Former home of Gooderham and Worts Distillery, the Distillery District is a mixed use 13-acre district of restaurants, shops, and housing in heritage buildings dating back to 1832. Architects did an excellent job converting the whiskey distillery, and it’s a nice place to walk around and hang out on a sunny day.

(For all photos, click on the image for a full screen view.)

I’m not much into shoes, mainly because my AAA foot width and even narrower heal makes it difficult to find shoes to fit. I’ll bet I own less shoes than most women. I just did a Copilot AI search, and multiple surveys have the average American women owning about 19 pairs of shoes, with some surveys reporting 27 pairs. That lower number of 19 is still double what I own, and Bruce owns even less.

So, why would we go to a shoe museum? Besides the four-and-a half-star rating on Trip Advisor, Bruce suggested it might be fun to see. Curious, we tied the laces up on our running shoes (the only shoes that fit me well and are comfortable), and off we went to Bata Shoe Museum. It was fun; we got a kick out of it!

In 2020, Canadian footwear designer Aurora James and founder of her own footwear and accessories brand, Brother Vellies, turned to cowboy boots after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade guaranteeing reproductive rights. For her “My Body My Choice” collection, she reimagined her Doodle Boots leveraging the long history of incorporating narrative into cowboy boot design. She launched them in 2023 on International Women’s Day. Good on her!

Another enjoyable activity for us when traveling to any city is visiting public parks, gardens, and conservatories. We walked over to Allan Gardens from our hotel and meandered around its 16,000 square foot conservatory, which was quite nice.

Next up: TERRIFIC TORONTO #5: WALKING THE WATERFRONT & A CAPTIVATING CRUISE