It’s a touch late for booking that trip to Dublin or Galway (or anywhere else in Ireland) for St. Patrick’s Day. On the other hand, there are great locations right here in North America to go green come Monday. I can’t think of many better places than St. John’s, Newfoundland, which seems more Irish to me than parts of Ireland. They’ll be having a grand old time in town on Monday, for sure. Also awesome would be Cape Breton or Halifax in Nova Scotia, where you’ll find a serious Irish influence and great dancing and music. Of course, you could always Read more
Nova Scotia
ANTIGUA – I was clearly out of my league. It was my second day in Antigua, and I was on a driving tour of the south side of the island. I’d heard something about a yacht show in Falmouth harbour, but wasn’t quite prepared for what I found. I pulled my Toyota SUV into a parking area and walked towards a gate leading to the main harbour, where I was confronted by around 100 gleaming, white, monstrous (mostly) charter yachts. I had stumbled on the annual Antigua charter yacht show, held here in part because of the incredibly zig-zaggy protected Read more
CAPE BRETON, NOVA SCOTIA – I pulled into the Nova Scotia tourism centre on the tip of this island and got to chatting with a woman about my two-day visit. We talked about where I was going and what I was writing and where I should stop. And then she paused for a minute. “Have fun,” she said. “Do us proud.” No problem on that front, my dear. Short of landing in a hurricane, I can’t imagine anyone not having nice things to say about this slice of Canadian paradise. Over the course of a little more than 48 hours, Read more
Random Thoughts on the way to Cape Breton 1. I am SO THANKFUL for Sirius radio on a road trip. Give me the 60’s on (channel) 6 and I’m a happy, happy, happy guy. Okay, they play the occasional crap song but then I can switch to the 70’s on 7, as long as it’s not disco. Or the 80’s in a pinch, but not so much. Or, almost always, E Street Radio to hear Bruce Springsteen songs I don’t often hear, such as one the other day that was an outtake of Tenth Avenue Freeze Out with different lyrics Read more
HALIFAX – We all know about the harbour here; the tall ships and the Titanic connection and the seafaring history. We also see those pictures of the Citadel’s green, rolling hills and the beautiful clock tower. And we know Peggy’s Cove waits just a few minutes down the road, waiting to seduce yet more camera-toting visitors. (And a quick nod here to the 13th anniversary of the Swiss Air 111 flight departing from New York for Geneva, which crashed near Peggy’s Cove on this day in 1998; a very grim mark on an otherwise beautiful place). There are lots of Read more
