A cup of Tim’s and a pack of Trident. Trip Advisor, the world’s largest travel site, this week announced the winners of its inaugural Travelers’ Choice Awards for Travel Favourites in Canada. The awards honour top brands in various categories, ranging from favourite lip balm to favourite camera, and there were 21 winners in Canada. I’m happy to say I agree wholeheartedly on the coffee, as folks chose Tim Hortons as their favourite spot. I love a latte at Starbucks, but the regular coffee is way too much for me and I much prefer Tim’s. I also like that Canadians Read more
September 2013
We all know that it’s generally cheaper to fly to our favourite destinations from nearby American airports. A new study shows us just how much cheaper. The folks at cheapflights.ca looked at flights in August of this year to some of our favourite places, such as Los Angeles, Montreal, Miami, London and Bangkok, and compared prices from Canadian airports versus ones near the Canada-U.S. border. It’s a big area to cover but it’s fascinating – and surprising – stuff. Topping the affordability index was Bellingham, Washington, with an average ticket price of $316. Next was Kelowna (surprised a Canadian airport Read more
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND – Dave Wilmer, the owner of the Inn at Bay Fortune, is credited by many as being the guy who, along with chef Michael Smith, turned PEI from food afterthought to food sensation. His inn is great; with nice, warm and large rooms, most with fireplaces. And it sits on a pretty stretch of property overlooking a large bay, with big trees and a big lawn and large gardens ablaze with orange and yellow nasturtiums, pink sedum and other flowers. I learned later why the nasturtiums when a group of them arrived on my charcuterie plate at Read more
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND – I love it. The first (well maybe not, but close enough) road sign I see on my first trip here in 16 years gives me the distance to the nearest town. Below that is a blue and white saying with an arrow pointing north and the words “Liquor Store, 13 km.” Now THAT’s what I call a good tourism concept. In all seriousness, I had a great first day on the island. I got an 8 a.m. ferry with Northumberland Ferries Ltd. and was heading to Montague, PEI by 9:45 or so. It was windy as Read more
ON THE CABOT TRAIL IN CAPE BRETON – It’s like going back to your high school reunion and finding that sweetheart from grade nine even prettier than you remembered. I drove the Cabot Trail once before. But it was with three kids and my wife in a mini-van maybe 16 years ago. They’ve since changed, of course, as kids do, but at the time I remember them looking at my wife and I as we drove along beautiful beaches and high sea cliffs and thinking we were crazy. “We’re not view people,” my daughter said, or words to that effect, Read more
