The Travelodge on Hespeler Road is two star (1.4 more on the internet) with no pretensions.
I can't say that I saw much of the area, and my memories are vague as it was a celebratory trip eight years ago. Langdon Hall was picturesque and over The Grand River from us from over the water. We had a merry time there and it was why we went, to Dan and Janeen's wedding, but Langdon Hall is not the place that bruised me.
Back to the Travelodge then, because that's where I met her.
We were in Canada!
The bar was Ali's Bar and Buffalo Kitchen. Everyone had wings there. It was like being in heaven. Unless you're into horns.
The families were here, the invitees were here. Some from the UK, some from the USA.
There was one guy at the bar who was actually from there. He was pissed. I spoke to him for a minute whilst we drank three beers in sink. I was busy telling him that I met his 'brother' in a bar on Obispo in Havana. That guy was a killing machine who hated Amerikeen, he hated us too until I showed an Irish passport. We had no fight though, he didn't want to know about white troubles. We watched some more UFC. We tipped some more beer into our mouths to shut our clowns.
She walked in.
I'd been told by Dan that she was a loud New Yorker. I got introduced and I did all the talking. I made sarcastic comments. I danced. I peacocked around with no memory of how to make it seem like no one previous there. How can I make it so? Without seeming so simple and stupid. I wasn't thinking she was into me no what she hated what does it matter. I made more comments.
What I got got was, "You are an asshole!"
I'd never been called an asshole by an American. It tickled me. Arsehole yes, but... Until tomorrow.
We sat in the back of a car on a road trip to Niagara. She was driving. I got to get over myself and look at her for a whole fifty minutes.
We were all glad for the stop and the view of the Falls but the second car with the in laws hadn't arrived.
It was dramatic. The view. We shared that.
We went for something to eat at the Hard Rock. We all sat down and toyed with menus. I couldn't stop looking at her. She must have thought I was an intense creep. I shut myself down. I didn't even order a drink.
The other car showed up and family crashed in. There was so much distraction with the talk of traffic and wrong turns, right routes, that I could slip away without attention. It wasn't my day.
I looked at the guy in the mirror that I disliked and told him something that I've never told anyone, "You are a dick" I said, "But I still like you."
When I walked back there was a happy table there full of family getting ready for a wedding. She was looking at me though, she was staring at me.