REQUESTING READER FAVOURITES

Most of us have heard of the book 1,000 places to see before you die. I’d like to hear about places you think visitors to Canada and Ontario should see before they go to their great reward.

Please let me know the five “you-can’t-possibly-come-to-Canada-and-not-see-this” places in both the country as a whole and in Ontario, and we’ll come up with a list of your recommendations a little later on. You can comment here on my blog, so feel free to fire in some of your top-rated places.

We know about the Rockies and Salt Spring Island and George Street and Niagara Falls, but perhaps you can put your thinking toque on and come up with a few different places.

Personally, I’d have to go with Twillingate in Newfoundland, Quebec City (kinda obvious but there you go), the Sea-to-Sky Highway in British Columbia, the Okanagan Valley and Banff for my Canada picks. As for Ontario, I’ll say the Toronto Islands (there’s something about a ferry ride that’s simply marvellous), the shops along West Queen West, any of the beaches along Lake Huron, a walk on Parliament Hill in the snow and the view of Lake Muskoka from the Mills’ family cottage on Miller Island.

But that’s just me. I want to hear your ideas. So fire away.

 

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LET ME TAKE YOU ON A SEA CRUISE:

 

Kiqstart Music, an entertainment company based in New York, NY and Think Floyd USA, a touring production of Pink Floyd in the states, have announced plans to host the first Pink Floyd themed cruise aboard a Carnival Cruise Ship to the Bahamas. Dubbed “Great Gig in the Sea”, the cruise will allow Pink Floyd music fans to combine sun and sea with an amazing concert experience.

“Think Floyd USA will take listeners on a musical and visual flight through the Pink Floyd galaxy performing all of Pink Floyd’s classic hits from legendary albums such as Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals and the all time classic, The Wall.

Apparently, there’s talk of a Milli Vanilli greatest hits cruise, but it likely could be done on the 30-second ferry to the island airport.

On a related note (deliberate pun), there was word just the other day that the Marley Resort and Spa, which opened earlier this year on Cable Beach in Nassau, The Bahamas, is now partnered with Splendia, the international hotel marketing company.

Some of us fairly new to studying hotel names in Nassau were unaware until recently that there was a Bob Marley hotel in the Bahamas. But we’re told the property is a real tribute to the great Jamaican singer and that there’s even a Natural Mystic Spa on site. No word as of yet as to whether the restaurant menu includes “Three Little Birds,” but we’ll get back to you.

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HEADING SOUTH

Okay, we’re clearly having a lovely Native American/Canadian summer here. But it won’t last forever folks, and the people down in Georgia are trying to lure visitors who’ll soon be cruising down I-75 to pull off the highway and spend some time in the Peach State. On Jan. 19 of next year, Georgians will celebrate what would’ve been Rev. Martin Luther King’s 80th birthday. Check out possibilities at www.exploregeorgia.org/MLK. Of course, there’s also great golf on Jekyll Island (I checked out the island earlier this year for the Star’s golf magazine and fell in love with the place) and real southern barbeque, WHICH IS NOT TO BE CONFUSED with the stuff they try to sell you up here.

Unless I’ve missed it, and I’ve never been to Saskatchewan, Manitoba or the Yukon so maybe I’m wrong, there ain’t a decent rib joint in this entire wonderful country of ours except for Tunnel Barbeque in Windsor and Phil’s at College and Ossington in Toronto. I’m told Dipamo’s on Eglinton is good but haven’t made it.

All the other places I’ve tried in and around the GTA that say they have good ribs have been an incredible letdown. You go to the States and you’ll get ribs as thick as a football player’s fist, and not those scrawny, bony Paris Hilton-like waifs they tend to serve in Toronto. And to think this burg used to call itself Hogtown.

Of course, I’ve been known to be wrong once or twice before. So if you’ve got some recommendations I’ll check them out when I get a chance.

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OLYMPIC THANKSGIVING:

The 2010 Vancouver Olympic Spirit Train rolls into Mississauga on Monday, Oct. 13. The train will be at the Cooksville GO Transit station from 2 to 8 p.m. Included will be appearances by the 2010 mascots, as well as a chance to meet and get autographs from such Olympians as Vicky Sunohara and Veronika Bauer. Singer Colin James is slated to appear at 6 p.m.

There was talk that some 2010 opponents might try to protest at Spirit Train stops across Canada, but it’s been pretty quiet so far.