Day 5 was the reason I went on vacation, as I was celebrating my birthday. This year I turned 30, but as everyone says, it’s just a number.

I started the day off by liberally applying sunscreen to prepare for the day. It sure was a scorcher. It was forecasted to be the first 30°C, which equivaltes to 86°F. I had a second golf course picked out to play, Glen Cedars, but didn’t book a tee time. When I walked in the clubhouse, I was informed they were hosting a large tournament, so they could not accomodate me. I asked if they could suggest another course, and they told me about Deer Creek, so I decided to go there instead.

http://www.golfdeercreek.com/

I’m actually glad it worked out this way. Deer Creek is a beautiful championship course. They have 2 courses, totaling 45 holes. As I got to the first tee, there were 2 others getting ready to tee off as well, and they invited me to join them. I soon found out that one of them, Dave, had been working at the club for 15 years, and the other, Chris, was the local club pro. They’re both excellent golfers. Dave is an 8 handicap, and Chris has his Pro card. I couldn’t have asked for better company. Sure it was a little intimidating to play with such good golfers, but they were very friendly, fun to talk to, and it was invaluable to have someone who knew the course layout. Chris also gave me a pointer about my chipping, which I’ll take with me. It was like having my own caddy and personal instructor. At the end of the round, they told me to go back to the clubhouse and tell them it’s my birthday, and they would refund the cost of my round. That was a great blessing, as I paid $87 with the cart.

As far as my score itself, I didn’t hit the ball too well the first few holes, so I decided not to keep score. It definitely got better, though. I got par on a few holes, one being the hardest hole on the course. I also chipped in for a birdie, so I’m happy with that.

For my evening, I made reservations at the 360 restaurant in the CN Tower. The tower itself is one of the Seven Wonders of the World, and is the world’s tallest tower at 1,815ft and 5 inches. The restaurant itself is at 1,151 feet.

Going up to the restaurant, they ask to take your photo for a memory. The photographer was using Nikon gear, as I do, so I asked a question about their flash, and they had no idea how to answer me. Not impressed.

When I got inside the restaurant, the maitre d’ went to seat me, but didn’t know where my reserved table was. He talked to other staff only to find out that my table didn’t actually exist. Oops. We joked about it, saying it’s probably on the roof. They found me another table to sit at, and I was hoping that I’d get a table facing the skyscrapers below. As I sat down, I realized that I was moving. The restaurant itself rotates, so everyone can get a view of the whole city, hence the name 360. That was pretty cool. My waiter apologized to me about the mix-up and said that dessert would be on the house. I also got free coffee.

Happy Birthday to me!

It was relaxing to have a window view of the whole city, and the wait staff was always on top of things, if I needed a drink refill or was done with part of the meal. My waiter was quite talkative, and gave me suggestions on places to go, not knowing that it was my last night in Toronto.

The food is expensive, but I enjoyed my meal. They offer bread to start with, and I had an oyster appetizer, a pork tenderloin with baked poatato over greens for the main meal, and butterscotch budino (like pudding) with stewed rhubarb. This was topped off with a strong roast of coffee. The waiter wanted to make sure I enjoyed everything, and while it was good, in all honestly, I think I liked the chimichanga from Lone Star’s better.

Going back down the elevator, I stopped at the observation deck. There’s also a small glass floor, which looks down on the Rogers Center, home of the Toronto Blue Jays. The stadium was open, and a game was in progress. Talk about a birds’ eye view!

It was now time to head back to the hotel, get out of the sun, and turn in for the night. Thank you again to everyone for all the wonderful birthday wishes. I had a great time.

360 · birdie · birthday · budino · butterscotch · cn tower · creek · deer · downtown · free · golf · gps · oysters · par · pork · potato · restaurant · rhubarb · skyline · skyscraper · sunscreen · tenderloin · toronto