I heard (through painstaking Google research) that Brampton was once home to a famously deplorable jail that spent most of its life stuffed to twice its capacity with Brampton's favourite criminals: "vagrants". (Is vagrancy still a crime? What about laziness? I hope not.)

Not all of Peel County's "guests" have been underachievers, however. Black Panthers co-founder and all-around handsome dude Huey P. Newton spent five days here after being arrested in 1977 on his way home from a three-year exile in Cuba. Newton withstood a lot in his life, but apparently Peel County was too much for him; he complained that the jail was far worse than anything he'd seen in third-world Cuba.

Heading out to Brampton to visit the jail was exciting for me because a) jails and historical things are sweet and b) this would be my first trip ever to Brampton, a place that is famous for many things, like Indian culture and Michael Cera. I had a feeling Brampton would be a gold mine of interesting stuff for future editions of this column, and it definitely didn't disappoint.

Though Canada's oldest will always have my heart, Christie's Methodist Cemetery in the L'Amoreaux part of Scarborough at Warden and Finch, in the middle of Bridlewood Mall's parking lot and surrounded by cars (which, the management says, are wont to run into the monuments from time to time), definitely takes the cake for most novel.

Ever since I heard about the wild Godgasms going down at the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship, first through Peter Mettler's 2002 documentary Gambling, Gods and LSD, and then again on Law and Order: SVU, I knew I had to visit the church myself one day. As a tourist.

Through the 1990s, people flocked (and bleated) from all over the world to the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship to be a part something known as "The Toronto Blessing," which is what the British characterized a series of mysterious events taking place in a church in Mississauga, namely ecstatic experiential "encounters" with the Holy Spirit. Things like "holy laughter," barking, whooping, flailing about on the floor (the actual term is to be "slain in the Spirit"), and so on.

Hoping for a little Sunday morning action, my pal and I took the bus from Kipling station to Pearson Airport, and then another bus (the 58 Malton) a few minutes further to the global headquarters of the TACF for their 10am service.

Streetsville is a glimmering little snow globe sitting in the middle of Mississauga. Who knew? Stepford and quaint, this place just might be the farthest we can get from Toronto without covering much physical distance.

To get there my friend and I took the GO bus ($6.50 from Union Station) and from the Streetsville stop headed for Queen St. South, Streetsville's main drag ("Street_ville", we joked, as it appeared to be the only one). The strip was lined with gems: dozens of family-owned shops and services, many housed in heritage buildings, each brimming with a kind of charm I usually associate with beauty pageants.

"Where the f*** are we? We should do this more often," said my travel partner, setting the tone and ethos of GTA Tripping.

In a town called Pickering, about 45 minutes East of Toronto, there's a small blustery hill near the lake topped with weatherworn wooden poles. Featured on these poles are mystical figures, known as Wood Imps, carved in relief. This hilltop is called the Area of Serenity and it overlooks one of the world's largest nuclear power stations.