PROVINCETOWN, MASSACHUSETTS – A great way to get to a great destination. Last time I was on Cape Cod, back about 28 years ago, my wife and I drove from Boston to Hyannisport and then up to Provincetown. Short on time for this trip, we opted for the fast ferry from downtown Boston to Provincetown. It’s a big boat and takes only 90 minutes to make the crossing, passing through the harbor islands I mentioned in a recent blog. The price is just $87 return for an adult. They have a concierge on the second deck who can provide maps, Read more

BOSTON – I was chatting with a woman at the reception desk at the oh-so-sleek Revere Hotel here and asked about Charlie’s Sandwich Shoppe. “It’s great,” she said. “And it’s just down the street.” She told me a female guest asked a couple years ago about a place to get lunch and that she recommended Charlie’s. “The woman asked if there would be a line and I said I didn’t think so. She was really worried about a line-up to get in but I said it wouldn’t be bad. “She came back later and said, “You said there wouldn’t be Read more

By now, I’m hoping you’ve heard about the famous Sour Toe swallow up in Dawson City. For years, they’ve had a grizzled, green, gross-looking preserved toe on display at the Downtown Hotel. Brave souls (I did it) take a drink of pop or whiskey or what have you with the digit floating inside in what’s called the Sour Toe Cocktail. If the toe touches your lips when you drink, you get to join the Sour Toe club and you get your name on a certificate. Mine is not proudly displayed on my mantle but I have it somewhere. They’ve had Read more

BOSTON – There’s probably no better place to find out why America exists. This is the birthplace of the United States in many ways, the place where the Boston Tea Party took place and where Paul Revere (more on that later) rode from to warn of an attack by the redcoats (not “the British”; more on that later, too). And they make it easy to take a Freedom Trail tour and learn about the various historic spots along the way. I had a tour with Emily, dressed as an old-time citizen named Mehitable Dawes. Emily showed us the Granary Burial Read more

BOSTON – We see those silly “duck boats” all over the place these days. At least we do in cities with major waterways. I always resisted the temptation but the folks from Boston tourism had me try one Thursday here in this great city, setting me up with Boston Duck Tours. And I was really glad we went. Not so much because the car suddenly rolled into the river and turned into a boat, because it IS kinda cool, but because the tour itself was so interesting. Things didn’t start out so well, I must say. A bunch of kids Read more

We hear a lot about the Riviera Maya, with glittering Cancun and the ruins of Tulum and the great beaches. It’s a wonderful part of Mexico. Most Canadians also have heard of Acapulco and Cabo San Lucas, the latter on the tip of Baja California. The words Riviera Nayarit probably don’t sound as familiar. But it’s a hugely popular stretch of Pacific coastline north of Puerto Vallarta, and it looks wonderful. The folks from Riviera Nayarit on Tuesday put on a great lunch at Frida restaurant on Eglinton West, thanks in part to a virtuoso job by Mexican chef Betty Read more