KINGSVILLE, ONTARIO – Two Dutch gentlemen who make chocolate birds for the likes of Margaret Atwood. Glorious fruit stands near the shores of a beautiful lake. And a wild and crazy operation that’s part restaurant, video arcade, garden shop and petting zoo. Not to mention fine food, a cool boutique hotel, craft beer and wonderful wineries. I fell in love with Kingsville on my first visit a couple years ago. I’ve been back twice since and it remains one of my favourite towns in Canada, an amazingly diverse city of 21,000 souls, where Mercedes convertibles mix with motorcycles and where Read more

One of Canada’s top chefs. One of Toronto’s most romantic restaurants. And one great deal. It’s Summerlicious time in Toronto, with remarkable deals at some of the city’s top restaurants. Once again, Aeroplan is sponsoring the big event, not to mention other food festivals across Canada, including Montreal’s MTLaTABLE event. Toronto is one of the top cities in the world for food, so it’s great to get solid deals like the ones they offer at Summerlicious and also at Winterlicious, which Aeroplan also has sponsored in the past. I had a chance to check Summerlicious out on Monday night, taking Read more

I had long been in love with Hawaii by the time it happened. But a routine chat at the public golf course at Waiehu, Maui in the mid 1970’s did a lot to boost my affection for these islands and its people. I was in high school at the time and was vacationing on Maui for perhaps the third time. My parents had let me invite a friend from my home town in California, and we had planned to play golf one of the fancy-schmancy Wailea courses, which I believe were pretty new at the time. We pulled into the Read more

MUSKOKA – The magic of Muskoka comes in a shiny, bright new package at JW Marriott The Rosseau Muskoka. I’ve been around the world and have yet to find a place I’d rather spend a summer’s day in then Ontario’s Muskoka region. I get up to the lake district north of Toronto several times each summer, and the sights and sounds leave an indelible mark on my consciousness; the sun’s rays bouncing off the deep blue water, the dark and bright green trees that arise out of the tiniest moss and lichen-covered islands and the quiet, rhythmic “galumphing” sound the Read more

The damage has been almost entirely to private homes, far from areas frequented by visitors. But the volcano that has pummelled the southeast corner of Hawaii Big Island has certainly had an impact on the state’s vital tourism industry, officials say. I chatted by phone on Friday with Ross Birch, head of Hawaii Big Island Tourism. He told me there’s no doubt that the uncertainty has hurt his island’s economy. He also agreed that a lot of the concern isn’t necessary. “Less than 10 square miles has been affected by the volcano,” he said. “The island is 4,028 square miles.” Read more

NEW MEXICO – Five nights. Three distinct hotels I can heartily recommend. I recently had a great trip to beautiful and surprising New Mexico, checking out cliff dwellings, cool slot canyons, art galleries and UFO museums, not to mention a museum dedicated to rattlesnakes and one of the best barbeque joints I’ve been to, a place in Albuquerque called Rudy’s Country Store and BBQ. I also got to stay in some very nice hotels along the way. In Albuquerque, a city I’d never been to before, I stayed at the Sheraton Albuquerque Uptown, a terrific property in a great location. Read more