PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY, ONTARIO – You think you know a place. And then, wham, it smacks you upside the head and spins you around and puts a grin on your face that can barely be measured. I’ve been all over southern Ontario in my 35 years living in Toronto. I’ve been all over the country and the world in my eight years as a full-time travel writer. But I’d never driven around Prince Edward County to truly explore the towns and had never set foot on the sand dunes of Sandbanks Provincial Park until late July, when the Ontario Tourism Read more
It’s easy to accumulate Aeroplan miles. It’s also easy to donate some and make a difference in the world. Donating Aeroplan miles is both simple and hugely rewarding in a day when there are so many great groups doing important work in Canada and around the world. Visitors to Aeroplan.com/donate can find more than 250 charitable groups that accept Aeroplan miles. Charities use the miles to offset travel costs, including hotel/accommodations, flights and car rentals for projects they work on in Canada and across the globe. Charities also can use donated Aeroplan miles as prizes for fundraising, along with items Read more
Nice Canadians? I don’t think so. At least not when it comes to travel and social media. The latest study by hotels.com finds that our mobile phones have become such a part of our lives that we’re willing to skip sightseeing or time at the beach to do our social media updates. The study said 36 per cent of Canadian travellers admit to uploading photos to social media to gloat, while 20 per cent admit to checking into places on social media just to make friends jealous. Isn’t that awful? I feel BADLY when I post great photos from Canada Read more
A magical lookout high above the largest freshwater lake on the planet. A beautiful and easy hike along quiet, rocky beaches that reveals crystal clear water and a stunning rock arch jutting out into Lake Superior. Bountiful and beautiful white-tailed deer grazing in deep green forests. If Sleeping Giant Provincial Park was a few degrees south of latitude it might be the most visited park in Ontario. Instead, it’s something of a well, sleeping giant, an amazing and powerful and evocative and beautiful headland that stretches out into the majesty that is Lake Superior. I arrive on a perfect, 20 Read more
Fittingly, my first exposure to the now famous Canadian flag was at a hockey game. Oddly enough, it was in Oakland, California. I grew up in the suburbs of San Francisco and always enjoyed sports. Once, perhaps as part of a school field trip, we went to a game at the Oakland Coliseum Arena to see the California Seals play. I remember, I think, the white skates. I definitely remember trying to figure out what icing meant. The rules confused me and I didn’t really understand what was happening on the ice (something my kids will say has stuck with Read more
The new NHL team heading to Las Vegas is changing more than the city’s sports scene. As part of the re-design of the area around the new T-Mobile Arena, where the newest pro hockey team will start play in the fall of 2017, Vegas officials have created an entirely new neighbourhood that’s both pedestrian and environmentally friendly. The new development, called The Park, runs from Las Vegas Blvd. to the new arena between the New York, New York casino and the old Monte Carlo, which is being replaced by a NoMad Las Vegas and the new Park MGM hotel. The Read more
Canada’s 150th birthday is all but wrapped up. It’s been a truly fantastic year all around, with great celebrations, parties, festivals and more from sea to sea to sea. I’m happy to have done by small bit by creating this website and celebrating the best country I know in my own way. I hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as I have! CANADA’S 150 BEST – A PRELIMINARY LIST TOP SPOTS SO FAR (not in order of preference!) 1. North of Lake Superior 2. Winnie the Pooh 3. The Icefields Parkway 4. Saskatoon 5. Ottawa 6. The Calgary Stampede 7. Read more
