A slightly muddled Key West sunset and a great schooner cruise (with dolphins!)

KEY WEST - I really need to give myself more time in this town.

It was pretty much a 24-hour blitz this time around; just enough time to see a decent but slightly unsatisfying sunset and grab a meal on Sunday, and then a little biking about and a VERY satisfying 90-minute sail on Monday.

Sunday night we wanted to check out the sunset; a de rigeur activity down at Mallory Square. Rather than join the hordes standing on the square,we opted to belly up at the Sunset Pier, where you can get a $5 pint and a chair to sit on at the railing, or at a table, and watch the sun do its thing.

The conch fritters aren’t worth $9 as it’s almost entirely fried dough, but the beer was cold. It was one of those sunsets obscured a bit by clouds on the horizon, so we didn’t get the applause factor and no green flash. But a partly cloudy sunset is almost always more dramatic and the orange and deep grey clouds we got made up for the lack of a single sunset moment.

They had a guy singing blues and rock tunes on the pier, apparently a regular. He’s got a good voice but his ability to remember lyrics borders on the hilariously ridiculous. I think he sang eight or nine words to “Let’s Get It On” by Marvin Gaye, but that one’s mostly about groove and rhythm and, really, other than saying “Let’s Get It On” in a smooth, sexy voice there isn’t a lot you need to do with that tune.

More amusing was his take on “Love Train,” where the poor guy could only sing the verse about all the people over in Africa and then mixing in “tell all the people in China and Israel, too.”

Anyway, he had a nice voice and he implored everyone on the dance floor to mix it up and to make sure they went home and got it on because otherwise he didn’t want us on his dance floor.

Great stuff.

I’ll give Sevenfish another mention today as I thought it was an extraordinary place for dinner. It’s on Elizabeth St. just north of Truman; maybe two blocks from Duval. It’s plain white on the outside and has just one small sign on the door. Inside, it’s also extremely plain.

But the seafood was simply stunning; a grouper with mango chutney and a snapper in yellow curry sauce with perfect veggies and delicious, meaty crab cake. I’m told the banana chicken and the meat loaf are to die for, and they also have a decent wine list.

The place was packed with what looked mostly like locals on Sunday night, so it’s clearly not a tourist trap.

Monday I rented a bike so I could see a bit more of everyday life on the island. It’s an expensive place to live, and a lot of folks don’t exactly live in palatial surroundings.

The colours are lovely; soft pastels and whites with big porches and colourful murals and doo-dads on the porch. It’s a great town for simply strolling, even if you don’t like the gross and utterly stupid t-shirts they sell on Duval or the come-ons for the drag shows or dancing girls at Coyote Ugly Saloon.

Looking for something a little different, we opted for a 90-minute sail on the schooner Adirondack III. Captained by John Sweeney, originally from Syracuse, N.Y., we learned how a guy tried to grow Christmas trees on a small island just off Key West and about their crazy Fantasy Fest, which is coming up soon and promises a great deal of drinking and nakedness on Duval.

The ship is a beauty, with four large sails. I volunteered to help raise one of them and got a free beer for my efforts. Lest that sound too amazing, the drinks are, remarkably, just a buck on board. That goes for French champagne as well as Corona, Bud or Heineken or Ginger Ale or wine; a great deal.

The crew was helpful and instructive and we got in some great weather. It was hotter than blazes in town but out on the boat even being in the sun felt refreshing with the breeze we had. The water is a beautiful shade of green in the channel outside Key West and only gets about 25 feet deep. On the way back, we spotted a group of four dolphins, just to end it on a high note.

It’s just $35 for the mid-day ride. They also do a mimosa morning trip for $35 and a sunset trip for $75.

I highly recommend it as an antidote to the doings on Duval. Unless, of course, that’s what you want out of a trip to Key West.

 Off today to the U.S. Virgin Islands. First stop, St. Thomas.

You can email me at jbyers@thestar.ca and follow me on Twitter @jimbyerstravel

 

Driving Florida Keys always fun, even in a hardtop ... Awesome Key West food

The last time I drove to the Florida Keys I felt like all I saw were discount t-shirt shops and roadside bars. It felt like there was very little water to be seen.

Funny, and maybe because I was expecting a Florida version of Kingston Rd, but this time, I felt like the balance was more on the water side. Of course, it helps when your rental car XM radio plays Jimmy Buffett's "Margaritaville" just as you reach the Shark Key cut and the mangroves open up to reveal green-blue water and dark patches of reef and deep blue skky stretching out in all directions.

We stopped along the way at the Key Lime Tree roadside stand in Key Largo, where they have key lime juice and key lime bath salts and key lime anything else you can think of. The woman behind the register insisted (everyone does, I guess) that theirs is THE BEST key lime pie in the state.

She went on a long rant about the evils of meringue on top of a key lime pie, explaining how it ruins the pie and never tastes good, anyway. For the unitiated, there are devotees of key lime pie with whipped cream and devotees of meringue. I think folks in Florida would rather defend the virtues of New York City and communism than give in on what they think is the proper approach to key lime pie.

Anyway, the pie at Key Lime Tree was reasonably good but it was so cold as to be nearly frozen. And I don't think it was real whipped cream on top. So I'd give it a B-minus.

Still, it's a fun place to stop and look at the fish decorations for sale and the colourful, painted tables and chairs. Some of the chairs had names like "avocado" or "mango" with paintings of the fruit. Others, naturally, were called "key lime."

At this time of year, in this year, anyway, there are a gazillion signs for elections along the road; mayors and school boards (Andy Griffiths is running for school board, by the way) and such. The best I saw were signs for folks running for the mosquito board.

I mean, what the heck? They trouble folks who have difficulty making decisions about president to vote on who to best repel mosquitos? And who, exactly, opts to run for the mosquito board?

"Hey, Marg," I can hear some guy in Islamorada saying over burritos after a Dolphins game on Sunday. "You know how I'm always coming up with those interesting facts about mosquitos? LIke how they bite and how it gets all itchy and stuff? I think I'm gonna run for that mosquito board."

Some guys aim high. President. Governor. Mayor, even. But, no, some guys decide that his fate, or at least his electoral career, is going to be launched on the wings of tiny, stinging insects.

Still, that probably beats gunning for the wastewater board. I mean, I'd MUCH rather be an expert on mosquitos than wastewater, if you know what I mean.

FInally rolled into Key West in mid-afternoon, just in time for some grilled, blackened shrimp on rice at Alonzo's on the waterfront. It's part of a wharf development near the Hyatt, just a couple blocks from Mallory Square. It's a pretty area with a lot of luscious boats and several restaurants. The shrimp was excellent; nice and spicy and about seven plump fellas on a small bed of yellow rice and peas for about $12, I think.

We checked into the Key Lime in on Truman Ave, also Highway 1. It's a tad noisy during the day with traffic but at night it was just fine.

The Key Lime is part of a series of historic hotels/inns in Key West, including the next-door Chelsea House. Key Lime features a series of small cottages, some alone and some in duplex style, painted in shades of soft avocado green, pale yellow, white and lavender. Our room had lovely, dark wood floors and a nice, poster-style queen bed with soft green cushions and pineapple motif lamps. Not a large room, but there's a coffee maker and a small fridge and a large shower and a flat-screen TV that was just as big as the one I had on Saturday night at the downtown Hilton in Miami.

There's a good continental breakfast in the morning out by the small but pretty pool, which is surrounded by tall palm trees.

It ain't the Westin or the lovely Casa Marina resort, but it's comfy and cozy and fun and bright and convenient; just two blocks off Duval.

Rooms are less than $200, so it's a pretty good spot. The woman behind the desk when we checked in was a HUGE help, steering us to Kelly's for excellent margaritas (no pre-made mix) and to Alonzo's and to a capital-F FABULOUS spot around the corner on Elizabeth St. called SevenFish, where I had an incredible snapper in yellow curry with veggies and rice. Absolutely stunning food, albeit a tad pricey at $29. There's not much atmosphere, with plain white walls and a couple of pieces of art with fishes. Seven in each case, I think. And folks are packed pretty tight.

They make up for it with some colourful lights over the tiny bar and large windows for gazing outside. Mostly, they make up for it with tremendous food. My wife had grouper with mango chutney that was out of this world good.

We also shared a large, soft, meaty crab cake the size of a huge baked potato, with a ginger glaze that was quite good.

More Key West to come on Tuesday ...

You can email me at jbyers@thestar.ca and follow me on Twiitter @jimbyerstravel

 

 

Yardbird Miami a fabulous southern food spot ... Via Espanola South Beach fun

 MIAMI – This town is famous for its Cuban cuisine and seafood. So when an invitation was sent my way to check out a southern joint called Yardbird, I jumped at it.

I mean, ceviche and grouper are terrific, but I always like to vary things a little on the road. Besides, the menu looked awesome.

Yardbird Southern Table and Bar is a classic, upscale Southern spot on Lenox, just south of the popular Lincoln Road Mall, with its numerous sidewalk cafes (they all look alike to me) and chain stores you’d find at Sherway Gardens and Starbucks. I'll give you a better option in a few minutes...

The scene was buzzing inside, where there’s an open kitchen and chalkboard signs describing the joys of bacon. But when you’re a Canadian and there’s frost on the windshields in front of your house when the cab pulls up at 5 a.m. and you’re in Miami and it’s 26 degrees or something you sit outside, even if the breeze was strong enough to nearly blow my hat off the table.

Carlton, our waiter, was a delight, giving me a chance to try a Yam-hattan; a special drink they’d made up on Saturday with yam-infused bourbon, vermouth, chocolate mole bitters and a rim that was covered with honey and ground-up yam chips. Not something you have every day.

Truth be told I thought it was okay. Not great. But fun and kinda interesting and a definite talking point.

Dinner was not close to being okay. Dinner was fabulous.

We started off with a salad of dark, crisp kale topped with fresh, shaved cheddar, sliced green apples, sliced red onions, “moonshine-soaked raisins” and cider vinegar. In a word spectacular. In eight words, one of the best salads I’ve had anywhere.

We also tried the chicken and biscuit appetizer. They brine a chicken for a day or so and then fry it up moist and delicious and serve it on fluffy biscuits with honey and laced with sweet pepper jelly. Not a tad greasy and utterly delicious. Not one you tell your doctor about on your check-up, but wonderfully rich and flavourful and tasty and finger-looking good (hey, somebody oughta use that).

For dinner we had a side of southern beans (yellow, green, fava and lima beans soaked with Italian seasoning; delicious) and outstanding scallops with pork belly, served with an andouille sausage/cornbread stuffing and spicy molasses glaze that was drool on my golf shirt good.

There was no room for dessert but I did manage a fabulous shot of bourbon for a nightcap as they have dozens of varieties on hand; some made in New York, Utah, Colorado and other unusual spots.

All in all, an outstanding dining experience and one I’d highly recommend. You can find them online at runchickenrun.com, and how great a website name is that?

The day was a little tough for the beach as the winds were howling and the sea was angry, like an old man sending back soup at a deli. But it was just fine for strolling Ocean Dr. and watching the girls dance outside some of the bars and generally do some people watching. We had great calamari and good mahi mahi at the News Café and watched the parade under the palm trees, and it’s tough to beat that.

We wanted to get a coffee and maybe do a bit of shopping, so we strolled along Collins and Washington up towards the restaurant and ended up walking along Via Espanola. I was immediately struck by it; a narrow lane more than a street, with a ton of interesting Mexican, Cuban, Spanish and French restaurants that looked quite inviting; small patios and quirky designs. There also are art galleries spread out in the area as it was built as a South Beach artists' colony in the 1920s.

I didn't have much time to check it out but I spotted some folks doing some painting outside a small cottage and immediately thought this is a place worth coming back to someday. I'd recommend it as a place to explore next time you're in South Beach and you're tired of the glitz.

 

Off to Key West today, so stay tuned for that.

You can reach Travel Editor Jim Byers at jbyers@thestar.ca or follow him on Twitter @jimbyerstravel

 

Off to Florida for a little Miami Beach time ... and some Key West key lime pie!

Except for one event, which I’ll get to shortly, my most vivid memories of being in Miami involve sports.

I’ve been there to cover Raptors’ games and baseball world series games, most notably when the Florida Marlins won the Series in 1997 and I was covering it for the Star. I was there at the fabulous Doral golf course in 2005 when Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson duked it out on the final holes on the final day. Actually, that’s probably my favourite memory from covering golf for the Star for a few years.

I was down keeping an eye on the tourney in general and on Woods when it became clear that the Sunday round was going to end up like a match play event with he and Mickelson, mano a mano. They were back and forth, or at least tied, a great deal of the day. I remember Woods making a big putt on the 17th hole to really put the pressure on and I think he took a one-shot lead to the famous 18th hole on the Blue Monster course, a long par four with treacherous water down the left side.

And here’s the fun part. When you cover golf for a paper as big as the Star, they give you a pass to walk inside the ropes, near the players and away from the hordes of fans. You’re supposed to stay within an arm’s length of the ropes as they don’t want reporters in the way or sidling up to Mickelson asking for tips on his famous flop shot. I remember hearing somebody say something in the crowd that I liked after Tiger sank his putt on the 17th, or maybe I just had a rare thought in my head. Anyway, I paused for a half-minute or so to write something down in my notepad. As I scribbled, I noticed the other reporters and photographers with “inside the ropes” access walking past me. No problem, I thought.

I put my pen away and my notepad and got into the back of the media line as it snaked its way past the 18th tee box. The photographers with the big lenses usually walk down the fairway a bit, then turn around with their big lenses to get shots of the players on the tee without making noise. Usually they walk a fair piece down before they stop. But on this day the photographers at the front of the line stopped short. So that meant the people in line behind THEM stopped a little short. Which meant that little old me, in the back of the line because of my note-taking, was suddenly stopped from moving forward in the media line. That wouldn’t normally be an issue but this time I was stopped just two feet from where Tiger was leaning down to put his tee in the ground. Maybe less. I could almost hear him breathing as he put his ball on the tee.

His caddy, Stevie Williams, looked over at me and snarled, “Get the f--- out of here!!”

Williams has a reputation as a bit of a jerk but he was absolutely right. I was in precisely the wrong place at the wrong time and it was my own fault.

I nodded. I looked around. There was nowhere to go. The line in front of me was stopped. There were PGA Tour officials behind me. So I did the only thing I could do to get away: I got on my hands and knees and crawled under the ropes, through the crowd of fans gathered around the 18th tee.

“Excuse me, pardon me, excuse me.” I felt like Bugs Bunny in the theatre in that famous cartoon. I also felt like an idiot.

I was soon able to get to my feet and I walked down the edge of the trees on the right side of the hole, then clambered back inside the ropes to watch Mickelson just miss a chip that might have tied Tiger. Instead, Woods made a short putt for the win and, as I recall, regained his number one world ranking.

It was a great finish but I mostly remember it for my own stupid situation. It's certainly a golf story I’ll never forget.

My other favourite memory of Miami is being on a family trip maybe eight or nine years ago. We went to South Beach and my wife and my youngest son, then about 12 or 13,  waded out into the Atlantic to toss a football around, as I recall. They were having a great time when a couple of teenage girls (or maybe a bit older) decided to have a little fun. They stood on a sandbar not far from my wife and son and yelled "Let's get naked," and then whipped off their bikini tops.

To this day, I think my son has a real thing for Miami Beach.

I’ll be back in Miami this weekend, so look for a live blog posting sometime on Sunday. Monday and Tuesday I’ll report from the Florida Keys and Key West. And then I’ll be in the U.S Virgin Islands for a week, checking out St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix before heading back to Miami for a day on the way home.

Cheers and thanks for reading!

You can email me at jbyers@thestar.ca. Also, be sure to follow me on Twitter @jimbyerstravel

 

WestJet Encore is born, Taste of Montreal food deals, Sunwing Weddings

WestJet's new regional airline has been given a name.

WestJet Encore will launch in the second half of next year using Bombardier Q400 aircraft to service smaller Canadian communities.

A whole raft of cities have been lobbying for service under the new WestJet umbrella. The Calgary Herald reports that Nanaimo, B.C., had a huge social media campaign to try to get the airline's attention "while Brandon, Man., collected more than 10,000 signatures on a petition." Penticton, B.C., declared itself "WestJetville" for a day, the Herald said, and I like their style.

"We were looking for, as we developed a short list, something that related to WestJet and our proud 16-year history," said Bob Cummings, WestJet's executive vice-president of sales, marketing, and guest experience. "We brought low-cost travel to Canadians, and we're now going to go into smaller communities and bring low fares to them."

Air Canada recently announced its new, discount carrier will be launched next year as well, so it's clear that the Canadian air wars continue...

TASTE OF MONTREAL

Reservations are now open for the first edition of TASTE MONTREAL, an initiative of Tourisme Montreal. From Nov. 1 to 11, close to 100 restaurants across the great city of Montgreal will offer tasty menus at $19, $29 and $39.

For a complete list of participating restaurants or to make a reservation, visit www.tourisme-montreal.org and look for the Taste of Montreal.

In additiion to great savings there also will be food events. Mont-Royal Avenue will have six participating restaurtns that will welcome guests to candle-lit dinners on certain nights. Visit www.mont-royal.net for more information.

SUNWING WEDDINGS

Sunwing has launched the newest edition of its Destination Weddings Guide. The new volume is twice the size of the original and has an array of new features along with tips and trends to help brides and grooms plan their dream Destination Wedding.

Couples can choose from Diamond or Platinum Sunwing Weddings Planning Packages and get personalized consultations, information on legal requirement, a budget spreadsheet and much more.

Out of country weddings are increasingly popular, with couples choose places such as the Caribbean, Paris or even cruise ships for their vows.

COMING ATTRACTIONS

Off to Miami (supposed to rain tomorrow, damn) on Saturday for a day and then Key West. After that I'll be blogging from the U.S. Virgin Islands before heading back to Miami. So stay tuned for some sunhshine words and photos.

Don't forget you can always email me at jbyers@thestar.ca or follow me on Twitter @jimbyerstravel

 

 

Outstanding sale for accomodations in beautiful Maui this fall ...

Always dreamed of those soft, warm nights under a palm tree with a mai tai and Hawaiian music playing in the background? A fan of great golf courses and endless, safe beaches and spectacular seafood and whale-watching and long, oceanfront drives?

You're in luck. My favourite island in the world, Maui, has  just released its quarterly “Special Values E-Alert,” listing the latest bargains offered for fall and winter by 53 Maui hotels, condos, villas, cottages, and b&bs. Go to mauiaccommodations.com and click on Special Offers for some truly terrific deals.

Lots of folks love Wailea and Kihei. Wailea is generally on the pricey side but usually has the best weather on the island. Kihei isn't as beautiful but has nice beaches and good weather, although it's often windy in the afternoon.

Me? I grew up going to West Maui, in particularly the Lahaina-Ka'anapali-Napili area, which includes legendary Kapalua and its amazing golf courses and also the affordable Kahana region, where there are tons of decent if not spectacular beaches and reasonably priced condos.

A couple of the deals that struck me on the Maui accomodations site this morning were a $99 package for the Napili Village condo. I've never stayed at Napili Village (see photo at left) but I've been through the property a gazillion times on my way to the little Napili Village store. The pool is small but the property is all of 25 feet from the beach. You might not get an ocean view, but it's all of 30 seconds away, and Napili Beach is for my money the best beach on the planet.

There's excellent snorkeling and swimming at Napili, and also bodysurfing when the surf is up. You can rent paddleboards or just go for a nice walk along a crescent beach where no building is more than two stories high.

The cute and highly recommended Mauian is right next door, with rooms on offer for $180/night. Or you can splurge a bit on a package at the fabulous Napili Kai Beach Resort and stay seven nights while paying for five.

Elsewhere on the island, I spotted rooms at the terrific Ka'anapali Beach Hotel for $166 and up. It's a perfectly located spot right in the heart of miles-long Ka'anapali Beach, which offers not only outstanding water activities but also great shopping at Whalers' Village (see photo at right) and tons of beachfront restaurants, including Hula Grill and Leilani's, which makes the best fish taco you'll ever try.

I saw rooms near Maalea harbor for $120 and up. Lots of folks like it down that way but I personally find it a touch sterile and far too windy. Better, I think, to go further down the coast into Kihei or, if you can afford, it Wailea. The Kihei Beach Resort, which I don't know, has rooms for $130/night. Several Wailea properties had deals, too, such as 25 per cent off or even 30 per cent off condo rentals.

The Wailea Grand Champions Villas, perfect for golfers, had studios listed from $110 when I checked this morning. The golf in Wailea is outstanding, and the beaches are just as good as most in West Maui. Lovely resorts all along the coast, including Four Seasons and the family-friendly Grand Wailea with its endless pools and slides for kids.

I went on Expedia and found deals on flights from Toronto to Maui in November for $900 on American Airlines, flying through Dallas. It's not a bad way to go and it's a pretty good fare when you consider it's easy to drop $600 these days on a flight to Vancouver or L.A.

 Aloha!

Cold nights in southern Ontario; time to think about some winter getaways

Good forecast for the next few days here in Toronto, but it's cold enough overnight that I had to bring my bougainvillea and croton plants into my sunroom for the season. Which means it's time to start thinking about our Canadian rights to winter travel.

It's not QUITE enshrined in the Canadian charter, but for many Canucks that winter trip to sunnier climes is certainly as de rigeur as eating and breathing and hockey.

In the interests of spicing up the blog a little and offering some advice after four years in the editor's chair here at Toronto Star Travel, I thought I'd start the occasional series on great spots you might want to think about for that fall-winter-early spring sunshine/vitamin E/beach time getaway. I haven't been to enough places in the world to do any kind of exhaustive list; my resume is sadly lacking, for instance, in South America and Central America experience. But I've been to almost every state in the U.S. and to southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand, as well as most of Europe and a fair bit of the Caribbean (although not as much as I'd like), so I think I can safely pass along some general ideas. We'll start with something nice and easy, but also with a few surprises you didn't know about.

FLORIDA

Yeah, I know you know about Florida. But like most Canadians you probably park yourself in the same condo complex each year and go to the same beaches and same restaurants each year. Nothing wrong with familiarity and finding a comfort zone, but it's a HUGE state with all sorts of variety and it'd be a shame not to experience more of it.

I had a chance last year to make a brief visit to Amelia Island on the Atlantic side near Jacksonville. It was spectacular in the fall and the weather there is usually quite good year-round. January might not be swimming weather for some as it's reasonably far north. But it's still closer to Orlando than it is to Myrtle Beach, so you're in pretty good shape year-round. The average high in January in Jacksonville is a very solid 18 degrees, so we're not exactly talking about having to wear a hoodie and gloves, guys.

There are some stunning resorts on Amelia, including the Omni Amelia Resort. It sits right on a long, terrific stretch of beach and there's a golf course right on the water; a beauty. They're spending about $85 million on renovations (they call it a "re-imagination") so check before you book.

There's also a Ritz Carlton if that's more your thing. There are also Comfort Inn's and Residence Inns and Hampton's for folks on more of a budget or who might want a unit with some extra sleeping or cooking space.

The town of Fernandina Beach is a little-known beaut; with a small town feel featuring fun galleries, great shopping and outstanding restaurants such as 29 South. Lots of places to dine alfresco in the nice weather in town and, of course, poolside at the resorts. The backside of Amelia, away from the beach, features lovely marshes that are great for a solitary walk or a canoe/kayak ride.

You know about Clearwater and Dunedin and all that. And I recently wrote a blog about the Space Coast in case you weren't up to speed on places like Canaveral State Park, with its dunes and bird life. One area you might not have heard a lot about but that I really loved on a trip a couple years ago was Everglades City, which is about as far south as you can go without hitting the Keys. There's a great, outdoors vibe to the place as it's a staging ground for fabulous fishing, birding and boating in the remarkable Everglades. I'm not a great kayaker but I had a wonderful trip with a guide who was extremely helpful, and we spotted everything from gators to bald eagles during a two-hour expedition, not to mention dolphins and egrets and lots more.

I had a great meal at the Camellia Street Grill, a funky spot with a wildly decorated VW bug out front and terrific seafood. Try the stone crab in season, or just munch on some fresh-caught grouper and watch the boats roll by while you sit on a casual patio overlooking the river (see photo). Old-time Florida at its best.

Down the end of a short dusty road at the southern tip of Chokoloskee Island, just south of Everglades City, you'll find the fabulous Smallwood's store, which opened in 1906 as a local trading post and lived on for 76 years before it finally shuttered its doors.

As I mentioned in a story in Star Travel, it was reopened as a museum and recreation of the store about 20 years ago and it's as entertaining an hour as you're likely to spend in a part of Florida where where locals post Confederate flags in their yards or the windows of their trailer homes and where they don't have to put alligators in a fake pond to give visitors a taste of nature.

 

You walk into Smallwood's today, and it looks pretty much like it must have at the turn of the century, with bare wood walls, displays of native American culture and row upon row of fascinating cures for ancient and modern ailments. They say that about 90 per cent of the original goods in the store the day it closed are still on display.

There are highly entertaining displays of local history, including tales of murder and community cover-ups. Dynamite stuff.

 

I stayed at the Parkway Motel and Marina on Chokoloskee, which had chairs under a covered veranda out front of the rooms for chatting with neighbours and a fridge and free Wi-Fi and was just fine. The Ivey House B and B in Everglades City gets fine reviews and is worth checking out. Or you could make it an easy day trip from Naples or Miami. Either way, it's a charming, old-time part of the state that I just loved.

 

New Four Seasons ups ante in Toronto ... Hobbits to rescue in New Zealand?

And then there were four. Or five. Or maybe, kinda six.

The new Four Seasons opened officially in Toronto last Friday, with much fanfare and, of course, an appearance by nattily attired Four Seasons head guy Izzy Sharp (see photo below, courtesty of digital journal).

It was handled with a fair bit of humour and a lot of style. Sharp said the hotel is in a category by itself.

“We finally, FINALLY have a true Four Seasons in our home town,” he said, a not so vague reference to the tired old gal over on Avenue Road.

The new, updated version is at the northeast corner of Bay and Yorkville and looks considerably more appealing from the street than its predecessor with its giant garage entry. I’m not so sure I find the giant, Paris-style fountain out back to be so attractive, but perhaps it needs some more flowers and gardening to soften the impact.

The interior is what you’d expect from Four Seasons; quiet and sophisticated and serene. There’s lots of local art and soft colours and it’s quite the soothing interior.

The bar on the lobby level looks like a great spot to unwind after work, too.

It’s going to be fascinating to watch how the new boys in town duke it out for the five-star ratings. The Ritz-Carlton is the only property in town that has a five-diamond mark from the Canadian/American Automobile Association. But the new Four Seasons is aiming to duplicate that feat, as is the just-opened Shangri-La down on University and the downtown Trump on Bay St. And don’t forget the Hazelton, where I’m told Bruce Springsteen commanded a fine suite during his recent stay.

And there’s still the Thompson, which is probably aiming for a younger set and, I suspect, isn’t as worried about five star status.

It’s interesting how the Film Festival’s move to the King West area has spurred such development. The Ritz is on Wellington, just steps from the TIFF Lightbox, and the Shangri-La is on Adelaide at University; right around the corner. The Trump is only a few steps further east, which gives you three superb properties in the downtown/Entertainment District area, and then the Hazelton and Four Seasons up in Yorkville.

CAN HOBBITS DELIVER FOR NEW ZEALAND?

The New Zealand government gave Warner Bros. as much as $25 million in subsidies two years ago to make sure The Hobbit movies were filmed in the land of the Kiwi. With the first of the two Hobbit movies being released in New Zealand next month (Nov. 28), it’ll be interesting to see if they get their money back.

It’ll be tough to match the surprising impact of The Lord of the Rings, which I was personally scared would be a terrible trio of movies. Of course, 30 seconds into the first one I was grinning like a kid and looking forward to the next two flicks.

I love the movies and I adore New Zealand, which I like to think of as a more pastoral, greener version of Canada south of the equator; a mix of Canadian sensibilities with California weather and food.

Twenty five million dollars probably isn’t a lot, and we’re already seeing lots of stories about folks visiting NZ to check out the movie set. We’ll have a story in Star Travel coming up, and the New York Times just ran one on Sunday.

Still, times are tough in New Zealand. When the first Lord of the Rings came out, Bloomberg notes in a story in today’s Star business section, the New Zealand dollar was way down around 40 cents vs. the U.S. dollar. It’s now up at 83 cents. Saving 17 per cent on your currency is still a good deal, but NZ is nowhere near the bargain it was eleven years ago. And it’s not a cheap country to get to from North America, of course.

New Zealand certainly is banking on The Hobbit to make a difference. Tourism New Zealand in August began a “100 per cent Middle Earth” ad campaign that capitalizes on scenes from the movie series.

Tourism officials concede they can’t simply rely on folks wandering over to New Zealand simply to check out a movie set. Which means they need to remind folks of all the other great things to do in their country.

You probably know about the bungee jumping and the fjords of the South Island and the sheep and maybe the hot springs and the Maori culture, which is outstanding. But there’s so much more: great cities like Auckland with smart shopping and great restaurants; incredible beaches, some of them right out of a Tahiti movie set; world-class vineyards in absolutely stunning settings, fabulous skiing and luxurious eco-resorts and golf resorts with some of the best courses you’ll find on the planet.

I’d be hard-pressed to think of another country that offers such diversity in such a small package.

More cross-border airport hopping ... New Four Seasons Toronto opens today

In the wake of that terrific Conference Board of Canada report that shows millions of Canadians are avoiding high fees and fares in Canada and flocking to U.S. airports for their holiday trips came a good follow-up from Expedia.ca.

They offer dedicated Cross Border Deals from Buffalo, Detroit, Burlington Vermont, Seattle and Bellingham, Washington and note that big savings can be had if folks don't mind the drive. Most of us here in Toronto have a good two hour drive to get to Buffalo-Niagara. If you live in Oakville or Hamilton or Niagara, it's a heckuva lot closer. Oshawa? Not so great an option.

Expedia says Bellingham is just an hour from Vancouver and is most popular for flights to Las Vegas, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Diego. The top five destinations Canadians fly to from Buffalo are New York City, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Boston and Chicago. As for Burlington, about two hours from Montreal, it's used mostly for flights to Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, New York City, Las Vegas and Tampa. Seattle is about three hours from Vancouver and is used by Canadians mostly for flights to New York, Los Angeles, Orlando, San Francisco and Fort Lauderdale. Detroit is about 2.5 hours from London Ontario and just across the border from Windsor. The most popular Detroit flights for Canadians are those heading to Orlando, Las Vegas, Fort Lauderdale, Phoenix and Tampa.

The conference board report says Canadians save about 30 per cent by flying out of the U.S. versus flying from Canadian airports. For Montrealers, the cost of a flight to U.S. destinations from Burlington is often half the cost of leaving from Montreal, which is amazing.

Of course, driving to the U.S. is not without its issues. There's the time involved, although lineups might be shorter and security simpler in Buffalo than in Pearson, for example. You have to cross the border, of course, which can be time consuming depending on the time of day. You might have to pay for parking at the airport if you're not staying at a hotel. If you do stay at a hotel you might get free parking but would have to, of course, pay for your room.

Expedia.ca recommends checking for hotels with free parking and free airport shuttles. They also point out that coming home to Buffalo and then facing a wait at the border and a two or three-hour drive might not be the ideal ending to your holiday. Yeah, probably not, but worth it for a savings of $400 on your tickets for a family of four, I'd think. Maybe you'd save more than that.

About the same time Expedia was listing some good information about cross-border trips, the folks at Cheapflights.ca sent me a list of the most searched flights for October getaways. They found three places that had more than a 200 per cent increase in flight searches over the last month. Searches for Fort Myers, Florida, home of wonderful islands, good food and great beaches, were up a whopping 456 per cent. Searches for Phoenix jumped 302 per cent, possibly due to cooling weather in Arizona that makes the fall a great time to enjoy the golf, hiking, spas, shopping and other activities. Searches for New Orleans were up a solid 286 per cent as folks gear up for events such as the Voodoo Music Experience, which runs Oct. 26-28 and features the likes of Neil Young, Green Day and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.

Rounding out the top five search list for the month were Key West, Florida (awesome place, with searches up 258 per cent) and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, with searches jumping 245 per cent over September figures.

FOUR SEASONS OPENS TODAY

The latest in the five-star hotel assault wave on T.O. takes place today, when the new Four Seasons Yorkville officially opens its doors. Luminaries and media folks will be on hand in droves, I suspect, and I'm hoping to make it if they'll let me past security.

The Star's Susan Pigg has a good story on the hotel in today's business section, so you can check that out here. There's also a cool graphic on the hotel in this month's Toronto Life, which reveals that there are 300 silent-close toilet seats on the property and that they take eight seconds to close. They also note that security staff learns something called "verbal judo" to disarm aggressive guests, and that sounds intriguing as hell.

You can take the slippers home with you for free, but the robes are supposed to stay behind. Ditto for the free iPads they lend out to folks for their stay, which is becoming a trend in the industry for high-end hotels. Not so much the Comfort Inn at the Airport. Not yet, anyway.

 

 

Canadians flocking to U.S. airports a huge issue. So let's do something already

Maybe this time the Prime Minister is listening.

The Conference Board of Canada gave a boost to this country's struggling tourism industry on Wednesday when it issued a hefty and strongly worded report warning the feds about the increasing number of Canadians fleeing high taxes and airport fees in this country and flying out of airports across the border. The board, which is extremely well respected across the country, said some five million passengers cross the border annually to fly from U.S. airports to escape fees and taxes that result in much higher prices for Canadian flights.

“Cross-border air-fare shopping is being driven by a perfect storm of factors that also includes differences in wages, aircraft prices, and industry productivity as well as U.S. aviation policies,” said the study’s author, Vijay Gill. “For air carriers flying from American airports, these add up to a 30 per cent cost advantage.”

The board said the average flight to a common U.S. destination (whatever that is) out of Toronto costs  $318 for the base, plus $114 in fees and taxes for a $432 total. To reach those same destinations from Buffalo would cost a flier $265 in base fare plus $59 for a total of $324. That's a difference of $108 per ticket. Multiply that by four for a family and you're at almost $450. No wonder Orlando tourism officials tell me that 17 per cent of Canadians who fly to central Florida use American airports such as Buffalo-Niagara (see photo at right).

You can stay at a hotel in Buffalo the night before a flight and often park for free. Sure, you'll spend $50 on gas and $150, maybe, for the hotel room. But if you can park for free in Buffalo you could save on your parking or on the horrendous cost of a cab to Pearson, plus you'd come out maybe $200 ahead on your airline tickets even when you take the hotel and gas cost into account.

You think it's bad in Toronto? Ha. Look at the numbers for Montreal. According to the Conference Board, a flight to the U.S. from Montreal averages a whopping $573 in base fare (WOW) plus $124 in taxes and fees for a killer average of $697. Montrealers can drive to Burlington, Vermont (a two-hour drive) and pay just $327 for that same ticket; LESS THAN HALF the price of flying from home.

This has been talked about before. The Star wrote a good story about it not long ago. But I'm thinking the weight of the Conference Board might actually be making an impression in Ottawa this time.

“Yes, we are concerned about that,” Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said Wednesday when asked about the new data.

“(Transport) Minister (Denis) Lebel has been working on a consultation project with the airlines, with the airport authorities in Canada, who are very important on this issue, to try to see what we can accomplish, and we’ll hear more from him over time,” Flaherty told the media.

The Star's Ottawa bureau reports Flaherty did not give any details on what is being considered or when the public might hear what Ottawa hopes to accomplish. Nor did he give he any details on who Denis Lebel is. Or better yet Maxime Bernier, the minister for small business and tourism, who's virtually invisible but appears to enjoy having his picture taken at tourism events at which he can hold models of planes.

 

The fact that tourism is even part of a ministry associated with small business is completely and utterly LUDICROUS.

For its part, the Tourism Industry Association of Canada has (very quietly) been asking folks in the biz to step up and fight against "significant" cuts to the Canadian Tourism Commission budget. In a note on the TIAC website, officials state that "the proposed CTC budget for 2013/14 is $57.8 million - a decrease of 41.5% in just a decade."

"Funding the CTC is more important than ever," TIAC says. "Tourism continues to grow globally, but Canada's share continues to erode. We have slipped from 7th to 18th in the world for international visitors and we are one of only five countries to experience a drop in arrivals in the last 10 years. With less money to promote Canada in key markets, we will unquestionably struggle to take advantage of the growth in international travel.

"As tourism business people, you make vital contributions to the Canadian economy, creating jobs - over 600 000 across the country - and creating more than $78.8 billion in economic activity."

I know a dollar doesn't go as far as it used to, but 78.8 BILLION DOLLARS ain't small business, folks. It's BIG, CRITICAL BUSINESS and deserves a lot more support. And respect. But I guess it's hard for the Prime MInister to provide money for tourism and to grow tourism jobs because he has to fund all those jails we need to protect us from the gangs of roaming thugs who stroll our streets day and night.

A Senate report in June said Ottawa should “stop treating airports as a source of public revenue and start treating them as economic spark plugs.” And amen to that.

Most of the blame for our tourism situation falls with Harper. But I think TIAC and others in the industry need to do more than issue the odd press release tsk-tsking over budget cuts. How about a forum in downtown Toronto with the Four Seasons and Fairmonts and Delta hotels  people - all Canadian companies. How about bringing in cabbies and restaurant owners and Air Canad and Porter and WestJet people and delivering a high-profile blow instead of (or in addition to) quietly lobbying the Jim Flaherty's of the world?

Wouldn't it be a good thing for the Canadian people to know just what's going on in such a vital industry?