In July Mary and I celebrated our 20th anniversary a little in advance. We made it a family vacation to the spot where she said, "yes."
The
Stratford Festival is a special place on its own but for us it holds even more significance now that we brought the boys with us. It was fun to show them all our spots and bring them to a couple plays.
These photos were taken at our dinner the first night.
We ate well and talked all night. The boys are an absolute pleasure to talk with and they tolerate our stories of
previous Stratford adventures.
Not to mention stories about how we met, the proposal, and other family history. Below is a shot of our hands with mood rings on them at
Tom Patterson Island. It was the exact spot I asked Mary for her hand (get it, because a photo of our hands).
A panoramic shot of the bench the boys owe their lives to!
Jack almost fell off that tree.
A family selfie with my unusually harry arm, as Luke said.
The first play we saw was
Monty Python's Spamalot. It was so good. The boys loved it. We had box seats right above the stage so there was no one else around us.
Below was the stage for
Much Ado About Nothing.
Every theater is unique. There are
four small theaters.
Mary found the best AirBNB ever. The photos don't do it justice. Below is the main room off the kitchen. And Luke's bedroom. Jack had his own room with a door. Very unfair.
Speaking of Jack, here he is in the Kitchen.
Our room which overlooked the Lake with Tom Patterson Island.
And the sink in our room.
A shot of Luke at the Tom Patterson Theater (
fun article).
What the!?
Mary playing around in a gift shop.
Another dinner. This time at the same restaurant we went to 10 years ago,
Pazzo Pizzeria.
The food was excellent but the company was better. Man, we've come a long way.
Ah, Luke!
Still amenable to having his photo taken...
...but sometimes its just too much. That ruler, by the way, was in a box of things like games and toys that came with the AirBnB.
We visited various shops like
MacLeods.
The boys did not want to take those hats home.
Of course I brought the bike.
Below is a shot halfway up the stairs to the AirBnB. See the white steps? It's a timeline about Stratford!
Spinning past a theatre in town. I went after a number of segments. No KOMs but a lot of top 6 results.
Not far outside of Stratford there is a lot of farmland. Every other road seemed to be paved (well paved and smooth!) while the rest were gravel. My road bike does not like gravel.
Another restaurant we visited
10 years ago but this time it was more fun because the boys were with us.
The art festival is always fun.
Below are some amazing robots. One of this prompted the boys to want Spam. So, we got some and ate it. I'm not sure they want it again.
This little guy was always watching us.
It was so much fun, even more enjoyable with the boys.
