From Fave Pics to Fabulous Food: My 2019 Jimmy Awards for Best in Travel

Favourite Sign: This one in the Cayman Islands. It’s particularly notable for folks in the travel writing world, as “off the beaten path” is one of those phrases most of us would like to see banned from every travel story. If only I could have found a street called “Hidden Gem.”

Most romantic sunrise: Sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco on the Norwegian Bliss on a TravelBrands SeaU cruise in October. I grew up in the Bay Area, so to see the bridge and sail under it like that was a big treat. I wish I had been more centred on the boat for a better photo, but it was still a moment I’ll never forget.

Most inventive cocktail: The Courtney Room at the Magnolia Hotel in Victoria B.C. is one of the country’s top restaurants and bars. For The Potion cocktail, they take a torch to a plank of cedar and let the smoke fill up a glass with a large ice cube, then pour in a mixture of sarsparilla-infused bourbon, Benedictine, Luxardo Maraschino, Taboo Absinthe from Okanagan, British Columbia and root beer bitters.

Favourite quote of the year: Carolyn Clark of Newport at Your Feet gave my wife and I a tour of Newport Beach’s harbour in a Duffy electric boat. “My husband says I drive the boat all the time, so it’s really Newport On Your Ass,” she said. Click HERE for a video.

Best buffet: The Sunday brunch buffet at Elmhirsts’ Resort on Rice Lake is insane. For $29.95 ($16.95 for kids) you get a staggering array of choices, including cooked-to-order omelettes, bacon, shrimp and other seafood, cheeses, carved roast beef, mashed potatoes, peameal bacon, pasta and salads. Not to mention probably two dozen types of dessert. It’s a lovely, family run resort with very good food and a pretty, lakeside setting. Unlike some resorts, all your activities are included in the price. Great people and a wonderful place to stay.

Best tacos: The duck a la orange confit tacos at Breakwater Café in Victoria are 10 points past amazing. They’re served with locally-raised duck, ancho chilies, cilantro, and tacos that take the Mexico-born chef something like 18 hours to make.

Best hotel remake: They did an astonishing job renovating the Royal York Hotel in downtown Toronto. The famous clock has been gussied up, and the Clockwork bar is a gem that’s done up in an Art Deco style. There’s terrific food at the new Reign Restaurant, as well.

Best morning photo: This one, at the Hotel Molokai in Hawaii. The wind picked up later, but the morning was as pure and calm as any I have witnessed.

Best animal encounter surprise: I had NO IDEA there were penguins in South Africa. But we were delighted to find a colony of them on the Cape of Good Hope. More adorable creatures you may never see. Click HERE for a video.

Coolest non-tourist bar: I told the folks in Victoria BC’s tourism office that I wanted to try a real locals place. They took me to a place called Wheelies, which is festooned with motorcycle movie posters and sells motorcycle gear. Happy hour cocktails and draught beer are just $5. Lots of fun. And VERY local.

Best Caribbean hotel: The Kimpton Seafire Resort + Spa is an elegant yet still comfortable spot on a great part of Seven Mile Beach on Grand Cayman. The food was to die for (the Sunday buffet is truly spectacular) and the rooms are wonderful. Amazing swimming pool complex and water sports, too.

Best Ottawa moment: Watching the fireworks show from across the Ottawa River in Gatineau during the annual Go Media sessions was a sensational experience.

Most beautiful city: Cape Town, South Africa. I was slayed by the beauty of this city. Table Mountain is amazing, and much more imposing than I had expected. The views from the top of the mountain go on just shy of forever, with great looks at not only the city but the Cape of Good Hope.

Best meal: La Toque is a Michelin star restaurant at the Westin Verasa Napa Hotel. We had a four-course food and wine pairing that was truly sensational, sampling everything from flaky John Dory fish to the best New York steak I’ve ever had. The wines were just as good, especially the Tokai dessert wine from Hungary.

Most surprising U.S. Hotel: I didn’t know what to expect at Fashion Island in Newport Beach, but I found it to be sleek and sophisticated. They had nice live music by the pool on our last night. A lovely cocktail bar, and great food, too.

Best pasta: The duck zittara at Nightingale in Vancouver is truly amazing. It’s a restaurant run by esteemed Canadian chef David Hawksworth, so it’s not a surprise to find great dishes like this. I also loved the pizza.

Best tour: The folks from Talaysay Tours gave me an Indigenous tour of Stanley Park in Vancouver, explaining how aboriginal Canadians used various plants for food, or to find water when they needed it. Terrific stuff, and very educational.

Best Chicago hotel discovery: I’d never stayed at the Loews in downtown Chicago, but it’s a beautiful property with a lovely lobby, cookies and snacks in the afternoon, nice rooms with big windows and a terrific restaurant, ETA.

Best water slide photo: I managed to get this guy in mid-flight on the Norwegian Bliss as we sailed along the coast of California.

Luckiest travel break (well, for me anyway): A fellow who was supposed to be with his wife in business class on my flight from JFK in New York to Johannesburg was denied boarding a South African Airways? Flight as he didn’t have two clear pages in his passport. I ended up with his seat. Not so good for him. But pretty lucky for me on a 16-hour flight.

Most enjoyable winery visit: Leto Cellars is a small winery in an industrial park near the Napa Airport. There’s no landscaping and no bubbling fountains. Instead, it’s all about the product. And the people. Brad and Lisa Warner are warm, welcoming and utterly unpretentious wine folks, despite decades in the business. (Brad Warner was a senior worker at Robert Mondavi for years). Wine tastings are $25, about the same as other places, but you’ll likely spend most of your time with either Brad or Lisa, which makes for both a tasty and very personal experience.

Best fried chicken: They make small fried chicken bites with smoked paprika at the Showcase Restaurant and Bar at the Marriott Pinnacle Centre in downtown Vancouver. Nice drinks, too.

Best Ottawa food discovery: It’s technically across the border in Quebec, but Soif Wine Bar has great food and an amazing selection of wines.

Best drink: The Italian Mojito at Ciccio in Yountville (Napa Valley), California. It’s made with gin, lemonade and muddled basil. Sensational.

Best wildlife encounter: They weren’t terribly active (okay, they were damned near asleep) but our guides at Kambaku River Sands in South Africa got us with 10 meters or so of a pride of lions.

Best new Toronto restaurant: Chotto Matte has amazing Asian-influenced food and drinks, as well as one of the most inventive interiors of any restaurant in the city.

Best small town discovery: Millbrook, Ontario is a charming town south of Peterborough. The Pastry Peddler makes a variety of great pastries and soups and sandwiches from around the world, while Joseph the Barber is an intriguing guy who likes to play music on loudspeakers over the sidewalk. Towns folks and visitors have been known to start dancing in public when a nice tune comes on.

Best scones: Saveur restaurant in Victoria, B.C. They’re flaky and unforgettable.

Most amazing winery visit: Newton Winery sits at the top of a steep hill in the Napa Valley and features a combination of British and Chinese design (Peter Newton, who started the winery, was from England, and his wife was from China). They make sensational Chardonnay (not oaky or buttery; just clean and fresh) and rich but not overly fruity Cabernet Sauvignon.

Best people photo: This one, showing Tuddie Purdy of Purdy’s Macadamia Nut Farm on the Hawaiian island of Molokai.

Best San Francisco moment: Visiting Alcatraz for the first time since I was about 17 years old. The Alcatraz Cruise folks do a fantastic job and you get a real sense of the dreadful conditions prisoners experienced here.

Best dessert: The 1918 Shipwreck Apple Barge at Table Rock Restaurant in Niagara Falls is insanely good, with warm, cinnamon-dusted Spy apples, raisins, vanilla gelato and Chantilly cream in a phyllo pastry shell.

Best theatre experience: Teatro Zinzanni in Chicago puts on a show called, “Love, Chaos and Dinner.” It’s a a wild, rollicking, musical, sexy, dance-filled, athletic, gut-splittingly funny and wildly entertaining production. Look for everything from singing and dancing to inventive gymnastics, not to mention risqué comedy, singing priests, beheaded Barbie dolls and a bit of ping pong ball spitting. The leader of the troupe is a wildly entertaining fellow with an over-supply of makeup and a wonderful way with audience improv. The three-hour show takes place under a giant big top inside a Chicago office building.

Most spiritual moment: A TIE. I was sitting on a bench at the Wavecrest Condos on the Hawaiian island of Molokai late one night, thinking about my family’s love for Hawaii and our times together on Maui, which is just a few miles away and is clearly visible from Molokai. Just as I was thinking about our family times on Maui a shooting star tumbled out of the sky and dropped straight towards west Maui, where we gathered for so many years. I got the chills (the Hawaiians call it chicken skin) something fierce. The NEXT DAY I was on the Kalauapapa Peninsula getting a tour with the outgoing, musical Rick Schonely. He stopped to play a Hawaiian song on his ukulele as he stood on a dreamy piece of land overlooking the ocean where lepers had been cast aside for decades. Just as he finished, an older gentleman from Georgia with a drawl as thick as cold maple syrup asked if he could play and sing “You Are My Sunshine.” The man joined in with Schonely to sing a magical duet that was utterly surreal and decidedly amazing.

Best sports weekend: The folks from Le Germain at Maple Leaf Square had us down to watch the Raptors play in the playoffs while we watched from one of their suites high above the square. It’s a very cool way to experience the game, with great food and drinks.

Most beautiful wine region: I had no idea Franschhoek and the Winelands of South Africa were so beautiful. The vineyards are lovely, but I didn’t know they were surrounded by such large, rugged mountains. Great wine, and amazing scenery.

Best boat photo: I love the soft light on this tug boat outside Victoria B.C., a shot I took on the Norwegian Bliss early one morning.

Most surprising art spot: Zim Art Rice Lake Gallery is a wonderful garden spot filled with Zimbabwean stone art in the tiny municipality of Bailieboro, south of Peterborough. The art is scattered around a couple of small fields at the end of a dirt road, so don’t worry if your GPS seems to be sending you on a wild goose chase. Definitely unexpected, and decidedly beautiful.

Most surprising meal: Monneaux at Franschhoek Country House and Villas in South Africa. Chef Calvin Metior does amazing work that’s worthy of a one or even a two-star Michelin restaurant. A spectacular talent. And very reasonable prices for such a fine meal.

Top “Why Did it Take Me So Long” Trip: A quick jaunt to Deerhurst Resort outside Huntsville. I hadn’t been for 30 or 40 years, but I loved the new units and views at their Lakeside Lodge.

Best desert experience: The folks at Desert Adventures Red Jeep Tours in Palm Springs gave us a sensational tour of desert oases along the San Andreas Fault.

Best boat ride: A sunset cruise on Lanai, organized by the Four Seasons Resort Lanai. The cliffs on the southwest coast of the island are gorgeous, and seldom seen by visitors.

Best Toronto musical moment: Two young women who by the name of the Command Sisters put on an amazing show at a Brand USA musical event at the Sheraton Centre Hotel in Toronto. I’d love to see them play some time.

Favourite New California Beach: Crystal Cove is a beauty in the Newport Beach area.

Best Island Discovery: Little Cayman Island is a low-key delight, with only a couple of roads and a handful of independent resorts. Most folks come here for the diving but I loved the old school feel of the place and the lack of pretense. Bonus: If you arrive early for your flight back to Grand Cayman, you can check in at the tiny airport and then walk to the Hungry Iguana Restaurant at Paradise Villas resort a few feet away and have a cold beer on the patio overlooking the beach. It might be the best “airport lounge” you’ll ever see. And you won’t have to pay $50 for the privilege.

Most memorable family meal: Other than Thanksgiving at my Dad’s, our favourite was when my wife and I had a dinner at Citrus and Palm at the Miramonte Indian Wells Resort near Palm Springs. The chef does a great job with a variety of foods. His great beans are amazing, with peanuts, crispy pancetta, chile yuzu glaze, fried shallots, mint and Thai basil.

Most inventive restaurant menu: Chef Joel Harrington does marvellous things at the Lanai City Bar and Grille at Hotel Lanai in Hawaii. One dish I tried this summer had ahi tuna with pop rocks candy and shoyu. Very inventive. And a very passionate chef.

Best Toronto dish of the year: At Momofoku Kojin (attached to the Shangrila Hotel) Tita’s Mash was a potato dish with eggs, Quebec cheese curds and gouda in a small pan that’s slightly crispy and charred on top. We also loved the Drew’s Grass Fed Butter with spiced honey and the amazing steak.

Best rooftop bar: The rooftop bar at London House in Chicago is definitely the place to see and be seen in The Windy City (which is less windy than Toronto, I’m told, but that’s another story). You’re way up high, overlooking the Chicago River, the Wrigley Building and other iconic buildings. The rooftop details of the hotel are worth a look of their own, with tons of beautifully carved stone and other architectural details we don’t see enough of in this modern age.

Most elegant hotel: The Lotte Palace in New York City is a stunner. From the magical courtyard entrance to the understated rooms and quiet, efficient service, this is one of the best hotels I’ve stayed at anywhere.

Favourite new hotel: The Fenway Hotel in Dunedin, Florida opened a little more than a year ago in an historic building that used to house the area’s first radio station. They do a great job of playing up the radio angle, with things like cymbals mounted on the wall and live music in the lobby at times. The rooftop bar is one of the best places in town to have a drink and catch the sunset. I had an amazing meal of local bison when I was there earlier this year. Plus, it’s almost time for Blue Jays spring training, which takes place a couple blocks from the hotel.

Best photo of a woman with a cookie on her forehead: I shot this during my SeaU Cruise with TravelBrands on board the Norwegian Bliss cruise ship.

Best city tour: I had a great tour of Brooklyn food, drink and art spots (and rooftop view places) in January. Sheli Baez escorted my wife and I around Brooklyn on a New York Times Journeys visit; a program based on the newspaper’s popular “36 Hours In” travel section stories, where readers are given a guide for the perfect day and-a-half in great destinations around the world. The New York Times Journeys are run by Urban Adventures, which is part of Intrepid Travel.

Most surprising US meal: We had amazing food, including delicious “Southwest-style cioppino” as part of the Wine Me/Dine Me dining program at SWB Restaurant at the Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort and Spa at Gainey Ranch.

Best pizza: The Fico Pizza at Craft 64 in Scottsdale, Arizona comes with fig sauce, arugula, prosciutto, house-made mozzarella, ricotta, parmesan and truffle oil.

Favourite New California Town: Carlsbad is a lovely beach town on the coast between San Diego and Orange County. It’s got a great, walkable downtown and fabulous food. We loved our stay at the Beach Terrace Inn, a stylish spot right on the water.

Best volunteer effort: I only helped for a few minutes, but I loved seeing the work that the folks at Molokai Land Trust are doing to get ride of invasive kiawe trees and restore some of this island’s natural beauty. These people are amazing.

Best coffee: Black Salt Mocha Coffee at Finns Barista Bar and Snack Shop in Panama City Beach.
Emptiest Beach: I was on Papohaku Beach on Molokai on a bright, sunny morning in July this year. It’s a five-kilometer long beach and there were maybe four other people on the entire stretch of glorious sand.

Craziest dessert: The Strawberry Red Velvet Cream Cake Showstopper at Hotel Valley Ho in Scottsdale; part milkshake and part cake. Hardly any calories, either.

Best Family Hotel: The Omni Rancho Las Palmas Resort and Spa in Rancho Mirage is hands-down the best family-friendly hotel I’ve stayed at in my half-dozen-or-so visits to the Palm Spring area.

Cutest animal moment: Running into this baby elephant on our South Africa safari, which was organized by Goway Travel in Toronto.

Best English Muffins: Oprah Winfrey swears by the fresh-made English Muffins at Model Bakery in Napa. They’re completely unlike the ones you get at the grocery store with the nooks and crannies. Delicious.

Best sports moment: This has nothing to do with travel, but as a proud Toronto resident and fan of the Raptors, I couldn’t have been happier with the NBA championship result back in June. Go Raptors!