Canoe & Paddle's New Patio Is Built On AstroTurf The Toronto Blue Jays Won World Series On

It’s not often—or ever—that you get the chance to eat delicious pub food on a patio in the Kawarthas that sits on AstroTurf that the Toronto Blue Jays won the 1993 World Series on. But that opportunity is now on deck at Lakefield’s Canoe & Paddle, whose new patio sits atop some of the old turf that is such a huge piece of Canadian sports history.

Indeed, the Canoe & Paddle were lucky enough to secure some of the old AstroTurf that the Toronto Blue Jays won the World Series on at SkyDome (now Roger’s Centre) on Joe Carter’s dramatic walk-off home run in Game 6 in ‘93, giving the Jays back-to-back World Series titles.

Photo courtesy Canoe & Paddle

Photo courtesy Canoe & Paddle

Jake Exton from Canoe & Paddle is at bat, and tells PTBOCanada the backstory behind it:

“It was a chance conversation about three years ago with Ian Knott from Indian Rubber Tire Shop in Buckhorn. He built an indoor baseball and lacrosse training centre at his business. He was a pitcher in the U.S., and had contacts within the business. He bought four rolls of AstroTurf when the SkyDome switched the surface in 1994. I remembered him talking about it about three years ago, and on the announcement that we would be able to expand our patios, I made a call and found he still had two rolls—which he was happy to sell to us!”

Photo courtesy Canoe & Paddle

Photo courtesy Canoe & Paddle

They built the patio within a day, not quite as long as it took to build SkyDome, and the response has been fantastic to eating on the turf—a field of dreams, if you will.

”People love the history behind it and love telling us their stories of watching the game on TV or being there live to watch it happen,” Exton tells PTBOCanada.

Yep, to say they knocked this one out of the park would be an understatement.


And for those that forget…

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