Somewhere along the way of being a baseball fan and someone who loves to travel I had visited enough ballparks that it seemed like an interesting quest to watch a game in each major league city’s stadium. While I’ve knocked off most of the sexy places (Seattle, Chicago, San Francisco, New York….) I’m left with some locations that I otherwise may not actively choose to visit. Last summer, the intersection of my work schedule, the ballparks remaining and the baseball schedule pushed me toward a trip to Detroit and then onto Cleveland.
Quebec City has a very special place in my heart. Any time I get back to that city a flood of childhood memories bring a smile to my face and feel like they are a constant companion as I explore the city anew. Last year a conference returned me to this beautiful city and gave me the opportunity to combine some new experiences with a collection of personal touchpoints that now date back almost forty years.
Across a few trips to Vancouver last summer and fall I sampled the bounty that is that city’s craft beer scene. Vancouver is a favourite city of mine for a number of reasons – the direct flight from where I live, the ability to see mountains and water in the same place, the varied food scene, and definitely the abundance of craft beer.
Using a neighbourhood approach to exploration, I got one day kicked off in West Van at the earliest to open patio at Parallel 49. I created a tasting flight of a selection of hazy IPAs from that brewery and also from a couple of guest taps they had of Superflux. Luckily I was doing this neighbourhood tour by public transit and by foot, because these were all potent (and delicious!).
Anyone who tried to travel by air in the summer of 2022 in Canada will have some sort of horror story to tell. The day before our planned trip to Vancouver Island I received the dreaded text message from Air Canada with a flight cancelation for our flight the next day. In the end, we lost the first day we were scheduled to spend in Victoria, but on the positive side, we at least arrived just in advance of the airport’s rental car location closing so we could snag our car for an extra late night drive to our downtown hotel.
We woke up fresh the next morning, but quite hungry as the previous day’s delays and flight changes left us woefully little time to actually eat en route to Victoria. My wife had picked out John’s Place, a diner a block from our hotel that had an extensive list of gluten-free goodies (waffles!) and while she had done significant research on this place, I knew nothing about it…. until we walked in and I was greeted by this sign. Instantly, I knew this was a good omen for a great day ahead.
Calgary has a vibrant craft beer scene, and while I can get some selected beers at home in Saskatoon, it’s always better to visit the source for a taste of their craft at its freshest. I did my research and lined up my visits to a number of craft breweries so I could taste the “best of the best” that Calgary has to offer. This is obviously a subjective list of breweries and taprooms but I highly recommend each of these.
Stop number one, just as an unexpected snow storm whipped through the city for a few hours, was Annex Ale Project. When I arrived, I noticed they had a number of beers on tap from 2 Crows from my old hometown of Halifax on account of a tap takeover event the previous day. I had previously tried all of the 2 Crows so I stuck to sampling a couple from Annex. My favourite was their “Heavy Meadow” (a saison) and I also quite enjoyed the delicious burger from the attached burger joint. Burgers and beer are always a great pairing!
Visits back to see my parents in northern New Brunswick follow a familiar and comfortable script now. A long three hop flight journey across the country. Lots of laughter and catching up. Visiting some favourite craft beer bars with dad. Eating some delicious food. Then some tearful goodbyes followed by the reverse of that long three hop flight journey. Even for a short vacation the travel hassles are worth it to see my folks and to get a greeting like this from their dog, Tia.
My three week summer vacation last year in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia meant there would be ample opportunity to sample liberally from some of the finest craft beers those two provinces have. As the pandemic was still swirling and my comfort with eating or drinking indoors was still at a low point, this craft beer exploration became something of a patio hopping experience. That’s usually difficult to pull off in rainy Atlantic Canada, but we got almost a completely perfect three weeks of weather. I wasted no time visiting an old favourite in Nackawic, my wife’s hometown. This is a taproom that just feels comfortable to me. Big Axe Brewery is located in a beautiful log constructed building just down the street from the world’s largest axe (hence, the brewery’s name).
I know that for most people Nova Scotia is not top of mind for wine producing regions in Canada. But for those of us in the know, there is a surprisingly high quality wine region tucked into the Annapolis Valley, about an hour outside of Halifax. Take a look at a map and dig a little deeper and you’ll notice that this area of Nova Scotia is in a similar latitude range, has a similar climate, and in many areas, similar soil conditions to areas in Champagne, France. Luckily for us who were/are fortunate to live relatively close nearby, there is a true gem of a winery that started with an audacious goal. The purpose of Benjamin Bridge winery was to show that world-class sparkling wines could be made in Nova Scotia. Starting with their early vintages, in blind testings their wines scored similar to Champagnes. They have expanded their range of wines over the years, and due to the occassional free shipping special offered, we’ve accumulated a small inventory of their wines at our home in Saskatoon.
Much like we did back in the days we lived in Halifax, when we were visiting this past summer, we made a day trip to the Annapolis Valley. Our first stop was Benjamin Bridge to try a couple of tasting flights of their wines.
Many times the best decisions you make in life sneak up on you.
It was a beautiful late August evening, our last night in Prague. Looking back on this from almost eight years on, it remains one of my favourite travel memories because of what this night ended up meaning to my wife and me. We hadn’t set out with any grand plans… just a way to enjoy the last few hours of what had been a remarkable two weeks in the Czech Republic. We headed up to the Letna Beer Garden with an idea to enjoy the view over the city and for me to spend the rest of our Czech currency on glasses of ice cold pilsner.
Brussels was an odd choice for my girlfriend (now wife) and I as a destination for our first trip to Europe. Looking back on that trip now with fifteen years of experience and hindsight, it was filled with amazing and weird experiences that continues to make us smile. That trip, and in particular the first day, a Sunday in Brussels, fuelled my love for travel and has sent me on a number of life adventures in the years since then. Even with all of the adventures I have been on since that day, it remains my favourite story from my time on the road.
Up until arriving in Brussels, the trip was as one would expect. We left Halifax flying through Newark with no hiccups. The overnight flight was the first red-eye for both of us, and with dinner, we elected to enjoy a glass of wine to help us get a bit of sleep as we flew over the Atlantic. That decision, as we’d learn in a few hours, would make all the difference in how this trip would get started.
We disembarked in Brussels and headed to passport control. As we were nearing the lineup to have our documents inspected, my wife uttered words that stopped us both on the spot… “I can’t find my passport”. We were stuck – no turning back to the gate at which we arrived and no way through customs. We disclosed the missing passport to the border agent and that led to police being summoned and the two of us being escorted into a holding area in the police station in the airport. Not only was my wife’s passport sitting back on our plane, but so was about 200 euros from when she paid for those two glasses of wine on our flight. She let the police know our seat numbers and that she now remembered she had “temporarily” stashed the cash and her passport in the pouch in the seat in front of her….. and we waited, and waited, and waited.
Our first venturing off our continent, and here we were on a Sunday morning being questioned by police in Brussels. We figured her passport and the money were on their way back to Newark and we’d be in limbo until we could speak with someone from the Canadian embassy on Monday. Luckily, after about two hours, word made its way back to us that a cleaner had found the passport (and money!) and we’d be reunited. After what seemed like an eternity, my wife was reunited with her passport and we boarded a train for Brussels Central, massively jet lagged, but relieved. This remains to this day one of my favourite pictures – the first I ever took in Europe.
Bluenose Traveler 