While my hopes might have been higher for more travel in 2021, I finally made it back out east to visit family I hadn’t seen in close to two years. That three week summer trip, the first time in my career I have ever taken three consecutive weeks off, was a revelation. Part reunion tour with lots of hugs and stories to share with family and part vacation with a suddenly fresh set of eyes for places that now feel less like home after so long living, and hunkering down in Saskatoon.

Most of my favourite travel memories this past year are from that three week trip back to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, but I will be liberal with the term “travel” as a few of my favourite memories in 2021 were about other forms of escape or diversion during the third and fourth waves of a pandemic that hit Saskatchewan very hard. So here they are in no particular order, my favourite travel memories and moments of 2021.

(1) Beers with Dad – It had been far too long since Dad and I had just had a good hang at my favourite craft brewery in Bathurst. On a steaming hot August day, we enjoyed a couple of our favourite beers (mine, Four Rivers Brewery’s amazing Havre St. Pierre, a medal winning amber ale that I wish I could have a stash of back home in Saskatoon) and chatted an afternoon away.

(2) The seafood tower – On arriving in Halifax from Bathurst, we checked into our hotel, stashed our bags and headed down to the waterfront for a patio table and a feast of seafood. The seafood tower was amazing (with an extra order of oysters added as a second course for good measure), but sitting with my wife outside on a beautiful summer evening a few blocks from where we used to live was special. While we were “only” in Halifax, it felt like it could have been overseas with the combination of the weather, the sun setting and dining outdoors. They say you can never go home, but we did, and had a grand time.

(3) Hanging with the kids – We hadn’t seen our niece and nephew in two years. On a beautiful Halifax day we picked them up at home, visited the Public Gardens, the Halifax Library, had lunch at a Crave (a favourite burger joint on Spring Garden Rd), walked along the waterfront, and had a grand old time. It’s funny how fast kids grow up… I know I’m biased, but these two are amazing people.

(4) Reuniting with my parents – My parents are in their early 80s but still have fun like a couple of teenagers. Bathurst was hot and humid so we went for some air conditioned drives, ate lobster rolls along the water, crushed some St. Hubert chicken (a guilty pleasure anytime I get to Bathurst), took my dad out for a late birthday meal, and shared a lot of laughs. I cannot wait to get back again!

(5) Reuniting with my wife’s family – We spent the better part of a week in and around Nackawic, NB, my wife’s hometown. A day trip to Fredericton, a quick visit to her favourite place in the world (her family’s camp) and a get together at an aunt’s place were some of the highlights. Like all visits, there was a lot of laughter on this visit and we came home with a new to us recipe for a delicious breakfast casserole that my wife’s mom made for us a couple of times.

(6) Our old day trip, revisited – Trips to the Annapolis Valley were always a fun escape for us out of the city when we lived in Halifax. A visit to the Benjamin Bridge and Lightfoot & Wolfville wineries gave me a taste of some excellent Nova Scotia wines as well as what was simply a perfect day with my favourite person in the world. Not to diminish the beauty of Nova Scotia, but looking out over the wineries that day I felt like I could have been in France or the Okanagan.

(7) Beer exploring in Halifax – What’s a trip without some dedicated beer sampling time? On a free afternoon in Halifax, I first headed to Stillwell Beergarden for a delicious pint of Boxing Rock’s “Perfect Pint”, an amazing British Bitter that paired nicely with the tacos on offer here. I then walked across downtown to 2 Crows Brewing for a tasting flight on their patio. Their “Zap”, a fruited Berliner Weisse, was perhaps the best beer I had all year long.

(8) The birthday tradition returns – My wife’s birthday was always celebrated at the Bicycle Thief on the waterfront in Halifax and with her special day falling during our Halifax stay, we took advantage of the opportunity for another great meal in celebration. Starting with Champagne then working through some wonderful cocktails and dishes, it was just like old times. A perfect night with my perfect mate.

(9) Am I in Denmark? – One of our friends is of Danish descent, and once this friend group was fully vaccinated, she pulled off a full-blown multi-course, traditional feast of smørrebrød that was amazingly delicious. Not only that, but for a few hours, I felt like I wasn’t in Saskatoon, but had traveled to Denmark to enjoy some of its delicacies. I may have gone overboard in stuffing myself with pickled herring open faced sandwiches that made me think back on four fun days in Copenhagen, but you only live once. So much fun!

(10) Pandemic wine tastings – That same friend group planned a number of virtual wine tastings during the darkest months of winter 2021. We all had the same wines at our respective houses, someone would lead the tasting, and we’d all prepare foods to pair with that evening’s wines. Many laughs were had, and the preparations for these actually felt like going out for a night.

(11) The backyard patio and an extended season – For a second year, I was beyond grateful for our back deck. Thanks to a crazy-short winter of 2020/21 and a drawn out fall, from late February (under blankets) until late November (under those same blankets), we had a lot of great times hanging out, reading, drinking, watching concerts/movies/baseball and generally using the deck as an escape from home office-based life. We were out back so much, that during the summer and fall our dog would sit inside by our patio doors waiting to run outside and jump on the sofa for her evening nap. I’m already looking forward to being out back again in a couple of months.