The week that I've been home has been incredibly long and exhausting after having to jump back into school and other responsibilities. I forced myself to suspend the excitement of my trip (with much difficulty) to focus on midterms. But now that they are finished (whoo hoo!), I can finally reminisce upon and share my experience!!
Please be aware that I've taken measures to ensure my photos are not stolen or shared without my permission. Feel free to share the url of this blog, but do not repost my photos. Thanks!!
Please be aware that I've taken measures to ensure my photos are not stolen or shared without my permission. Feel free to share the url of this blog, but do not repost my photos. Thanks!!
Sunday to Tuesday
On Sunday I discovered that the Alpine Hotel was close to where I was staying. Unfortunately the windows are boarded up, but I'm glad I got to see it before it gets torn down. Also, since it was only my second day in TO, I was pretty excited to make this my first "RB-related" sighting!
(Please Note: for all "location photos", the small superimposed photos are screenshots. I take no credit for them, they are merely to draw parallels between my location photos and the show. All non-screenshots were taken by me.)
(Please Note: for all "location photos", the small superimposed photos are screenshots. I take no credit for them, they are merely to draw parallels between my location photos and the show. All non-screenshots were taken by me.)
On Monday, I ventured downtown and found 51 Division (the exterior of "15 division"). Needless to say, I was VERY pleased!!!
My aunt and I also did some shopping and went to the Distillery District. Overall, a great day made better by seeing such a key Rookie Blue location!
Tuesday was glamorous.... I studied all day. Though, I didn't accomplished much; in fact "studied" is a bit deceptive since I was also watching my Rookie Blue DVDs... but I WAS on vacation! :p In hindsight, I'm glad I had a quiet day because the rest of my trip was pretty crazy, in the best way possible . . .
Tuesday was glamorous.... I studied all day. Though, I didn't accomplished much; in fact "studied" is a bit deceptive since I was also watching my Rookie Blue DVDs... but I WAS on vacation! :p In hindsight, I'm glad I had a quiet day because the rest of my trip was pretty crazy, in the best way possible . . .
Wednesday
To be honest, I didn't go into Wednesday with much optimism. I knew I still had to wait another day until the other fans I was meeting arrived in TO and there was no word on where RB was filming. The result: I went on an outing with my aunt & bought myself some "cheddar bunnies" - they're like fish crackers but exponentially more fantastic. I'm only bringing them up because they are amazing and I feel the need to share that with as many people as possible. Also, I like bunnies. And snacking. So they were pretty much made for me. But I digress.
After I was replenished in the animal shaped snack department, I got word about where RB was filming! So, I hopped on a couple buses, met an incredibly kind bus driver, walked for 10 minutes and ta da... I was at Cherry Beach!
After I was replenished in the animal shaped snack department, I got word about where RB was filming! So, I hopped on a couple buses, met an incredibly kind bus driver, walked for 10 minutes and ta da... I was at Cherry Beach!
All told, I was so tickled that I hadn't gotten myself ridiculously lost, that I almost missed this sign:
Obviously, once I got my priorities figured out, I was mind numbingly excited that I'd actually found them. At this point I want to stop and add some perspective to my flailing... 3 months ago I had the idea for the RBfam project and somewhere along the way I made it my mission to create the best scrapbook I possibly could and bring it to the Rookie Blue team myself. This meant more printing, cutting, gluing, scrapbook store visits, late nights and paper cuts than I can count. So, after 4 days in Toronto, no guarantees, and a very real possibility of me lugging the book back home, seeing that little torn sign was a fantastic relief!!
I was still too far to see much at this point; there were two cruisers but as I was zonked out in front of that sign (doing internal happy dances) they drove away so I didn't get pictures. I arrived in the late afternoon and it looked like they were packing up. I was absolutely terrified of getting in the way so I kept my distance and sat at a picnic table. Finally, I remembered I'm a well spoken young adult (who is currently organizing a city-wide event for crying out loud - Thrill The World, check if there's an event in your city, you won't regret it! :p) I seriously needed to snap out of my funk... so I quashed the fangirl behavior and then things went swimmingly!
Although I saw a few cast members leaving, I didn't want to bother them. I did meet one of the extras, who was in uniform, and I spoke to a crew member (who looked at the fanbook!). Both of them were lovely people and I'm so grateful that they took the time to chat with me! I was also shocked at how fascinated I am by the behind-the-scenes aspect; maybe it's just because I love the show so much, but adding the other dimension and getting a real idea of how it gets on screen is so cool!
I left Cherry Beach feeling incredibly thankful! I didn't want to get my hopes up about my remaining days so I focused on how great my trip already was. Every Rookie Blue "experience" was amazing in its own right, so I would have been content going home had this day been the most that happened. It was awesome that I got to show the book to someone who has a hand in making Rookie Blue, and I think it's fitting that the first person who saw it wasn't a writer or a cast member, because it was made equally for absolutely everyone.
Something else from my brief on-location visit: even when I was being embarrassingly introverted, perched at that picnic table, everyone that walked past me smiled or said hi. It was obvious they were all involved in the show (going back and forth from vehicles, equipment, etc) and it blew my mind how nice everyone was! I realize it could have been a number of factors, but I still got the overwhelming vibe that everything I've heard about the Rookie Blue crew is 150% true - everyone is awesome!!
I was still too far to see much at this point; there were two cruisers but as I was zonked out in front of that sign (doing internal happy dances) they drove away so I didn't get pictures. I arrived in the late afternoon and it looked like they were packing up. I was absolutely terrified of getting in the way so I kept my distance and sat at a picnic table. Finally, I remembered I'm a well spoken young adult (who is currently organizing a city-wide event for crying out loud - Thrill The World, check if there's an event in your city, you won't regret it! :p) I seriously needed to snap out of my funk... so I quashed the fangirl behavior and then things went swimmingly!
Although I saw a few cast members leaving, I didn't want to bother them. I did meet one of the extras, who was in uniform, and I spoke to a crew member (who looked at the fanbook!). Both of them were lovely people and I'm so grateful that they took the time to chat with me! I was also shocked at how fascinated I am by the behind-the-scenes aspect; maybe it's just because I love the show so much, but adding the other dimension and getting a real idea of how it gets on screen is so cool!
I left Cherry Beach feeling incredibly thankful! I didn't want to get my hopes up about my remaining days so I focused on how great my trip already was. Every Rookie Blue "experience" was amazing in its own right, so I would have been content going home had this day been the most that happened. It was awesome that I got to show the book to someone who has a hand in making Rookie Blue, and I think it's fitting that the first person who saw it wasn't a writer or a cast member, because it was made equally for absolutely everyone.
Something else from my brief on-location visit: even when I was being embarrassingly introverted, perched at that picnic table, everyone that walked past me smiled or said hi. It was obvious they were all involved in the show (going back and forth from vehicles, equipment, etc) and it blew my mind how nice everyone was! I realize it could have been a number of factors, but I still got the overwhelming vibe that everything I've heard about the Rookie Blue crew is 150% true - everyone is awesome!!
Thursday
A very watered down version of Thursday's shenanigans can be found here. Since I'm explaining my trip in chronological order, I apologize for repetition of that initial post.
This was the day I had been waiting for!!! The group of us fans who had coordinated our trips were (almost) all in Toronto! @sillygyrl8 picked me up bright and early and we headed over to their hotel to meet @vixenali81 and svugirl! And thus began our "Rookie Blue Locations Adventure" (we didn't call it that, I completely made that up.... :p)
This was the day I had been waiting for!!! The group of us fans who had coordinated our trips were (almost) all in Toronto! @sillygyrl8 picked me up bright and early and we headed over to their hotel to meet @vixenali81 and svugirl! And thus began our "Rookie Blue Locations Adventure" (we didn't call it that, I completely made that up.... :p)
Thursday afternoon saw the group of us venturing downtown where we heard RB was filming. We caught a glimpse of Matty, and later of Missy, and got pictures with the cruiser & Sam's truck!
We stuck around long enough to see them set up for the scene with Sam and Andy in the truck (same scene from the video that Ben tweeted). But we had to leave to pick up the 5th member of the RBfam Gang: @tatum197903!!!!! Awesome RB-inside-jokes ensued....
My favourite reaction was from an man waiting next to us at Arrivals while I was holding the sign... I saw him mouth "dummy" as he read it then he looked up at me and scowled. I completely understand that out of context we seemed rude but thankfully @tatum197903 understood and appreciated our gesture! (And when we told the cast we met the next day, they got a kick out of it too).
After a long day of watching filming from afar, (and freezing my toes after the sun went down), we were in desperate need of a break and food!
My favourite reaction was from an man waiting next to us at Arrivals while I was holding the sign... I saw him mouth "dummy" as he read it then he looked up at me and scowled. I completely understand that out of context we seemed rude but thankfully @tatum197903 understood and appreciated our gesture! (And when we told the cast we met the next day, they got a kick out of it too).
After a long day of watching filming from afar, (and freezing my toes after the sun went down), we were in desperate need of a break and food!
You may notice that group pictures only have 4 of us and I keep referring to the 5 members of the RBfam gang... I promise I can count! svugirl wants to remain anon, therefore she was the photographer for most of our group pictures.
After dinner, what was supposed to be @sillygyrl and I dropping off the others at their hotel rapidly became the best RBparty (so far...)!! We got out the laptops, fired up the fanfic, showed off our various RB desktop images/phone screensavers/etc and talked until 1am. For most of us, fandom activities rarely happen with real people. Therefore, having others to share it will, who all have such a strong appreciation of the show, was an incredible experience! It's also one of the many reasons why I miss those girls SO much now!
After dinner, what was supposed to be @sillygyrl and I dropping off the others at their hotel rapidly became the best RBparty (so far...)!! We got out the laptops, fired up the fanfic, showed off our various RB desktop images/phone screensavers/etc and talked until 1am. For most of us, fandom activities rarely happen with real people. Therefore, having others to share it will, who all have such a strong appreciation of the show, was an incredible experience! It's also one of the many reasons why I miss those girls SO much now!
Friday
Oh. My. God. What a day!!!! It seems the resounding theme of my trip was: just when I thought it couldn't get better... it did! To avoid the flailing that will most definitely happen if I let it, I'm going to outline the day as concisely as possible. Please don't mistake that for lack of excitement, because it was one of the most spectacularly unforgettable days of my life so far.
We met Ben first and he chatted with us for a while. He also looked at the fanbook in detail and had wonderful things to say about it, which was an incredible compliment!!!
We met Ben first and he chatted with us for a while. He also looked at the fanbook in detail and had wonderful things to say about it, which was an incredible compliment!!!
Then, we were able to meet Tassie very briefly and I gave her the fanbook. It was great to see her reaction and I'm so glad she likes it! My goal from the get go was to make sure Tassie got the book so she could then share it with everyone else. But I never expected I'd be able to give it to her myself, (because I totally appreciate how busy she is)! So, the fact she was able to meet us and receive the book was... beyond words. I can't thank her enough for that opportunity, and the wonderful things she's tweeted about the book absolutely warm my heart!
The rest of the day was comprised of lots of standing around, but it went by so quickly because we met cast and other fans came and went. As far as fans, I met @StarryDreamer01, @dubbcee, @areyoutrue & @Bobbycad. Once again, I was blown away by how amazing everyone is! I am so proud of our fandom, and I consider myself lucky to be part of such an incredible group of people!!!! Meeting the other fans and feeling that unique sense of community was one of the best aspects of my trip!
The rest of the day was comprised of lots of standing around, but it went by so quickly because we met cast and other fans came and went. As far as fans, I met @StarryDreamer01, @dubbcee, @areyoutrue & @Bobbycad. Once again, I was blown away by how amazing everyone is! I am so proud of our fandom, and I consider myself lucky to be part of such an incredible group of people!!!! Meeting the other fans and feeling that unique sense of community was one of the best aspects of my trip!
In order (at various points in the afternoon) we met: Charlotte, David Wellington, Matt, Rachael, Greg, Peter, Mel, and Missy. (We saw Priscilla on Friday and I saw Enuka on Wednesday, but didn't meet them). At the risk of sounding like a broken record: everyone was SO NICE!!!! Matt and Charlotte even came back more than once to chat with us! They are all very down to earth, easy to talk to, and to seeing them interact with one another it's clear why the show works so well: they really are like a family. That, paired with our "fan family" gathering and getting to know one another, resulted in a day abundant in warm fuzzies!!!!
But it wasn't over! Myself, @sillygyrl8, @vixenali81, @tatum197903, svugirl, @areyoutrue, @dubbcee, @StarryDreamer, and Lilie Mae went for dinner. Even after an eventful, exhausting day the food held very little of my attention. I can honestly say I have never had so much fun with a group of people I had only officially met a day (or less) before! :p
Once we said our goodbyes to the extended group, @sillygyrl8, @vixenali81, @tatum197903, svugirl and I headed back to the hotel for our last hurrah, so to speak. It was the last night in Toronto for @vixenali81's and I, so we had to make it count! We all got pretty giddy (I fell off a bed...), after some experiments with the camera timer function we took a lot of ridiculous pictures, and just enjoyed hanging out before we had to return to "real life".
As can be expected when meeting people you've only known online, I think we were all a bit nervous going into this trip but it really was great! Anything negative was vastly outweighed by what a great time I had and the lasting friendships I made!!!
As can be expected when meeting people you've only known online, I think we were all a bit nervous going into this trip but it really was great! Anything negative was vastly outweighed by what a great time I had and the lasting friendships I made!!!
In conclusion, I couldn't have had a better trip! Even my wildest dreams didn't come close to the actual experience, and it's all thanks to the people I met: cast, crew & fans!!! I am honored to be part of the Rookie Blue Family and my unwavering support for the show is even more steadfast after this trip than before. I'm so excited for Season 4, and although the wait is long, I'm in great company!!
The following are some random Toronto photos and a few larger versions of the embedded photos above. If anyone from the trip has photos of me or ones they'd like to share, let me know and I'll add them to this slideshow.