Time for first B&M trip?

[JoeyT]

I started playing poker this past summer, and haven't made a trip to a b&m yet. I've been playing online on Paradise for 5 months, and have made $800 playing .50/1.00 and some 1/2. A few buddies and I were going to head up this weekend after finals (I'm a college student) to Toronto to screw around before winter break. A while back there was a post about poker in Canada, and Casino Rama and some place in Port Perry came up. I saw Casino Rama has 4/8 games (so about 2.5/5 USD I believe), and am pretty excited to head up and finally get to play in a cardroom. Naturally, I have a few questions.

1) Is this even a good idea? I figure I have to get some real table experience at SOME point, but I'm wondering if this is the time to do it. I've read a lot of 2+2 books, and feel I learn something new every session I play online. Obviously I'd prefer a lower limit b/c I'm new to the game, and, as a college student, don't have a huge bank account, but is this limit OK to play for a weekend?

2) What kind of game should I expect? I see posts every now and then saying that 1/2 online poker is pretty tough compared to the lowest limits in cardrooms. How true is this? I'm getting better at adjusting to opponents skills, but I wonder how I'll do b/c it'll be such a new environment... I might get caught up in trying to take everything in. Are there any major adjustments that I need to make?

3) Has anyone ever played up there? Are the tables usually full? I'm not much of a shorthanded player yet, and struggle when the table gets down below 7 people.

4) Is there ANY other advice anyone can give for my first trip?

Sorry this was a bit long. I suppose I'm a bit overexcited at the idea of finally playing in a cardroom.

Thanks so much. I look forward to advice and information.