A few summers later, however, we drove up to Seattle and then took the ferry to Vancouver. As a firm believer in what’s now called American exceptionalism, I was prepared to scoff at Canada’s puny might. Nonetheless, Vancouver turned out to be pretty cool.
Similarly, in 1994, I flew on business from home in Chicago to Toronto. The main difference between the two greatest Great Lake cities appeared to be that most people in Toronto drove in the daytime with their headlights on as if headed to a national funeral. (Had Wayne Gretzky died?)
This is not to say that Canada is boring…
