Lovely - and surprisingly tasty - Lunenburg is a Nova Scotia gem

LUNENBURG, NOVA SCOTIA - Hoo, boy. After arriving from the relative frenzy of St. John’s, I didn’t quite know what to make of this town.

It doesn’t help that they’re just now putting the final touches on things for the tourist season, and that a lot of things I had hoped to see were closed. And silly me for not checking more thoroughly.

But, as luck would have it, I was outside the Fisheries Museum the other day when one of the managers left the building. I asked if someone could show me around and, of course, the answer was, “Of course.”

So I got in a quick visit ahead of Saturday’s season opening.

I’d also wanted to check out the Ironworks Distillery, a micro-distillery and the only one of its kind in the province. They were supposed to be closed Tuesday and Wednesday but agreed to show me around, which was very kind.

Naturally, one expects this sort of behaviour from folks in the Maritimes and in Newfoundland. The pace is decidedly slower, and the people are so much more friendly than in the Big Smoke.

The first time I visited St. John’s I was stunned when a car slowed down on Water St. to let me jaywalk. I was gobsmacked. Not to mention flustered.

The same thing happened in Halifax last fall, which really floored me. So I guess it’s no surprise people slow down all over Lunenburg and wave you across….

Anyhoo, once I slowed down a bit I discovered a ton of charm in this town. It is, of course, the home of the legendary schooner The Bluenose, featured on Canadian dimes and easily Canada’s most famous ship.

They’re rebuilding the Bluenose II down on the waterfront (see photo) and it looks like a beauty. Ships and the fishing industry made Lunenburg what it is, but there’s far more to this town than fish and the ocean.

The whole place was given a UNESCO heritage designation a few years back, as it’s so well-preserved.

I had a great, 35-minute carriage tour for just $20, then followed it up with a walking tour by Shelah Allen – also just $20 for an hour.

The Fisheries Museum is fun; with displays on the Bluenose (naturally, given it was built here and is being rebuilt on the waterfront as we speak) and the old cod fishery and on the area’s history in the rum running biz, not to mention a series of fish tanks with lots of fish for the kids to look at.

Down the road is the community of Blue Rocks, which is impossibly quaint and has absolutely not one t-shirt shop or cute souvenir store selling lobster-shaped oven mitts; not that there’s anything wrong with that.

What has surprised me most about Lunenburg, I think, are the colourful houses and the food. I knew St. John’s had the “Jellies,” but I didn’t know Lunenburg had shrugged off its German Lutheran past in the last couple years and started painting houses in such wild colours: marigold with Golden Gate Bridge orange trim, deep fuschia, navy blue, cranberry red, mint chocolate chip ice cream (see what I mean at left!) and lots more.

It’s pretty wild. Some of the locals apparently weren’t happy when the first folks started painting over the traditional white houses with black trim, but now the place has embraced the trend full bore. In fact, one of the main streets has little place names below the street signs that say “Unesco Fresco.”

I also had no clued they had such great food in this town. The standard for high cuisine, if you will, is Fleur de Sel on Montague St. It’s an old house that’s been restored, and it’s glorious; sunny and bright with pale blue walls and an old fireplace in the middle of the main dining room. Romantic as hell.

Great food, too, and fun drinks. I had fabulous calamari that’s flash fried and served with a trio of sauces, including a green olive tapenade. There also was rabbit pot au feu as an appetizer; rich and full of tender meat. They also offer halibut, salmon, sweetbreads, lamb and lots more in a menu that feels half French and half Maritimes. And that's a good thing.

The best part might have been the Basil Lemonade, with gin, pear eau de vie from the nearby Ironworks Distillery, fresh basil, honey and green peppercorn syrup, fresh lemon juice, ground pepper and Q sparkling water. Awesome and fragrant and tasty and fresh, served in a tall glass with a sprig of deep green basil, a wedge of brilliant yellow lemon – and a bright orange straw. It looked as good as it tasted.

The folks behind the restaurant also operate the Salt Shaker Deli down the street, and it might be even better. It’s a fun spot, again with plenty of light, and they offer a wide array of dishes. I had the linguini one night with scallops, and it came with five or six large, tender scallops, plus a half pound of bacon (well, almost) and lots of garlic. One of the best seafood pasta dinners I’ve ever had.

At lunch I opted for the seafood chowder, which apparently has won awards. It’s easy to see why, as it’s a lovely base (not too creamy but just right) with a half-ton of seafood and almost no filler. I had four scallops and maybe one tiny piece of potato, plus a couple small pieces of carrot. The rest was all seafood; scallops and tiny shrimp and haddock and mussels.

I was told the secret is that the haddock is smoked and also that they cook the seafood to order when someone asks for the chowder, instead of having it sit all day in the broth.

A great concept, and the best $10 bowl of soup I’ve had in my life.

The Savvy Sailor makes a good breakfast, with views out over the harbour and a small, outdoor patio for when the weather's nice. Great bacon and homemade raspberry jam and excellent coffee, too.

One of the top places to stay is the Lunenburg Arms Hotel. Many of the rooms offer outstanding views of the harbour, so be sure to ask for one of those; preferably up high. My room was 408, with lovely wood floors and big windows and a small sofa in the sitting room area. Just perfect.

It's funny, but as travel editor I don't get offered many stories about Nova Scotia. Which is one of the reasons I came here. I get a lot from PEI and Newfoundland, and a few from New Brunswick. But the Nova Scotia tourism folks don't seem nearly as aggressive in the Toronto market, which I really don't understand given how lovely this province is and how much they have to offer....

 

 

 

Chasing icebergs in St. John's is a very cool thing (yeah, sorry about that)

ST. JOHN’S, NEWFOUNDLAND - You’d think icebergs are a regular occurrence in and around St. John’s. But apparently not.

I took a boat tour with Iceberg Quest the other day and found out there was a pretty solid period of several years not long ago when the winds weren’t right and the bergs didn’t make an appearance. But just as the oil business has given this town a shot in the arm – and how – so has the return of the icebergs.

For a mere $60 ($28 for kids 12 and under), they’ll take you out on a reasonably-sized, very steady boat to check out the icebergs. When the season’s right, and it’s approaching fast, you’ll also (or instead) see puffins and friendly humpback whales.

They also do tours from Twillingate, the iceberg capital of Newfoundland, where you’re more likely to spot bergs. But, this year anyway, it’s pretty good in and around St. John’s. We did a two-hour tour and spotted three reasonably-sized icebergs, all within a few miles of the city.

The first part of the tour is through the harbour and you get great views of downtown and the brightly painted homes called Jellies or Jelly-bean houses. Then you get even better views of the equally colourful homes on the Battery (see photo above right), that stretch of land that reaches from downtown out towards Signal Hill, just above the entrance to the harbour.

The day I went I was accompanied by some tourists, including roadies and members of music star Chris De Burgh’s band, De Burgh having played St. John’s the night before. We had a great time, although it was pretty chilly out on the boat. Luckily there’s a glassed-in portion with a heater, as well as a small bar dispensing beer and rum and other spirits.

The cliffs along Signal Hill are massively impressive; huge chunks of brown stone slashed and broken through eons of wind and water and towering up over the ocean. After cruising along outside the harbour for maybe ten minutes we spotted a couple of bergs that have been partially blocking the entrance to Quidi Vidi harbour for some time.

A few minutes later we spotted a flat top iceberg and a small, spiky one nestled up against some cliffs.

The big one (well, by my standards, not a Newfoundlander’s) was a few minutes after that. We approached it through a trail of small chunks of ice that had broken off and were floating about in the water. Then we came up to the main attraction of the day; a flat-top berg that I’m guessing was 100 metres long and perhaps six or ten metres high; depending on where you measured.

It was pale green-blue and dozens of gulls were stretched out on top and nesting, which I’m told means it’s a relatively stable chunk of ice – birds preferring not to make their homes on pieces of ice that are about to break off and send their eggs off towards Nova Scotia and all.

The colours in the water were beautiful, and it was incredibly serene to navigate around the iceberg, said to be thousands of years old and not long ago part of some distant glacier. The patterns and markings on the berg also are something you don't expect; all roughly chiseled with sharp angles and smooth surfaces and wavy bits.

It’s hard for photos to do it justice but it was a terrific couple hours. And these were relatively small bergs compared to the big boys you can often find…

The guys working my boat told me puffin season is perhaps two weeks away, while the time for whale watching is also getting close; depending on the weather.

“The humpback whales are awesome,” they told me. “They’re really smart and they even seem to recognize our boats. They come to us year after year and we’ve named some of the ones we recognize.

“There are two we call Mutt and Jeff, because whatever one does the other does the same thing. It’s really cool.”

Yes, it would be.

Coming up Thursday and Friday: Lunenburg and Nova Scotia.... 

St. John's a great city with spectular, wild scenery just minutes away (or less!)

ST. JOHN'S NEWFOUNDLAND - One of great things about St. John’s is how easy it is to get out to the country. Often in just a few minutes. Or even seconds.

If you take the walk out past the Battery, for example (just a few minutes stroll from downtown), and make the trek on the narrow path below Signal Hill and the Cabot Tower, you’ll feel like you’re on the edge of the world. Which is pretty close, as it’s certainly the edge of the North American continent.

The walk is absolutely glorious; past impossibly colourful, brightly painted and mostly ramshackle houses with crazy gardens and funky signs. You’re walking within a foot or two of folks’ private homes as you meander your way through a maze of tiny “streets” or paths, all well-marked with signs such as “Come on Down.”

It makes you realize everything you’ve ever heard about accommodating Newfoundlanders is true, which is one of the reasons it’s hands down my favourite part of Canada.

The last part of the little trail that connects the city to the Parks Canada trail crosses some guys’ front deck. His (okay, or her) front door is within reach of your left arm as you pass by and look in the front window of the house, and the plastic deck chairs are on the other side. Utterly and impossibly charming.

The views of the harbour and the Narrows, the tiny spit of water that allows even huge cruise ships to safely anchor in the St. John’s large harbour, are spectacular. And it’s not a long walk; maybe an hour to get all the way to Signal Hill.

On Sunday a Celebrity cruise ship was in town, and they made a big show of it in St. John’s, playing a “symphony” of ship bells and whistles as the cruiser got ready to depart. I drove up to Signal Hill to see the ship leave, only to find out the National Parks folks salute each passing cruise vessel with a three-gun salute fired by a gentleman in full British military regalia from the late 19^th century.

It was one of those unexpectedly awesome moments we all live for as travelers and it’s an image I’ll never forget.

Even if it’s just a normal day, the views are stupendous (assuming the fog isn’t hovering about) down to the harbour and the Narrows and over to Fort Amherst on the other side of the Narrows. On a good day, you’ll see Cape Spear, the easternmost point of North America.

A fun sign put up by the Parks Canada folks says it’s the beginning of Canada. Or the end; depending on your perspective. And isn’t that true for a lot of things in life?

Anyway, there are way too many cool places in and around St. John’s to get into too much detail, but here’s a quick look at a few others:

QUIDI VIDI – It’s technically part of the city, but it feels a world apart. There’s a lovely pond or lake called Quidi Vidi with a 5 kilometre long walking/jogging/biking trail. Best, however, is the small fishing village that carries the same name. It’s a tiny, quaint, perfect Atlantic Canada fishing village on the shores of the rocky bay, which is enclosed by giant, brooding dark cliffs topped with scraggly evergreens. There’s a cool brewery on site called Quidi Vidi, so check their product. I liked the Eric the Red quite a bit. There’s a small iceberg blocking part of the entrance to the harbour, which is a great draw for tourists. Some folks have, sadly, built monster homes right on the water. But it’s still a cool spot to visit. There's a small iceberg blocking part of the harbour right now, which you can just see in the distance in this photo (more on icebergs in Newfoundland later!).

MARINE DRIVE - Take a leisurely drive past fine, country homes on this drive just north of town. Sections look like the rolling hills north of Toronto or perhaps PEI. But the terrain soon switches over to more typical Newfoundland geography, with massive cliffs and gorgeous sea vistas and a lovely view down to Middle Cove Beach. Nearby is the community of Flat Rock, where Pope John Paul II visited in 1984. There’s a lovely and tranquil grotto you can check out. The pope knelt and prayed here during that 1984 visit.

PETTY HARBOUR - Not as attractive as Quidi Vidi to my way of thinking, but still pretty. And not far from Cape Spear. They say pirates used to store their treasure in caves above the cove.

CAPE SPEAR -  very cool spot with old World War II batteries, a couple of lighthouses (see photo) and a small gift shop where you can get a Newfoundland 20 cent piece (from before they joined Canada) for $20. Windswept and lonely but lovely views to the south and north, and nothing between you and Ireland but the Atlantic Ocean.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

St. John's Newfoundland a city on the move: great food and cafes

ST. JOHN’S - A visitor last here five years ago or so is struck by how much this city has changed. There were signs of good times on Water St. and Duckworth on my last visit. But things have taken a major turn. There are (gasp) condos going up down near the Battery and in other parts of downtown. They’re not large, but still…

There also are new, fun shops and restaurants; Basho, a Japanese fusion spot on Duckworth is one, although I didn’t get a chance to try. There’s also Chinched on Queen St., which offers traditional seafood and bistro style cuisine as well as house-made charcuterie.

Chinched is right across from the west end of George St. (see Canadian Geographic photo t left), which hasn’t changed all that much; still lined with gentlemen’s clubs and fun and funky bars and restaurants. I had some great music at Kelly’s on Saturday night, which has zero atmosphere but often seems to have good musicians. Saturday night was a guy alternating between traditional stuff like The Wild Rover and Sweet Caroline, with John Denver and The Eagles mixed in for good effect. Down at Bridie Molloy’s was an older guy with long, stringy grey hair and a very cool-looking guitar playing more traditional Irish music, although I only caught two songs in his set.

The bar seemed caught up in the St. John’s Ice Caps game, as the team was home for game seven in their set with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. St. John’s took the game 3-2 to advance to the Eastern finals of the Atlantic Hockey League playoffs.

Earlier, I’d had an absolutely tremendous dinner at Bacalao , which isn’t new but has become a staple for fine cuisine in St. John’s. The restaurant is in an old house very close to downtown, and they strike a perfect balance; a homey atmosphere with great food but zero pretense.

(Somehow, I think Newfoundlanders would beat the crap - figuratively, not literally – out of anyone that rolled into town and got too big for their britches anyway.

If you come to town, be sure to try their Jiggs Dinner appetizer; a small take on the traditional Newfoundland Jigg’s Dinner with boiled potatoes and veggies. You even get to taste the pot liquor; the water that the meal is boiled in. Down the hatch quickly and it’s not bad.

It was my encounter with a Jiggs Dinner, albeit not the kind they serve at church gatherings, and it was great. I think I liked it more than the seal flipper pie, which they serve as an appetizer with red wine sauce (lots), plus cinnamon and other spices that made it taste like a slightly fishy version of a mince tart. Kind of. This one came with a thick slice of puff pastry on top, a feature my Newfoundland dinner mate insisted on calling a “roof.”

You gotta love it.

Sunday morning I had breakfast at the wonderful Murray Premises on the waterfront; a former warehouse that’s been turned into a boutique hotel; a great spot with rooms featuring exposed brick walls and wooden beam supports and ceilings. But I’d heard tell of a great spot on Water St. called Rocket, so I wandered over. And promptly fell in love.

It’s a bright and sunny spot that features a dizzying array of baked goods, including a croissant with lemon curd as well as pain au chocolat and a bread loaf with cranberry, chocolate and almonds. I opted for the lemon croissant and wondered why I’ve never seen it anywhere else as it’s an absolutely tremendous treat.

They also serve great-looking sandwiches and sell all sorts of interesting stuff: milk and honey from Prince Edward Island and Bottle Green ginger and lemon grass cordials. And they make a great latte.

The main room for sitting features tables and chairs in deep pastel colours that mimic the so-called “jelly houses” you’ll find in and around downtown St. John’s. They also had fresh flowers out on all the tables.

A real find that I’d liken to an old-time country store crossed with an Ossington Ave. coffee house.

Later I had dinner at Piatto, which bills itself a s a true Naples-style pizza joint. It’s good, and the pizza is large with huge helpings of meat, but too thick. The salami platter had nice, roasted red peppers and a couple slices of parmesan, but it wasn't very good parmesan. I'm not sure, but it tasted pretty much like something you'd get at a grocery store and was sliced into squares, versus the slightly crumbly variety you might expect.

There was good prosciuotto and, I think, speck or some kind of ham, plus some sliced salami that  wasn't bad. But it wasn't terribly Italian, and they also provided two slices of brie cheese on the plate.

Brie??? At an Italian restaurant?

Still, it was a good pizza and the place has plenty of charm. As do a whole lot of places in this up and coming town.

More tomorrow, including visits to some beautiful outlying areas....

 

 

Off to Newfoundland and Nova Scotia ... A naked vacation conference in Vegas

Taking a day off today to get ready for a big trip.

On Saturday I'll be in St. John's getting a story ready for Star Travel. The weather doesn't look as good as last time I was there, when it was something like 16 degrees and rainy the first day but then hot (20 degrees plus) and sunny for an entire week.

It was one of the best trips of my life. I loved St. John's and also loved Twillingate, with its icebergs and colourful characters and stunning scenery.

I won't get that far this time, but still I'm looking forward to Signal Hill and George St. and perhaps a trip over to Cape Spear.

After that I'll be down the south shore of Nova Scotia in Lunenburg and environs, then up around Annapolis Royal and Wolfville. So that'll be great; an area I know very little about.

NUDIST CONFERENCE IN SIN CITY

I got this press release today from folks organizing a "Nakation" conference in Las Vegas next month.

"You don’t have to shed your threads to enjoy a Nakation when attending the Nudist Clubhouse Nudist Expo 2012 in Las Vegas this June 1st and 2nd.  But what you will need to do is pay a nominal admission fee of $20 for a 1 day pass which can be purchased at the door or $25 for both days. The 2 day pass must be purchased in advance online.

Exhibitors from nudist resorts across the country, travel agents specializing in Nakation travel and nude cruises, the American Association for Nude Recreation (AANR.com) and numerous other affiliated groups will have materials and knowledgeable resources to share information on the benefits of wholesome nude recreation. Attendees will also have a chance to win several give-aways of Nakations to participating nudist resorts."

Apparently it's a real conference, with coffee and pastries (or is that pasties?) and the whole bit. Where one pins one delegate badge, I shudder to think. But apparently lots of folks go fully-clothed. Actually, now that I read the agenda, you're supposed to be fully-clothed.

Rats. But apparently there is a nude hotel in Vegas. And there are plans for naked barbeques (ooh, watch those coals) and other fun events.

 

 

 

 

Al's Beef - a greasy, gooey wonderful Chicago tradition you shouldn't miss

CHICAGO - It's great going to a city and trying out high-end restaurants. A perk of this terrific job of mine, for sure.

But sometimes a travel editor - or you or anyone else - doesn't feel like a white tablecloth and French wine. Sometimes we want something down and dirty, like a pulled pork sandwich or a great burger or a chili dog.

Luckily, there's no shortage of such spots in Chicago. I had intended on checking out the Billy Goat Tavern downtown, a joint made famous (and, yes, I'm dating myself here) by John Belushi and the Saturday Night Live gang with the skit about the diner where the cooks yell "Cheezborger, Cheezborger, Cheezborger" and "no fries, chips" and "no Pepsi, Coke!." But, sadly, I only passed by in a rush one day and thus will have to save that experience.

Likewise, I didn't get to Hot Doug's, a spot known for legendary hot dogs. Or to any deep dish pizza joints, partly because I've had Chicago deep dish pizza before and you can get it in many parts of the world.

Instead, for my decadent load of lunch grease I opted for Al's Beef on Jackson Blvd. in downtown Chicago, where they serve one of the city's best Chicago-style Italian beef sandwiches.

You line up at a counter and get a choice of several sandwiches. You can get chipotle chicken or even a sausage, but the whole point of visiting Al's is to try the Italian beef; something you don't see in New York or Seattle to my knowledge (but the website says they have one in Scottsdale, Ariz. and also in Athens, Georgia, that they're heading to San Jose and to Las Vegas). So that's what I did.

I elbowed my past the throngs of DePaul University students (the campus is next door) and stood at the front, finally figuring things out. I got the medium Al sandwich for $5.99 and got it with a mix of mild and hot (quite hot!) peppers, plus provolone cheese. They dipped it in some sort of gravy/au jus as well. I also ordered the cheddar fries.

The sandwich was quite good; very thin slices of seasoned/spiced beef and lots of peppers on a soft, white bun. It was a greasy, gooey, oozy, wonderful mess of a sandwich, I must say. They have regular tables upstairs but I opted for the standup, communal tables off to one side of the joint for a more authentic experience.

It was good at noon, but I think that after a night of clubbing or, God forbid, drinking, it would be even better.

It's a huge mess, so take eight or twelve or seventeen napkins with you when you go to your table. I quite liked the sandwich; very flavourful and messy and fun with good peppers. The cheddar fries? Maybe decent if you're the sort of person who likes those hideous ballpark nachos, but I'd rather have had them naked and unadorned.

It's hard to stay clean with a sandwich like this, and we travel writers hate giving our bosses a bill for dry-cleaning. So I followed the instructions posted on the wall, where there's a local guy with a big gut shown leaning over a table and wolfing down an Al's sandwich. The instructions, as I recall, say to place your elbows directly on the table and to position your feet some 2.5 feet behind the table for maximum leaning position.

Great stuff, and a good sandwich at a Chicago institution. Even if you're going to just split one, it's a definitive Chicago experience.

I went to the one at 28 E. Jackson Blvd. in downtown Chicago, but they have them spread all over town.

www.alsbeef.com. 28 E. Jackson Blvd. 312-461-9292 

Absolutely Segway Tours - a great way to see the sights of Chicago

Okay, I was a little reluctant. I mean, we've all see those people rolling about various cities on those silly-looking Segways. And, let's face it, they look like mall cops.

But, at the same time, they look kinda cool, right? I mean, we might not ever make it to the Jetsons but a Segway is at least in the same area code; all futuristic and such.

So, yeah, I had mixed emotions when the folks at Choose Chicago, the city's tourism board, suggested my wife, Barbara, and I take a two-hour tour through Millenium Park and environs the other day.

We started with a safety video that's mandated by government, and it was hilarious. There were illustrations on how to step on and off (probably the trickiest part), but the funniest bits were the stick figures that tried rolling down hills as steep as the CN Tower, only to fall off and smack their pointy little heads on the pavement. Ditto for the numbskulls who attempted to ride sets of stairs.

I think all of us in our group were smart enough (barely) to understand that these things aren't meant for the Spanish Steps or Lombard St., but it's a good safety lesson.

After the video, we took turns getting one-on-one lessons from Brittany, our wonderful and enthusiastic tour guide.

A Segway isn't even remotely hard to handle. The balance bit looks tricky but it's not hard at all. To go forward, you simply lean forward towards the handlebar/stick. To stop/slow down, you lean back. Dead easy. Turning is also simple and these things can spin on a dime.

Top speed is maybe eight miles an hour. Which doesn't seem like much but it's enough to breeze past joggers, and you can cover a lot distance in a short time. Like, oh, eight miles in an hour or something.

We started out at the north end of Millenium Park and checked out the outdoor Pritzker Pavilion, with its cool, Frank Gehry design and multitude of overhead speakers for outdoor concerts. We then zipped past Cloud Gate, the mirror sculpture known as The Bean, and down past the wonderful Art Institute of Chicago. More on that later, but suffice to say it's a hugely surprising and absolutely marvellous museum; hands down the best I've seen anywhere outside of the Louvre.

From there we trekked down Michigan Avenue, past the gorgeous, old hotels and office buildings, to check out the rose gardens and the giant spray of water at Buckingham Fountain. Then it was down through the Museum Campus, that wonderful collection of public installations that includes the Field Museum of Natural History (see photo above), the renowned Shedd Aquarium (hugely popular, so go early if you want to visit) and the Adler Planetarium. All the buildings are in newly renovated park spaces with luscious lawns and greenery and awesome views of Lake Michigan and the Chicago skyline (see photo at left).

Owing to some far-sighted city fathers, Chicago has something like a 30-mile beachfront with hardly a condo in sight. It's outstanding, but also kinda depressing for someone who works at 1 Yonge St. and looks out at a series of waterfront condos that shut Torontonians off from Lake Ontario...

Anyway, we zipped back in no time. My wife was probably more reluctant to try the Segway than I was. But last time I saw her, she was far ahead of me up near Millenium Park, moving at a fast clip and practising her ski moves by swaying back and forth on the pathway as if tackling moguls at Whistler.

So thanks to Timmie and Brittany (I hope I spelled that right) at Absolutely Chicago Segway Tours. You can find them online at www.ChicagoSegways.com or by calling 312-552-5100. Their offices are a touch hard to find but they're at 337 E. Randolph St. Look for the bright orange signs on Randolph and you'll be fine.

A two-hour Museum Campus Tour is just $60, and they run every day in season. They also do art and architecture tours, a fireworks tour, a haunted tour and a haunted/Halloween tour. All tours range from $60 to $65, and they'll also arrange private and corporate events.

 

Giant Marilyn Monroe statue leaves Chicago for sunny Palm Springs

Goodbye Norma Jean.

The giant, controversial statue of Marilyn Monroe has been taken down from Pioneer Plaza on Michigan Ave. in Chicago after a successful, one-year run featuring millions of gawking tourists. Workers snuck in around dusk yesterday and took the old girl apart in chunks. Oh, the humanity...

Not everyone liked the statue as it was, let's face it, pretty sexist. Day and night, women and men gathered around and under the 26-foot-high statue of the actress' famous pose from "The Seven-Year Itch" to snap photos. Her dress was billowing up and about and folks would gather by the thousands each day to stare up and see what was under that famous outfit.

Who knows what she wore during filming, but the statue presents a very Midwestern pair of white cotton-looking panties that border on bloomers. Disappointing, no doubt, to young (and old) men around the world, but that's art for you.

The initially controversial "Forever Marilyn" creation by Seward Johnson was unveiled last July directly across Michigan Ave. from the famous Wrigley Building and next to the luscious Tribune Tower. The old gal is headed to Palm Springs, California, where NBC says she was discovered  by a Hollywood agent. I always thought she was discovered, if you want to call it that, at a soda fountain at Hollywood and Vine. But maybe that was Chewbacca from Star Wars.

“It’s a perfect fit,” says Tim Ellis, local hotelier, Palm Springs Chamber President and member of the P.S. Resorts Board of Directors. “Marilyn Monroe has legendary ties to Palm Springs. She was ‘discovered’ at Charlie Farrell’s Racquet Club, was rumoured to have frequented the Movie Colony estate with Joe DiMaggio, currently known as the Sand Acre Estate, and owned a 50’s bungalow-style house in Las Palmas,” says Ellis.

"We received many requests as far away as Tokyo and Madrid and cities in Brazil, and we really felt that Palm Springs has a special connection to Marilyn because it is the legendary play land for Hollywood,” Paula Stoeke, the director and curator of the Sculpture Foundation, an organization funded and run by Johnson, told the Los Angeles Times.

The plan was for crews to dismantle the statue into four pieces and drive her across the country, and I bet they argued over who got to hold which piece. I mean, I'm sorry, but they're probably GUYS and you know what we're like. I'd apologize, but I don't really see the point of making excuses for half the planet. 

Anyway, it's too bad they couldn't leave the statue intact and strap it to a flatbed. It could've toured all over the country, giving little thrills to schoolboys from Little Rock, Arkansas to Walla Walla, Washington and even in rural Alberta, where they raise up giant statues of everything from dinosaurs to Easter eggs. Alas, Marilyn is Goin' to California with an aching in heart and word is all 34,000 pounds of her will be set down at the corner of Tahquitz Canyon and Palm Canyon Dr.

Word is she'll debut in Palm Springs May 24 and stay for about a year. After that, there's word she'll appear at the next Liberal convention and that her skirt will act as an umbrella for the entire national membership.

Her new So Cal location is not far from the outdoor statue of former Palm Springs mayor Sonny Bono, and not too distant from a sculpture of Lucille Ball. It makes perfect sense in a city where boulevards are named after the likes of Frank Sinatra and Bob Hope, I guess.

I would've liked to see the statue at Hollywood and Vine, personally, with a leg on either side of Hollywood Boulevard. The traffic would've been horrible, but who would've noticed?

According to NBC, one website, VirtualTourist.com, ranked her the worst piece of public art in the world. Guess they were never around Toronto in the 1980s to see "Gumby Goes to Heaven" on University Ave., eh?

VirtualTourist apparently also wondered why the statue was in Chicago, when Monroe was made famous in Hollywood and the movie scene was set in New York.

Virtual Tourist also suggested the towering, blown dress forced many to peer up at Marilyn's panties. Forced? I don't think so. I mean, I did my bit on this past weekend, sure, but I don't recall anyone holding a gun to my head and saying, "You, tourist from Canada, check out those panties right now or I'll fill your guts fulla lead."

It's too bad for Chicago. But they'll probably manage all right with the likes of all that great architecture, a fabulous lakefront, incredible art galleries and top-notch food and drink. Not to mention Wrigley Field, as long as you don't pay attention to this year's version of the Cubs, that is.

 

 

 

Canadians vote Pearson voted worst airport in country in FlightNetwork polling

I had intended to write about Chicago today, but bad weather at O'Hare yesterday meant another bad flight. This time I got delayed five hours and didn't get home until 1 a.m. Plus there's a fun item here on Pearson, so I'll save Chicago for tomorrow and later in the week....

A poll of Canadians by FlightNetwork.Com, released today, says Pearson is widely, and I mean WIDELY, regarded as the WORST airport in Canada.

The poll, taken online, found that Pearson was deemed worst by 36.6 per cent of respondents. That's up from 27.6 per cent in last year's poll, the first by the folks at Flight Network.

Second-worst in Canada, the poll found, is Montreal Trudeau (Dorval) at 17.7 per cent, followed by Edmonton in third at 9.9 per cent.

Poor Pearson. They've tried. They really have. They've added free wi-fi and lots of new food options and new terminals. But there's little they can do about security lineups and customs/immigration lineups, two of the biggest sources of pain for travelers.

Of those polled, 57.2 per cent cited slow security as the number one criteria for Pearson's ranking. Bad service was cited by 53.5 per cent and lack of dining spots by 49.8 per cent.

I suspect, personally, that Pearson isn't much worse than Dorval/Trudeau. It's just that not as many folks use Trudeau as Pearson. I could be wrong, but I suspect familiarity breeds some contempt in this case.

Not that I don't get pissed off by lineups or by being forced to pay $2 for a luggage cart or waiting endlessly for my bags to show up. They were pretty good yesterday, but then again I DID arrive at 11 p.m. on a Sunday night after yet another long delay at departure.

I was slated to fly out of Chicago O'Hare at 5:40 p.m. Chicago time on Sunday, but there were major storms and I didn't leave until 9:45 or so. I was lucky enough to be able to use the lounge at the United Club, spending a lot of time watching the Amazing Race.

But I have to say the United Club personnel were downright rude. I twice asked one woman at the desk about my Air Canada flight and all she would say was, "It's NOT our flight. Go ask Air Canada at the gate."

Geez, lady. How about "I'm sorry, but it's an Air Canada flight. It's got our number on it, too, but it's really their flight. I wish I could help but you'll have to go down to the gate to check. I"m sorry about that."

Is it really that hard, folks?

Anyway, I'm back home and that's what really matters. Still, five hours at Pearson and then a cancelled flight Thursday, followed by three hours sleep and an early Friday flight, followed by six hours at O'Hare on Sunday isn't my idea of the romance of travel....

Mind you, a flight attendant on my flight from Chicago said they had sat on the tarmac at Pearson for four hours prior to taking off. And she said she heard a flight from Montreal to Chicago had flown in on Sunday but was put in a holding pattern over O'Hare, only to be sent to Windsor. They apparently touched down in Windsor and sat for an hour or two or three, and then finally took off - for Montreal. She said the passengers and crew spent something like eight or nine hours on the plane and ended up right back where they started. Now THAT'S brutal.

Getting back to the Flight Network poll, one they found that Los Angeles International is rated by Canadians at the worst in the U.S. (25.9 per cent), followed by O'Hare (20) and JFK in New York 17.6). Again, those are probably three of the busiest airports Canadians use.

I don't mind O'Hare. It's busy, but it's a pretty good airport. I try not to fly in and out of Chicago in winter just to avoid weather issues, but that's another story. JFK I don't know much at all.

Los Angeles is not great but the folks at LAX are spending billions to give the place a major overhaul...

On the international front, Canadians in the Flight Network poll named London Heathrow worst (26 per cent), followed by Charles De Gaulle in Paris (13.6) and poor Pearson (13 per cent).

Vancouver was deemed best airport in Canada, which goes without saying. Great shopping, clean, good restaurant choices, free wi-fi; even a provincial liquor outlet and a huge aquarium!

In the U.S., folks liked McCarran International in Vegas the bestm while Hong Kong got support for best international airport. I don't remember much about McCarran except the one-armed bandits, but Hong Kong is a terrific airport for sure.

Chicago blog post delayed by storms - check back on Monday

This was supposed to be a blog from Chicago.

Alas, it's 4:49 a.m. and I'm at home getting ready to head back to Pearson.

I got to the airport in Toronto yesterday in plenty of time but our flight to Chicago was delayed by that massive thunderstorm cell that sat over the top of southern Ontario last night.

Tons of flights were cancelled, but a few got away; I think mostly flights headed east and away from the storm centre. Our plane sat at the gate for about an hour before the pilot came on the p.a. and told us we had to deplane and that our flight was cancelled.

I immediately called Air Canada, but after pretty much booking a seat for this morning they said they couldn't actually finalize the deal until I had cleared Canada customs on the way back into Pearson and had my luggage. Why, I have no idea.

It took a while to figure out where our bags were, but Air Canada personnel on the ground - harried as they were - did a reasonable job under the circumstances and I was able to rebook our seats without a huge hassle. Folks who were on connecting flights were offered hotels for the night but we didn't get that deal as we had homes to return to, which probably makes some sense.

I think we could've called a 1-800 number and got a hotel discount but I don't live that far from Pearson so we took a cab home and arrived at midnight; just in time for our 4:45 a.m. wake up call.

Ah, the romance of flying.

Anyway, hoping for better results today and a blog posting or two next week on Chicago and its fine restaurants and architecture and art scene. Maybe some Wrigley Field baseball, too!