There’s really no better sight then a colourful sunset over a still body of water. I’m obsessed with sunsets in general, but there’s something magical about the mirror image reflected back off the water, like this one I took last week on the South Muskoka River. Magic Hour at it’s finest!
Halloween is my favourite time of year. I love the costumes, the decorations, the pumpkin carving and the Halloween parties, and I especially love travelling to check out Halloween places and events.
A couple of my favourites have been exploring Salem and learning about the witch trials (and seeing all the Hocus Pocus filming sites!) and dressing up to attend Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at Disney World. But unfortunately with Covid-19 still happening, this year I won’t be checking a new item off my Halloween travel list or attending any big Halloween parties. So instead, I checked out a Halloween event much closer to home that I haven’t made it to before: Pumpkins After Dark at Country Heritage Park in Milton, ON.
This year, in order to keep everyone safe and distanced, the event was a 2.5km drive-thru experience. Along the dark, winding trail there are over 150 pumpkin sculptures made from 7000-7500 carved pumpkins all lit up.
The sculptures included superheroes, Disney characters, classic Halloween villains, a variety of animals and much more.
What an incredible sight! Although you couldn’t get too close to the pumpkins or stop at any point along the trail, the detail found in the sculptures was amazing.
I can only imagine how cool they would look up close (and how much better my photos would be if I wasn’t hanging out of a moving car window trying to take them!!).
It took about 45 minutes to drive through the park, including through a tunnel of spooky pumpkins.
With the creepy music playing and the thousands of pumpkins lighting up the dark, cloudy sky, I definitely left feeling more in the Halloween spirit!
For more information (and for way better photos) visit https://pumpkinsafterdark.com/.
New York City is one of my favourite places in the world and I try to visit at least once a year.
I will never forget being there on September 11, 2006. It was a grey, drizzling day out as I made my way down to where the Twin Towers had once stood.
I remember them reading out the names of all those who were lost that day and looking out at the empty space that had, until a few years earlier, been the towers at the World Trade Center—a sight I would never see in real life.
As I’ve been off from my job as a flight attendant due to the Covid-19 pandemic, I’ve been going through the tens of thousands of slides from my Grandma’s travels and recently came across a box labelled “Cruise from NYC to Bermuda 1993.”
As I began to click through them, one of the first slides in the carousel was this…
A grainy old photo she’d taken through the window on the cruise ship of the Twin Towers, standing tall above the Hudson River.
What a sight.
I sat for a moment taking them in and thinking about their horrific end along with the lives of so many, especially those in my field of aviation. Today, I found myself going back to it and thinking about all the stories of loss and love that took place 19 years ago. Never Forget.
I’ve been wanting to explore Flowerpot Island for a few summers now and with Covid-19 continuing to impede international travel plans, this seemed like the perfect time to explore more of my own province.
Flowerpot Island is one of twenty islands found in Fathom Five National Marine Park, located off the coast of Tobermory on the beautiful Bruce Peninsula in Ontario.
We booked a glass-bottom boat ride with Bruce Anchor to take us out to the island, 6.5km from Tobermory.
Before heading to the island, we sailed into Big Tub Harbour to see two of the over twenty historic shipwrecks found in the Fathom Five National Marine Park.
Through the clear turquoise waters, we came across the Sweepstakes wreck. This schooner was built in Burlington, ON and was damaged off Cove Island before being towed to Big Tub Harbour where she sank in September, 1885. It’s amazing how much of this ship is still intact 135 years later.
The second ship found in Big Tub Harbour is the City of Grand Rapids, a passenger steamer built in 1879 in Grand Haven, Michigan. On October 29, 1907, a fire broke out aboard the Grand Rapids while docked in Little Tub Harbour. To prevent the fire from spreading, the ship was towed out of the harbour and released to burn itself out. Eventually, the charred remains sank in Big Tub Harbour near the Sweepstakes, where it can still be found just offshore.
The cold water found here has helped to preserve these wrecks, and just sailing over them, it was clear why this area has some of the best freshwater diving opportunities in Canada.
From here, we sailed past Big Tub Lighthouse, which was originally lit in 1885, over to Flowerpot Island. As we got close, you could see the ‘Flowerpot’ rock pillars sticking up from the water.
We docked at Beachy Cove and decided to do the full Loop Trail, 2.6km, including hiking the Marl Trail.
It was a beautiful day to explore the island, although we came across a few too many snakes for my liking!
By the time we made it around to the Lighthouse station, we stopped to have our picnic lunch. Here, we found out that there are also an abundance of little red squirrels just waiting for you to leave your lunch unattended!
The Lighthouse museum was closed this year due to Covid-19, but you could still wander around the buildings and down to the white rocky beach.
If you trade the rocks for white sand and the trees found here for palm trees, with the beautiful turquoise waters, you can almost imagine that you are in the Caribbean instead of Canada.
Unfortunately, the caves were also closed this year, so we just got to see the outside walls. The rock formations along the trail from the Lighthouse station to the Flowerpots were really cool.
The Flowerpots were definitely the highlight though. They were the reason I wanted to come here and they didn’t disappoint, standing tall against the clear turquoise waters. Crazy to think that these have been here for hundreds of years!
I took off my shoes and stood with my feet in the glittering cold water taking it all in (and wishing it was less crowded…) Such a beautiful spot.
After taking a bunch of photos at the Big Flowerpot, we headed over to the less crowded Little Flowerpot, finding a spot to sit and relax on the rocks nearby before catching our cruise back to Tobermory.
*We spent 4 hours on the island which was the perfect amount of time to hike the trails, have a picnic lunch and spend some time at each of the flowerpots
For more info check out: https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/amnc-nmca/on/fathomfive/activ/flowerpot https://explorethebruce.com/mobile/story/your-flowerpot-island-experience/67/
Like so many others, my travel plans so far in 2020 haven’t exactly worked out as I had hoped. I’ve really been missing getting out and exploring, especially during this beautiful summer weather.
I may not be able to journey as far as I usually do, but for August, I promised myself I’d get out and explore local tourist spots.
So today, I went five minutes up the road to check out The Sunflower Farm, located just outside my little town of Beaverton.
This beautiful farm, with 10 acres of sunflower fields, just opened a few weeks ago and I’ve been dying to check it out. (Apparently I wasn’t the only one as the wait to get in with current Covid regulations was over an hour…. so be prepared!)
Once inside, you follow the trail past 1000s of bright yellow sunflowers. I was in heaven.
Sunflowers have always been my favourite flower so wandering along the path here, with a sea of yellow stretching on and on, was the perfect way to spend a sunny, summer afternoon!
I’ve been spending a lot of time in Moncton, New Brunswick with work this winter, and on a rare day off, I decided to go check out the famous Tidal Bore. This natural phenomenon is caused by the Bay of Fundy tides and takes place twice a day. As the Tidal Bore comes in, the water in the Petitcodiac River rolls back upstream in a rippling wave that can get to a height of 60 cm.
The one I witnessed wasn’t anywhere near that high. In fact, a man passing by commented that it was one of the smallest he’d ever seen. Oh well – at least I can say I saw Moncton’s Tidal Bore, one of the world’s highest tides!
You can find the estimated daily Tidal Bore times online. From downtown, the best viewing area is at Bore Park. Be sure to arrive early as many factors may affect the time of the Tidal Bore by 15 to 20 minutes either way.
Winter has never been my season. Although born and raised a proud Canadian girl, I prefer to watch the snow from inside, cuddled up with a blanket and a cup of coffee instead of outside bundled up in all my layers, still freezing. But, when on a recent trip to Edmonton, Alberta, my friend suggested a trip to the Ice Castle there. So, I decided to channel my inner Elsa and go explore this frozen wonderland, and I definitely wasn’t disappointed!
The original Ice Castle was built in Utah in 2011 and has since expanded to six locations across North America, including Edmonton.
Each year, the Ice Castles are built by skilled ice artists using hundreds of thousands of hand-placed icicles and then lit using LED lights.
The result is a magical fairytale world of ice with tunnels, slides, thrones, fountains and beautiful displays to enjoy.
With fireworks lighting up the sky above, making the ice twinkle brighter, it certainly is a winter wonderland worth exploring!
Planning your trip:
The Ice Castle is open daily but keep in mind that dates and hours are weather dependent. Entries are timed and pre-booking your tickets is highly recommended.
For more info and to book your tickets, click here.
The Battle of Hogwarts raged 21 years ago today and what a different place the Wizarding World would have been if that battle hadn’t ended in victory. We get a glimpse of just how different in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
If you are a big Harry Potter fan like me and get the chance to see this incredible two part play currently running in five cities be sure to check it out.
On a recent trip to NYC, I finally had the chance to see it. What a brilliant, imaginative piece of theatre. You are instantly transported into the magical world of Harry Potter. I was enthralled from start to finish. Over five hours of theatre and I would have willing gone back for more. It’s definitely a must-see piece of theatre!
Halloween is my favourite time of year. I love all the decorations and costumes and how everything seems just a little spookier as the leaves change colour and the carved pumpkins glow.
It’s also a great time to explore some of the world’s creepier destinations.
Here are a few of my favourite spooky spots to check out this time of year:
Exploring the Catacombs of Paris.
“The City of Love” has a darker side waiting 20m below the city streets. Here, in the underground ossuaries lie the remains of more than six million people. The bones are laid in a small part of a tunnel network built to consolidate Paris’ ancient stone mines.
During the late 1700s, many of the city’s cemeteries had reached capacity. Some, including the Saints-Innocents (Cemetery of the Innocents) had gone beyond capacity. Here, people were buried in mass graves, piled one on top of the other until it became a source of infection for those nearby. In late 1785, the Council of the State closed the cemetery and decided to remove its contents.
Millions of bones found in the underground ossuary of Paris
This transfer began in 1786 after the blessing and consecration of the site and continued until 1788. The moving of remains took place at nightfall, where a procession of priests sang the service for the dead along the route taken by the carts loaded with bones and covered by a black veil. Until 1814, this site received the remains from all the cemeteries of Paris.
Nowadays, the 2kms of bone-filled tunnels is a perfect place to spend a couple of hours on Halloween!
Koi fish swimming in the pond surrounding What Rong Khun
Better known as the “White Temple,” Wat Rong Khun is one of the most famous temples in Thailand. Located in Chiang Rai, this temple looks like something out of a fairy tale… until you get a closer look.
There are demons and villains popping out of the ground and hanging from trees all around the temple. To enter the main chapel, you cross a narrow bridge over a pool of hands and faces reaching up, trying to claw their way back to the surface, representing suffering souls in Hell.
And they sure are creepy to walk across!
Mickey Halloween Lanterns
While it may be known as the happiest place on earth, Disney World turns into a spooky night out with Mickey’s Not- So-Scary Halloween Party.
Jack and Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas with Mary Poppins and Bert!
It may not be as creepy as some of the other spots on this list, but with all the Halloween decor, characters like Jack and Sally out for photos and special shows like the “Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular” and the “Boo-to-You” Parade, it’s definitely a fun night out. Plus, it’s the one time of year that as an adult you can dress up as your favourite character at the park – and you get to trick or treat along the way, no matter how old you are!
Disney is truly a place where you never have to grow up, and that makes celebrating Halloween there even more fun!
And then, of course, there is Salem, Massachusetts
Salem is widely known as the site of the witchcraft trials of 1692, and the history and stories surrounding the hysteria of the witchcraft trials is found everywhere here, from museums to historical re-enactments to haunted walking tours.
During the month of October, this small town of 40,000 doubles in size as Halloween enthusiasts make their way here to explore the haunting history
You can visit the memorial dedicated to the 19 innocent people who were killed during the witch trials and you can also check out some of the film locations of my favourite fictional witches, The Sanderson Sisters from “Hocus Pocus ”
Allison’s Mansion from Hocus Pocus
Salem has something for everyone and should definitely be on your Halloween travel list!
All dressed up for Zombie Prom in Salem
Next on my list of places to visit for Halloween are New Orleans, and of course, Transylvania!
What’s on your spooky travel list?
While September 11th always brings back feelings of terror, hate and loss, it was also a day where people came together with love and compassion.
Some of my favourite stories of this come from Gander, Newfoundland. The recent musical ‘Come From Away,’ is based on a collection of true accounts of the days that followed September 11th, when 38 planes were grounded there after the American airspace was closed following the attacks. I’ve seen the musical three times so far, and it continues to hit me just as hard. If you haven’t seen it and it’s playing anywhere near you – GO SEE IT!
There is also a book I just finished re-reading called, “The Day the World Came to Town- 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland”, that shares stories from passengers, crew and the townspeople who generously dropped everything and opened their doors to the “plane people” who arrived in their small town.
These stories make me so proud to be a Canadian and remind me that even in the darkest times, love and kindness will always overpower hate.
Tales of a Travel Addict 
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