As we sailed away from the skittles-coloured Lunenburg buildings I started humming Stan Rogers tunes. Sailing on the ship that graces our Canadian dime is a treat I hadn’t experienced since I was 8. My boys, avid sailors themselves, had never had the pleasure. On our most recent trip to Nova Scotia, they got to explore the Bluenose II.
Ottawa, our wonderful nation’s capital, is both the political and technological center of Canada. As far as a vacation destination, it has a lot to offer, from shopping and dining to fun things to do with kids in Ottawa. Here are some of the high points!
Not sure where to start. I’m not really as cool as I like to think I am. And the Drake is a bit out of my league on the funkiness scale. With a photobooth in the lobby, a balloon chandelier, and 1970’s touches in the studio (‘crash pad’) rooms, this place was.. the bomb. On a cool scale? I felt 200%. The bathroom is incorporated into the room, kind of at the end of your bed. The staff have nose rings and tight plaid pants like the hip golfers in the PGA Tour.
When offered the opportunity to do a day trip or two in the new 2020 BMW X3 30e, our family was giddy. OOOH the possibilities! The whole province could be our oyster! Where to first? We decided to take at least one night away. Not having been to a hotel since March when the world changed, this seemed like a brand new stage for us. Super-careful since being whisked home from Florida before more cancelled trips, a getaway seemed so foreign. We didn’t count on the idea being so widespread when we decided to explore Prince Edward County!
When I was a child, our summer vacations were usually a three hour journey from our front door to the door of where we were staying. Most of the time we journeyed to our vacation destination via car and ferry. My sister and I loved that our parents were sharing with us all of the fabulous sites that our province had to offer whether we were camping by a lake, staying in a cottage by the ocean, or exploring the coast in an RV.
We all wistfully count every summer moment with our kids, knowing that there will be a time when there are no more long, lazy days. Sometime in August, though, a chorus of ‘I’m Bored!’ rings through the house. The blowup backyard wading pool has lost its intrigue and you are breaking all of your parenting rules by caving in to extending their gaming time on a daily basis. By now, camps are all full and also expensive. Take a deep breath, because there are some amazing options!
Robyn Cyr is one hip and awesome grandma. During the day she plays with her grandkids, aged 10, six and two, at the Salmon Arm Roots & Blues Festival. They romp in the bouncy castle and play games in the Family Fun Zone and pound on bongos, shake tambourines and dance in the interactive Playzone. Of course, there are drinks and treats from food truck alley afterward. Then the kids go home to the babysitter and Cyr gathers her husband, daughter and son-in-law.
When was the last time you explored your own backyard?
Recently, I was invited to test drive both the 2018 Lexus NX 300 F Sport and the Lexus NX 300 Hybrid under the magnificent gaze of the snow-sprinkled hills of the Okanagan with Lexus Canada.
The more I see of my birthplace, I wish I had explored extensively and heard tons more stories from locals as I grew up. I am feeling abundantly thankful for Chevrolet Canada for inviting me to drive the amazing Traverse around the Bay of Fundy. Youth may be wasted on the young, but travel at any age is never a waste. Even in your own backyard. I vow to take as many road trips and holidays as I possibly can with my family in order to broaden our minds and strengthen our bonds. The kids will have to do the trek through New Brunswick and Nova Scotia with me in the future, because there is nothing like the Maritimes. Sociable!
Jill Amery is the publisher of Urban Mommies Media and was born and bred on the East Coast of Canada. Jill recently visited Halifax, Nova Scotia and takes us on a video journey around the Historic Properties (aka Privateer’s Wharf) to see all the sights and sounds of a busy East Coast city, and learn a little Canadian history as well!