Newfoundland is fantastic! Some highlights include, whale breeching, whale watching, puffins, moose, jigs dinner, cod tongue (not my highlight - Doug’s), live music, George Street Festival, cardboard box boat races, the regatta day sale, chilling with Dena and her family, the ocean, lighthouses, great views, fog, rain, sun (all in one day).
Doug and I are known for our separate vacations (we go on together vacations too…) but this past week was my week away in Kingston! It was great to reconnect with old friends (this fall I moved to Kingston 10 years ago). I did a whirlwind tour squeezing in as many visits as I could and visiting as many of my old haunts as I could as well. My highlights were 70% off at Marshlands (2 Queen’s sweatshirts!!), 90% off at Hallmark (20 cent votive candles), and of course the US Walmart back to school specials (20 cent glue sticks, glue bottles, 88 cent Crayola markers!). I got my haircut by my old hairdresser, saw my old house, walked the mall, strolled downtown (MY FAVOURITE), went to Westport, sat at my friends cottage for the afternoon… It was just great being around the familiar. Not much has changed in Kingston….oooh… except that the Women’s Prison, which closed around 2000, has been bought (by Queen’s I think). They have taken the big wall down around it so you can actually see the prison now which is cool. It would have been cooler if they had taken it down while I was in teacher’s college as it is just across the road - it would have been more attractive to look at then the big cement wall. I also saw a fox running by the prison while I was there. Also, in traditional Kingston fashion, I bumped into at least 3 people…
Okay, so the official start of summer isn’t until next weekend… and school isn’t out yet… but we always feel like we don’t take advantage of summer enough. We have started a ‘things to do’ list and started it today!! We spent the day in Niagara and Niagara on the Lake. First stop was the bakery, followed by Cows ice cream, then freshly picked strawberries and we finished off with the Rainforest Cafe! Yummm!!! I tried on a few hats… I don’t think I’m a hat person but am thinking with my skin, I really need to invest in one! We walked along the falls - hard to imagine the wonder of them when they are so close and I go every summer… but I think the place just reminds me of my childhood!
Oh, speaking of summer, we are off to Newfoundland for our holidays this summer. Any travel tips or suggestions on where to stay or visit would be appreciated. We are flying in and out of St. John’s… and plan to go up the east coast.
Doug and I generally keep a list of places we want to go to on vacation - and we each get our personal choice around every other year. Last summer we went to Disney (me!!!) and this summer we are off to Newfoundland (Doug!). We might both want to go there but … anyway, we each get a vote… Moving on as I can’t put words together. Does anyone have any favourite places we should add to the list (pretty general list we are making). We want to go to the west coast, east coast (Halifax area), PEI again, Europe (um… can we narrow that down)… anyway, just working on our list and am wondering what people suggest. I think I am working on a separate ‘warm destination’ list for those winters we want to just get away and relax!
Doug’s new social committee had a bowling night last night. I have very little ten pin experience (we always did five pin) so that is my excuse. I was doing poorly in the first game until the last frame where I got two spares or something so ended up with a 40 point jump to 75!! I think I only got 45 in the second game. Doug had the highest score in the second game with 143!! I um…. was the lowest in that game… there were eight people playing. My brother will be so ashamed!
We had planned on going to Stratford on Saturday and hearing that a storm was coming, we quickly got ready for the day to head out to beat the storm (which didn’t arrive until late Saturday night). Anyway, we headed to Tim’s for breakfast - and they were out of breakfast sandwich buns - boooo!! So we each settled for something else. I didn’t get much in Stratford but enjoyed walking through the shops, etc. On our backroad journey home, we ended up at Anna Mae’s! The nice thing about going there off season is the sales!!! We bought 3 pies for $12.50!! Yuummm! I really wanted to change my order to something beyond my usual (broasted chicken, mashed potatoes and coleslaw) but just didn’t have the strength. I did manage to get coconut cream pie for dessert though! Yummm. We had a nice time driving the back roads and enjoying the snow and rolling hills - and are glad we aren’t out in it today! Brrrrr!
Sometimes one needs to get away (or umm… away for three weekends in a row!). Anyway, I have been away three weekends, this past weekend Doug came with me. He chose to go to his old hometown for the weekend. We stayed at a bed and breakfast and scoped out the town. We started each day with a great breakfast and then did some geocaching and shopping. We of course hit Jack Astor’s, we tried the Mongolian Grill, and got a sweet deal at Swiss Chalet. We also tried the Marble Slab with the newlywed Ferguson’s. It is the same concept as Cold Stone Creamery where you pick your ice cream and mix in the fixings of your choice! Very yummy! Doug is cozy on the couch now for an evening of football. Ah, I love the weekend - especially when we get an extra hour of it!