Suhana Meharchand and Adam Vaughan Nobody knows Toronto better than the famous news duo.

WEEKENDS WITH THE KIDS?
travelterrific asks Toronto's famous news duo Suhana Meharchand and Adam Vaughan.
Nobody knows the city better

It was late on that chilly Friday evening when Suhana and Adam walked into the bar at Manoir Richelieu, where we sat imbibing Quebecois cheer in front of a roaring fireplace in the historic hotel, set high in the wooded bluffs overlooking the mouth of the St. Lawrence River.

"Hey! I know you two,' I said. "You're in my kitchen every night while I prepare dinner." They laughed, immediately convivial, and joined us to chat. They knew that I meant: I see them on the CBC Evening News. Before long, we learned that this high profile couple - Suhana Meharchand, the articulate host-anchor, and Adam Vaughan, the scrupulous municipal reporter, both instantly recognizable fixtures back then on the CBC Evening News - were charmingly unpretentious and unabashedly sweet. And they were crazy about each other and their three children: Mariah, 8 (named after the song They Call the Wind Mariah), Acton, 7 (named after a street), and Mimi, 2 (named after Adam's grandmother). And they were delighted to be here, on their first weekend alone together in aeons. Saturday night they made a stunning entrance at the hotel's masquerade ball, she in a frothy ruby gown, he in a jet tux. Their magnetism for each other was palpable. When I said, "You look fabulous together," Suhana quipped, "That's because I'm with the love of my life, the light of my soul."

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That comment came to mind a couple of months later when I learned that Adam's father had died suddenly on New Year's eve. Colin Vaughan, one of Toronto's most respected reporters, had been CityTV's political specialist for 23 years, on a news show broadcast simultaneously as Adam's on CBC. Shortly after, Adam switched networks to fill his father's shoes at CityTV.

"I'm sleeping with the enemy now," Suhana said, clearly joking, when I called to see how she and Adam were doing, and if they - the couple who arguably know the ins and outs of Toronto better than anyone - would share their favorite weekend haunts for taking the kids. Truth is, both of them live such visibly packed lives, they relish their precious time together and they have no time to "talk news". If their shows compete for time, they race against time - squeezing out private moments together for their family.

Art Gallery of Ontario

"Put it this way," she jumped in on the extension, "I'm really enjoying this conversation with Adam. We should do this [interviews] more often. We could tell the kids: Be quiet we're on the phone." Finishing each other's thoughts, I realized, speaks volumes of their mutual exuberance.

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"Weekends are for our kids," said Suhana. " In summer we love to go to Queen Street for lunch at Le Select. That's the only place that serves duck on the Kids' Menu. Acton loves it roasted with orange jus." "Le Select is their introduction to boulevard life," Adam added. "The most sophisticated thing about this sophisticated restaurant is how respectful it treats children." "And they make great Shirley Temples." "And crème brulee, too." "That's the other reason we go there. Adam swears it makes the best crème brulee in the city. So we go. The kid gets duck. Adam gets crème brulee. I get the bill. "Later, we walk along Queen Street, always ending up at Miss Demeanours (a great store) to buy something fabulous for the girls." "They like lots of feathers, lots of shiny sequins and lots of things in pink."

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"The great thing about sailing is that two minutes away from the dock you are out of the city. When you're in the public eye, it gives you a little break from people who approach you with story ideas. Our funnest sailing trips are when we build an adventure into the destinations, like chasing pirate ships across the waterfront."
"Acton loves to see tall ships with his binoculars. He really believes in pirates. Please don't tell him there aren't any."
"Mimi loves the waves. We tie her onto the lifeline in a little harness. She bounces all over, rolling with laughter. And I've never seen a picture of Maria looking more relaxed than when she's on a sailboat."
Do you think that Centre Island is tacky?
"Sure, if you're thirty-seven, it's tacky. But when you're seven, it's incredible! All candy floss, caramel corn, and choochoo train rides," Suhana said.

"The islands are a wonderful part of the city," said Adam. "Part of Centre Island's charm is that it feels like a very small little town fair. You see the skyline, yet there's something about it that's not Toronto…something innocent. As simple as it is, it's kind of quaint."

And when it rains?
"We have a family membership at the AGO - the Art Gallery of Ontario. Rainy Sundays are wonderful for doing creative crafts there with the kids," said Suhana. "Mariah can happily do a craft for an hour. Mimi is good for about thirty seconds. Acton likes fairly complicated things, electronics, little wire mobiles."

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"Then we visit the general gallery. The kids get in front of one of those big paintings with lots of characters and freeze into a pose. We try to guess the character. It's lots of fun," added Adam. "I visited the gallery with my parents as a child. Art was something that you dealt with. In our family, art is something that you celebrate and live with. When the Art Gallery was remodeled with bright colors, it became that much more fun for kids."
"When we visited the [recent] Fairy drawings exhibit, our goal was to figure out which one was the tooth fairy," added Shuhana.
Do you always set goals for Sunday excursions? "Ha! No! We're too frantic. Our goal - always - is to get the kids out the door and remember all three of them."

Any other favorite diversions? "I'd say: the zoo," said Suhana. "But the kids would say: going to a ball game."
"One thing about living in Toronto is that it's easy to give kids the urban experience, it's hard to give them the rural experience," said Adam. "Toronto is so lucky because there are rural spots - like the sugar bush or strawberry fields - that are close enough to roll into a family experience that's literally still in the city.

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"Every spring we have our bookend flings. The first day of spring: to Horton's sugar shack in Stouffville when the sap runs. The last day to Strawberry Creek for strawberry picking...mmm…I mean eating. Suhana can pick four hundred strawberries in an hour, but there are none left when we get home."
"Don't believe him." The doyenne of the evening news laughed her inimitable laugh.
"Believe me. I have video proof." The political specialist alleged in his inimitable style.
"You're not haggling like enemies," I said, "You're just having fun with each other."
"Always! I am sleeping with the enemy. But he's the love of my life."

Details:
For information about things to do in Toronto with the kids, contact Tourism Toronto. Phone: 416-203-3807
Website: www.toronto.com

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