Bryden's, Toronto, ON

After Gord and I left the Old Mill Inn Spa, we walked to Bloor West Village for supper.

We stopped at Bryden's ... we hadn't been there since December.

It's a good pub if you are into craft beer.

We both ordered the Chicken Parm Sangwich.

Gord got his with potato salad and no marinara sauce (he doesn't like tomatoes).  He said it was good.

I had mine with fries and no mushrooms or onions.  It was delicious!  I'd get it again.

 Our server was friendly and took good care of us.

Bryden's, Toronto, ON

Gord comes from a fairly big family of great uncles, great aunts, second cousins, etc. but he doesn't know them.

I had signed up to Ancestry.ca in the spring and then found some of his cousins on Facebook.

We met his first cousin, once removed, Bob, and Bob's partner, Frances, for drinks and supper this evening. Though Bob is Gord's father's first cousin, he is only three years older than Gord. They didn't even know about each other until a couple months ago.

We met them at Bryden's in Bloorwest Village.

There was a dog on the patio whose owner was inside having a drink.

It was fairly quiet when we got there but was packed as time went on.

Gord likes Bryden's because they have a good selection of craft beer.

We had a great time chatting with Bob and Frances, who we've never met before. Bob is a fountain of knowledge about their family. He talked about their cousins, who their cousins' parents were, etc. back in Newfoundland. He was amazing!

Here are Frances and Bob.

Here are Bob and Gord ... cousins!

And here we are ... Gord, me, Frances and Bob.

Gord had Nigel Benn's Auntie's Jerk Chicken Wrap (jerk seasoned chicken breast with a mango salsa in a whole-wheat wrap) and potato salad. He really liked the wrap but said the potato salad was bland.

I had hickory medium wings and spicy fries with cajun mayo, which were good.

Our servers took good care of us.

It was great to meet Bob and Frances. They are really nice and it was fun to hang with them.

Strolling along Bloor Street W

Gord and I went for a long walk today.

We started in Bloor West Village and headed west. He'd never really been in that area before ... I lived near there from 1996 to 2001. We took transit and got off at Runnymede subway.

When I lived in the area, this was the Runnymede Theatre and I've seen many movies there.

It closed in the late 1990s and there was quite the uproar when Chapters moved in. Happily they kept a lot of the interior intact. Gord had never been in it so we spent some time inside looking around.

We headed west and had a beer on the patio of A Dark Horse.

Here's Gord.

The patio is great for people watching on a Saturday afternoon. The service wasn't great, though. We ended up going inside for our own beer since we hadn't seen a server. When the server eventually did come out, she was abrupt and not very friendly.

We headed a couple blocks west and sat on the patio of Bryden's.

Time for supper! The couple next to us had a chicken parm sandwich and a hamburger that looked really good so that's what we ordered ... they were delicious!

The server was a lot friendlier and took good care of us. Gord especially liked it there because he likes unusual beer and they have a good selection.

Then we left Bloor West Village and headed west along Bloor Street W.

We came across The Old Sod. It looked interesting so we stopped for a drink.

Aside from a fella sitting at the bar drinking coolers and talking to the bartender about kids' movies, we were the only ones there. Kind of strange considering it was a Saturday evening. Needless to say, we didn't order a second drink.

We continued our trek west and came across the Henry VIII Ale House. It was hopping so we went in and sat the bar (and we lucky to get those stools!).

My pal, Yvette, had been driving by on her way home and saw us go in so stopped and came in for a chat (so nice of her!). Here are Gord and Yvette.

Here are me and Gord.

There was a really good vibe at this pub. And judging by the fact that it was packed with people waiting for tables, we weren't the only ones who thought so.

There was a woman eating wings at the end of the bar ... they looked good!

We headed west to Islington subway station to go home ... and stopped for one last drink at Orwell's Pub.

After the atmosphere of the Henry VIII, this was totally opposite. It is a brightly lit room with zero coziness. The server was friendly and the bartender was unengaged (she spent most of her time checking her cell phone for messages and yakkin' on the phone). There were quite a few people there ... it looks like a comfortable spot for locals.

We ended up walking just over 4km, discovering some new spots we'll probably go back to ... and some we won't.