Annual Trip to the EX

Today Raju and I went for our annual outing to the CNE.  He met me at work and we got there shortly after 5:00p.m.  We don't really do too much so the price of $5 after 5:00p.m. is perfect for us.  First stop as always is the food building.  It seems like there is less and less vendors every year however this year there were some new ones.  Raju has a favourite fish spot at St. Lawrence Market that he buys a grilled fish sandwich.  He was pleasantly surprised to see that they had a stall in the food building.  They are located right next to Epic Burger.  This is the place where they sell the donut burger amongst other weird concoctions.  I went to Mac and Cheesery as I only wanted something light.  I got a grilled cheese which came with a side of potato chips and a pop.  This cost me $10!!!!!  Highway robbery I tell you. That's the other thing I've noticed.  The price for food has gone way up.  Back in the day they had an A&P stall where we would stock up on apple pies for a fraction of the cost in the stores.  I also miss the mix and match chocolate/gum/candy booth.
After our small snack in the food building we headed over to the Rib fest area.  On our way we wandered through the arts and crafts building.  We got to the rib fest area, where Raju got some ribs and a beer while I enjoyed roast corn on the cob.  It was perfect.  I didn't feel like I overate.  Then it was time to head to the Direct Energy Building to peruse what we could shop for.  We stopped at Flowrider to see if Norm was riding the waves but no luck.  Along the way we passed Funnel Cake stands which I was very surprised with as I was convinced the CNE did not have them.  As I had just had mine at Buskerfest I didn't feel the need to have another one.
At the Direct Energy Centre I also felt like there wasn't as many vendors.  I sought out the U.K. stall to look for my shrimp chips.  They didn't have them this year but we got their card as they apparently have them in their store.  We didn't see anything fascinating to buy so we left empty handed.  As we headed out we stopped for Tiny Tom donuts.  We were at the Ex, so I got them but almost changed my mind when I saw the price.  $5.00/dozen!!!  What happened to the days of $2.50/dozen????
Oh well...what can you do?  I enjoyed the outing and look forward to it again next year.