Hmmmm...is St. John's REALLY more beautiful than Hawaii????

I adore Newfoundland. And Hawaii, I'll admit, is my favourite place on earth.

So it was with some amusement (or is it bemusement?) that I picked up the Metro paper this morning on way into the office and checked their travel pages. There was a good story in there about how St. John's is the second most popular spot for conventions in Canada, topped only by Vancouver.

It makes total sense. I was in St. John's a couple years ago for a golf assignment and absolutely loved the place. The Murray Premises hotel was terrific, the food was very tasty and the bars, well, they deserve their reputation for fun and frivolity. The people were and remain among the most spectacularly welcoming folks on the face of the planet.

I had good weather the whole time I was there and got some smashing pictures. St. John's harbour is beautiful, and the views out towards Cape Spear (see pic at right) are magic on a good day.

Sadly, the really great days for photo-taking in St. John's are relatively few.

Hawaii, on the other hand, has a rather distinct weather advantage. The people, I find, are warm and wonderful. The bars aren't quite as lively as St. John's, but it's tough to beat the beaches and the seafood and the warm, balmy breezes with the smell of fresh flowers.

Just for fun, I'm posting two pictures of the harbour in St. John's and the surrounding area, and also posting two photos of Hawaii. One shows the Napili Kai Beach Resort and Napili Beach on Maui, while the other shows the famed Na Pali cliffs of Kauai.

It's great to root for St. John's and all, but I don't know that I'd say that the "views even beat out the beauty of Hawaii," which is what Metro said today.

Then again, it's not about me. It's about you. And the person next to you on the subway or in line at Tim's.

As my buddy Dave Perkins likes to say, "Everyone's different. Which is why they have menus in restaurants."

And why airlines list a whole bunch of destinations on their boards at the airport, I guess. Some of us love the beach. Some of you would rather ski during the winter, and god love you for it because you're keeping money (some of the time) in Canada and using that white stuff for good purposes instead of just shoveling it to the end of the driveway and hoping it'll go away.

I'll take Hawaii for a sun holiday in the winter, for sure. I love the water and the heat and the beach. But if I had time off in the summer to visit anywhere in Canada, Newfoundland would be near the top of my list, and I'd love to spend some more time in St. John's walking along the harbour and up on Signal Hill. Afterward, I'd sip on a beer on George St. and, with any luck, listen to folks play an Irish jig at an impromptu concert.

Newfoundland and Hawaii; it's a tough combination to beat, for sure.

Here's a look at a couple highlights of both Newfoundland as a whole and Hawaii:

                                                           NEWFOUNDLAND                          HAWAII

Well-known geographic sights:             Signal Hill/St. John's Harbour        Diamond Head/Waikiki

Best-known fish:                                  Cod                                              Humuhumunukunukuapua'a

Best-known drink:                                Screech                                        Rum drink with pineapple

Best-named town:                                Dildo                                            Volcano