Tucked away at the end of Peterborough Ontario is a park with a zoo. It’s not a gigantic zoo like Toronto’s but it has its own charm. Tortoises, wallabies, lemurs, meerkats, monkeys, camels, otters, bobcats and a couple of sloths that I’m told came from the Calgary Zoo when it was hit with a flood. The park itself has other really good features. The playground for kids is not lame. There’s lots of structures to play on and there’s a cool slide that’s a tube downhill, through a hill that is long. The kids and their adult supervisors love it. […]

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Cottage life at a cottage where you likely will never stay The term “cottage” in Canada is sometimes interchanged with cabin. Chalet is frequently used, especially near ski hills. All these terms evoke in our minds a place away from the constant commotion of the city. In the past few years, some of the monster homes have been built that have been given the appellation cottage. Perhaps “summer place” would be more appropriate. However, no matter what name you use for cottage, I’ve always associated the term with Prince Edward County, which is in Eastern Ontario about 2 hours from […]

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Sandbanks Provincial Park is one of those secret places you read about that actually isn’t really a secret but feels like one. The park is located 14.5 km from Picton Ontario, which is about 2 hours from Toronto. I’ve always considered Sandbanks as a beach with a campground. The beach has wonderful sand and is itself a large sand dune that has a wonderfully gentle and slow drop off, making it a favourite for children. When the wind picks up, wonderful Lake Ontario waves crash on the shore and make for wonderful playing. I was trying to look up online […]

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Prince Edward County is a wiggly shaped peninsula* in Lake Ontario that has a number of quaint towns. Bloomfield is perhaps the most quaint with heritage homes from pre-1879 and a main street that is pleasant to walk and shop. Back when I was a kid, the shopping on Bloomfield’s main street was limited to antique shops, a bakery and a grocery. Now some unique, non branded and fairly upscale shops exist. If you are in from Toronto or Montreal you will be pleased that you aren’t besieged with brand after brand, but can still drop some serious coin on […]

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Wandering-Elk Promotion & Productions 5th Annual “Rocking On The River in Blind River” @ 135 Royer St. Blind River, Ont. (OFF HWY # 557 ) Aug/ 2 & 3 /2014 Acoustic / Country days & Blues / Rocking nights 2 Full Days of Live Music (11am-11pm) Food & Novelty Vendors, Door Prizes, Bon-Fire, Fireworks, Over Night Tent / Trailer Area $20.00 per Site. Over Night Spaces to be paid upon admission ( First come – First serve Basis ) Access to site after 4 pm Aug, 1, 2014. Early Bird WEEKEND PASS $20.00 Each (Feb – May/31/2014) Buy 3 get […]

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I dropped through the ROM on Monday January 6 with my 12-year-old daughter — the Monday after the holidays is a nearly perfect time to go; everyone else is back at work or school so we had the place to ourselves. We missed the Mesopotamia exhibit by a day but saw the spectacular Wildlife Photographer of the year show (an extra $5 for adults unless you’re a member, but well worth it) and of course the dinosaurs. Since the gallery was so empty we watched many of the short and excellent videos displayed on touch-screens throughout the dinosaur gallery. Looking […]

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Southern Ontario took a hit the night of December 21 with a freezing rain storm that put a weight of ice on trees which promptly decided that it was time to break … onto power lines. At time of writing there were still people without power in Ajax, Pickering and Scarborough. However, on Boxing Day night, we took to two neighbourhoods of Pickering in order to witness some inspired Christmas lights. Both sites were taking donations for local food banks or other charities. On Rigby Drive (see www.rigbylights.ca) which has a soundtrack to their lights broadcast on a local 104.9 […]

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I had a chance to return to Bloor West Village for another meal out. Dr Generosity’s (AKA Dr G’s) was chosen for proximity and kids menu. Of course the night we went was a little different than a normal Monday night. Starting around 5 PM, Toronto received a record breaking deluge from the skies which clobbered transit, and knocked out a lot of people’s power. Except Dr G’s. For a while — apart from the request not to use the downstairs bathroom — we hardly knew that there was a major weather event in progress. However, the restaurant filled up […]

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A recent visit to Ontario required time in Ajax, which is one of Toronto’s eastern bedroom communities. I’m afraid like most North American cities, small towns that are near major centres tend to expand with subdivisions creating new suburbs. In Toronto’s case, North York and Scarborough used to be suburbs. Now they are part of Toronto and towns like Ajax, which used to be way out of town forty years ago, are now taking on the new role of suburb. Sadly continent-wide there is a lot more sameness in architecture and style of subdivision design that tends to make you […]

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The Works Gourmet Burger Bistro has four locations in Toronto including on The Danforth (Danforth Ave between Pape and Greenwood), St. Lawrence Market, The Beaches and — the one we went to — Bloor West Village. Bloor West Village does still have a hint of the small town to it as there are fewer high rises in the area and is right near High Park. You can walk the stretch of Bloor West between Jane and Runnymede Streets and poke your nose in and out of shops and restaurants. The Works does try to take the basic hamburger concept and […]

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