TRY SOMETHING ORIGINAL, PEOPLE

March 27, 2009

Maybe I'm a little cranky (okay, definitely cranky), but haven't we had enough of this silliness?

Chicago a few years back had the clever idea of putting decorated cows around the city streets. It went over like warm syrup on a freshly cooked pancake, and pretty soon other cities started doing it. Toronto, of course, went all goofy and put moose all over the city. Some folks liked it but I thought it was utterly inane.

Why would anyone do this? Why not come up with something new? Nobody asked me, but I say it's copycat (copycow?) tourism at its worst.

The reason I get into this rant at this particular point is that I read the other day that Vancouver might be preparing to spread eagles around the city, while San Francisco, which we thought/hoped was above this sort of thing, is putting up a bunch of hearts (as in, I Left My Heart in San Francisco).

Actually, as silly as this has become, it's not as bad as cities copying the Hollywood Walk of Fame the way they have. Toronto, of course, had to follow suit on that and now you can walk along King Street and see Canadian actors and entertainment types names on the sidewalk. Sigh.

Find something original, folks.

MIAMI ON THE MOVE

Miami tourism folks held a get-together Thursday night at a place called One-up, which is one of those event places. This one is on Dundas between Bay and University, which could use some serious fixing up but does have some good and cheap ethnic restaurants, including Evergreen Thai - a personal fave.

Anyway, the tourism people were saying how the dark, low-ceiling Miami airport is being given a huge makeover (think Joan Rivers in magnitude). They also point out a lot of new hotels are in the works; a new W in Miami Beach, a Mondrian and a Canyon Ranch in Miami Beach and several spots downtown, including an Epic hotel, a J.W. Marriott Marquis and the city's first Kimpton hotel. Sounds pretty impressive.

ULTIMATE TRAVEL SHOW STARTS TODAY

The Ultimate Travel Show, sponsored by the Star, begins today (Friday, March 27) at 4 p.m. at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on Front Street West. Yours truly will post a news item on the show tomorrow (Saturday). Just in case you want a sneak peek.

Posted by Jim Byers at 01:40:12 PM in canada, Current Affairs, florida, ontario, toronto, tourism, Travel, united states

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You actually have a point on the decorations around those cities and I love your crankiness on this one. LOL. I was not able to watch The Ultimate Travel Show but I heard it's good. :)

Posted by: eq2 plat | March 29, 2009 at 08:24 PM

I was not able to watch The Ultimate Travel Show but I heard it's good. :)

Posted by: izlesene | April 11, 2009 at 06:38 PM

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Travel Blog by Jim Byers

Jim Byers is the Star's Travel Editor. He has been writing travel stories for more than a decade, covered five Olympic Games and spent years covering the Blue Jays, the Toronto Raptors and the PGA Tour. He's been everywhere from Bonavista to Vancouver Island, as well as China, Hong Kong, Australia, the Caribbean, Thailand, Mexico, Tahiti, New Zealand, Vietnam, a dozen countries in Europe and just about every major city in the U.S. Okay, he was only in Liechtenstein for a couple hours in a rental car and his only visit to New Orleans was when he was 12, but you get the picture.

March 27, 2009