Island. It's an amazing set of interconnected islands that are all parks, and there's a small amusement park there etc. It should be really packed for the long weekend, but would still probably be fun.

Also, of course get to Lettuce, but I think Romni is also worth a look. It's the biggest yarn store in Canada, and it's seriously huge. The staff are notoriously a bit crabby (especially compared to the lovely Megan at Lettuce!), and things are chaotically organized, but still. And it's on Queen Street West, which as people mentioned, is an amazing area full of fabric stores, bead stores, and other cool places. The ribbon store (I guess called Mokuba) yes yes yes!

As for hospitals - I would say Women's College. St. Mike's is a great hospital (I've worked there) but it's also the inner city hospital, and the ER can be..well..interesting.

I hope you have a great time in Toronto! wow, the Yarn Harlot's home! :o)
and I hope that you get the okay from the doctor's that all is okay with the little one.
can't wait to see what you get there and all the great pictures! :o)

That is great that you are coming into Toronto. Do you want a tour guide one evening? I would be happy to meet up with you!

People have already mentioned Romni, which is overwhelming and wonderful. I also like the Beaches area, just because I like walking up and down the beach and looking at the lake. I also like walking down Queen street and seeing all the different shops. Hope you have an awesome trip!

For a nice lunch, I would recommend Giant Empanadas on Kensington Avenue. It's in the neighbourhood of Kensington Market, which is a nice hide-away from the hustle and bustle of downtown. If you take the Spadina streetcar, get off before you hit College Street, and head west.

Although the hours are a little quirky, The Red Tea Box on Queen Street West is something I would also recommend. They serve a great tea, have lovely little snacks, and you can take some of their tea home. I recommend the hand scented Earl Grey.

Enjoy your time in Toronto!

You're coming to Canada - shame it's not Vancouver. Perhaps next time?

I hope you enjoy your visit here! I think all the normal sightseeing suggestions have been given. I always liked just walking around Toronto, seeing the architecture, and little shops. Mountain Equipment Co-op is a great shop. If you don't mind driving and have the time (ie--not on the weekend), Niagra Falls is not too far away. As for hospitals, one of the downtown hospitals is connected by underground tunnel to The Hospital for Sick Children ("Sick Kids"). That would be the one you'd want...but of course, I don't know which one it is, but they are set up for high risk labour/deliveries.
If you like Chinese food, The Mandarin buffets are great restaurants! Don't know if there's any downtown, but there is the subway. I hope you have a great visit!

I think most of my favorites have been mentioned, but if you have a yen to quilt with silks (my sister made some beautiful quilts with Sari silks), take the streetcar to Gerrard E. and check out Little India. You'll know when you get there. Have some curry for me if you go. It's never too early to feed your kid curry:-)

If your time is limited, I honestly wouldn't bother with the museums, especially if you're from Chicago! No offense to others who touted the AGO and the ROM, but... Museums are definitely not Toronto's strong point. But the fiber offerings are, and Lettuce Knit as well as Romni are must-sees. A new yarn store called Americo (http://www.americo.ca/about/index.html) on Queen West (cross street Augusta, I believe) is quite exquisite and worth your visit. The dye store mentioned above next to the AGO would be a must-see for you too. Most of the fabric stores are on Queen West, the same street that Romni and Americo are on. There're bead and notions stores galore too on Queen West.

I can't say that I've actually enjoyed any restaurants in Toronto for the food itself. Again, not the city's strong point, though there are lots and lots of restaurants. Lee's on King isn't bad for "contemporary" Asian on small dishes, and Le Select on Front is reliable Bistro fare.

If you were to concentrate most of your browsing on Queen West--which I recommend you do, for ease--there're lots of new restaurants that have cropped up, especially west of Bathurst. There's a "nouveau" Indian place, as well as new Korean, tapas and eastern European restaurants. There's a charming tea shop west of Romni called "Red Box Tea" that you might want to stop by.

I'd try to get to places by cab if I were you. Everything's walkable, but you won't have much time, and you are expecting!

I know the knitters at Lettuce Knit's SnB will be very eager to meet you and proud to show off their city to you. (I'm an ex-pat from the States and still don't view Toronto as home yet).

You can definitely spend an entire afternoon in Kensington, home of Lettuce. It's a pretty small area but there's a lot to see--besides LK, you can while away the hours poking around in the numerous vintage stores, looking at the cute boys in Cheese Magic (though the smell may be a bit...overwhelming. The smell of cheese, not boys), and wandering over to neighboring Chinatown, which is an experience in and of itself.

I know that the previous commenter mentioned Toronto's lack of cool museums, but I would actually say that the Textile Museum (where I used to volunteer and have visited a number of times) and the Bata Shoe Museum (both previously mentioned) are two of the neatest museums I've been to--they're small enough that you won't get overwhelmed, but the exhibits are always interesting.

Anyway, I am sure you'll enjoy TO; it's an awesome city!

If you can go to ROmni wools wow! and eat at Bar Italia on College...Yum... be sure to have the Anti-pasto plate to start.....

Have fun in TO

Oh yeah and a commenter above said go to Kensington market..... that's where lettuce knits is.

OH okay you really need to change your plans and stay till the 25th. The yarn harlot is having a represent party in Toronto... go check out her blog for the details.