I live less than an hour away, but somehow in all my decades living in Toronto I’d never slowed down enough or taken the time to admire north Durham Region. That’s a mistake I won’t make again. I visited recently over two days and found beautiful art and pottery places, sipped some of the goods at a tasty cider operation, witnessed a truly amazing bit of historic architecture, and enjoyed a nice visit to the Lucy Maud Montgomery Manse, as well as a tremendous play about Montgomery’s time living in the region. I was extremely impressed by the creativity and Read more
theatre
Yesterday I highlighted my favourite travel spots in the U.S. Today it’s my home country of Canada, with awesome places from Nova Scotia to southern Ontario and up to the Yukon. Best Coastal Drive: The eastern shore (okay, northeastern shore) of Nova Scotia has only a smattering of villages and hardly any commerce. The food was fine, but I absolutely loved the restful surroundings and kayaking at Liscombe Lodge near Sherbrooke. I found cool art galleries and hardly any tourists between there and Lawrencetown, just east of Halifax. Most Surprising Town: Meaford is a cool spot on Georgian Bay in Read more
The Canadian dollar is in freefall, dropping below 70 cents the other day for the first time in more than a decade. It’s great for the Canadian tourism industry, but not so wonderful for snowbirds who’re looking for greener pastures in winter. Luckily, there are ways to soften the blow. Here are some tips from a guy who’s been a full-time travel writer for the better part of 10 years and has spent a good many nights on the road in his lifetime. 1. STAY HOME: I don’t mean build a man (or woman) cave in your basement and pry Read more
GRAVENHURST, ONTARIO – It’s intermission, and members of the band Pretzel Logic are standing on a patio outside a Gravenhurst concert venue called Peter’s Players. There’s nothing unusual about that, perhaps, but in this case they’re mingling with members of the audience on a perfect late spring night in Muskoka. A couple band members are drinking from bottles water. One is nursing a beer. But they’re all chatting with audience members about their favourite songs or about music in general. One of the singers is trying to rustle up a fishing trip for the next day. A few feet away, Read more
