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Saturday, June 15 8:00 a.m Why does that date sound so familiar? Oh yes, perhaps it’s because we headed out to Stratford a year ago on June 15. Only then, it was for a Friday-Saturday outing to see two plays. This time around, it’s back to our routine of visiting Stratford on Saturday-Sunday. Well, good morning. As you can surmise, I am up and doing some journal writing. The Missus is still sleeping and Jordana is in Oakville, doing whatever she is doing. Our plans are to eventually head out of here, make a detour in Oakvile and then proceed to Stratford. Of course, will keep you updated. Stay tuned. 10:45 a.m. That’s it, packed, car loaded and ready to ship out...destination Oakville. Time Factor Unknown It is taking us longer than expected to get to Oakville due to a traffic accident on Highway 407. The Bayview ramp was closed off so we took Highway 7 to Yonge Street. It too was closed off, so we went south on Yonge to Centre Street to Dufferin. From there, we got on Highway 407. We later found out a dump truck hit a pole and the driver was killed, resulting in police closing off the highway between Bathurst and Yonge. 12:30 p.m. We have finally arrived in Oakville and Jordana is waiting for us outside her apartment. 1:00 p.m. We are getting off the highway in Cambridge to find somewhere to have lunch. We figured that since we are on a fixed schedule this evening, we should stop now, as we are all getting hungry. 1:30 p.m. We just finished lunch at Harvey’s and heading back on the highway. 2:25 p.m. Greetings from Room 337, Arden Park Hotel. This year we have a large, beautiful room in the West Wing (not to be confused with the TV show). 3:50 p.m. In case you’re wondering (and why wouldn’t you), its rest time for the Rosens now. The long drive took a lot out of my foot and it’s quite sore. I slept for a bit and am now reading the Toronto Star, which we brought from home. Lisa has gone downstairs and Jordana is sleeping. Before all this though, Jordana gave me my birthday present, a gift certificate from LCBO. Very nice! 5:25 p.m. We’re changed and heading out for dinner and after that, we are going to see Tommy at the Avon Theatre. 11:25 p.m. Good evening. We got back to the hotel around 15 minutes ago, parked and ran into Paul and Amy in the parking lot (of course not literally). They had just returned from seeing a play with some friends. However, back to the start of the evening. We went to Gene’s for a delicious Chinese dinner. I dropped Lisa and Jordana off behind the restaurant in the parking lot. I had hoped to park there, but I guess I didn’t know what I was thinking, because the lot was full. Therefore, I drove over to the (free) municipal parking lot. After dinner, we went to Kitchen Connaisseur and made our usual annual purchase of BBQ sauce, jam and relish. Jordana also bought some BBQ sauce for her place. 
Then it was off to the theatre, but not before Jordana and I dropped off our purchases and my camera in the car.The play, actually a musical rock opera, was fantastic. So much of the music in Tommy is classic. It was a great first choice this year and everyone enjoyed the evening. Afterwards, we walked over to the Coffee Culture for dessert and refreshments. Yes, I know we usually go to Tim Horton’s after the play, but we noticed coming into Stratford that it was closed down and slated for demolition. We later found out that they are putting up a Walmart there. Then we briefly stopped at Shopper’s Drug Mart for supplies and returned to the hotel. I dropped Lisa off at the front entrance and Jordana and I went to park the car. By the time we returned, Lisa was talking to our cousins who are in Stratford from Friday to Sunday to see three plays. I said before that we had a nice room. Of course, the downside is that it’s in the same building where a wedding reception is being held on the first floor. So I have to remember – NO MORE WEST WING EVER! (That’s your job, dear journal to remind me). Anyways, enough for now. Good night and we will talk tomorrow. Sunday, June 16, 2013 8:30 a.m. Good morning (or is it?) I start this new day with a sore throat (which actually started yesterday morning) after tossing and turning all night and repeatedly wakening. It’s dull and overcast now and the ground is wet, so obviously it rained last night. So, will it be a good day? Only time will tell. In the meantime, I’m ready for whatever this new day has in store for me. 10:05 a.m. We’re back from breakfast. Like last year, we ate in the hotel restaurant. Unlike last year, this year’s meal was hot and delicious. Breakfast was full of surprises as Lisa gave me a father’s day gift card for Subway and Jordana gave me a gift card for Indigo/Chapters/Coles. What nice surprises. It is still raining out, but the coffee helped my throat a lot. 10:25 a.m. That’s it; we’re out of Arden Park Hotel for another year. 12:55 p.m. We are such creatures of habit, but enjoy ourselves nonetheless. After leaving the hotel, we went to the dollar store and then the mall. In the past, Sears has opened at 11:00, but their Sunday hours changed and we had to wait until noon to start shopping. So while waiting, we changed for the theatre. Once the stores opened, I bought a book with the gift card Jordana gave me, Jordana bought some clothes for work and Lisa and I bought a new clock for the dining room. So overall, we did quite well. After that, we grabbed a bite to eat in the food court and we are now heading off to the Festival Theatre to see The Three Musketeers. 5:00 p.m. The play is done and the weather is beautiful. I enjoyed the play, not as much as what we saw yesterday, but it was still entertaining. I think it could have used some pruning, as it was very long. We are now heading for dinner at Crabby Joe’s. 6:20 p.m. We have finished dinner, which Jordana described as “amazing.” It was very good though. Despite being very busy, we had great service and the food was delicious. 7:35 p.m. We have arrived at our first stop as this weekend getaway comes to an end. Lisa is helping Jordana take her stuff up to her apartment. 7:50 p.m. Heading out of Oakville towards our final destination. 8:30 p.m. Well, that’s it. Part 1 of Stratford 2013 has come to an end. We are home now. Will there be more to this journal this year. Stay tuned. Saturday, August 24 So here we are together again, ole' friend, on the final page of Stratford Journal 2013. To answer the question posed in June, yes there are always more journal entries. This one actually starts at 9:24 a.m. when the three of us left home, as Jordana came in last night. By 11:30 we arrived in Stratford, making good time most of the way. Our only holdup came along Highway 7/8, which was due to some traffic mishap, not a real fender bender, but more of something spilled along the road, blocking one of two lanes. By 11:45 we were at Dollarama, where Lisa and Jordana contribued to the local economy, while I remained in the car, resting a very sore foot. From there it was over to the mall, where we returned a clock we bought at Sears back in June. It was a case of liking it in the store, but not at home on our wall. I bought a book at Coles and then we had lunch in the mall before heading to Festival Theatre to see Fiddler on the Roof. The play was truly amazing and we all loved it. We all agreed it was the best play we saw this season. (Actually I would go further and say one of the best we have seen there in years.) After the play ended around 5 p.m., we decided to try out a new restaurant for dinner, Molly Bloom’s Irish Pub, which came highly recommended by my cousin, Barbara Salter. The food was very good and I would go back again. We left Stratford at 6:23 p.m. and arrived home, safe, sound and tired at 8:00 p.m. So another Stratford season comes to an end for the Rosen family. All being well, this will not be our last. They have already announced the lineup of plays for the 2014 season and it looks pretty good. However at this point, that is all in the future. We’ll live for now and whatever happens next year, will happen. So it's curtain down on Stratford 2013.
For a complete listing of Stratford plays seen over the years. go to Stratford Central.
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