Canada | adventureswithben.com

A Wintery Wonderland at Lake Louise

Published March 24, 2010 at 7:00 am |

IMG 0069 225x300 A Wintery Wonderland at Lake Louise

I grew up in Massachusetts, but now call Orlando my home. I’ve had my fair share of snow, ice and bitter cold temperatures – that’s what helped convince me to move to Florida. The only time I miss the snow is around Christmas. But come January 2nd, I’m ready for the beach. So, when I learned I was traveling to Canada in the winter I was not looking forward to the runny noses, chapped lips and layers of clothing that come with the cold weather.

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What I Discovered Traveling Through Canada

Published March 23, 2010 at 7:00 am |

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Lake Louise Background 300x225 What I Discovered Traveling Through Canada

Well Adventurers,

My grand tour of Canada is officially over. I’m back home for a few short weeks until I’m off on my next adventure. For today’s post, I thought I would share with you some personal observations, discoveries and learnings from my trip through Canada this past February and March.

Canadian Provinces Visited: 6
- St. John’s, Newfoundland
- Halifax, Nova Scotia
- Vancouver, British Columbia
- Calgary, Alberta
- Montreal, Quebec
- Oakville (Toronto), Ontario

Airline Miles Accumulated on Air Canada: 19,209
Never saw a Canadian Mountie
Don’t think I saw a Maple Leaf either

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A 2nd Update from Canada

Published March 15, 2010 at 7:00 am |

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I’ve been on the road for 3 weeks now with 2 more to go. Today I’m leaving for Montreal and Toronto. I was only home for 36 hours so it may be a week or so before I can post some of my adventures in Calgary. In the short time I was in Orlando I had to unpack, do laundry, repack and try to relax and recuperate for the week ahead. Such is the life of the traveler.

Like before, this most recent trip was spectacular. Some of my highlights include…

Buying Olympic Red Mittens in Vancouver

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Where to Buy Olympic Red Mittens?

Published March 9, 2010 at 7:00 am |

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I’m currently in Vancouver, Canada. Home of the 2010 Winter Olympics. It turns out that the hotel I’m staying at is quite far from the city, making a trip to downtown unlikely. Nonetheless, I was able to find an adventure today of Olympic proportions…

When mom heard I was off to Vancouver, she made one request; “buy me a pair of Olympic Red Mittens”.

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Cape Spear – The Easternmost Point on North America

Published March 5, 2010 at 7:00 am |

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IMG 0049 300x225 Cape Spear The Easternmost Point on North America

Quick, get out a map. Can you find the easternmost point in North America? Go ahead, stop reading and find it.

Back?

Were you able to locate it?

On my trip to St. John’s, Newfoundland in Canada I was told that Cape Spear is the easternmost point on the continent of North America. It was about a 20 minute drive from my hotel and I didn’t have a rental car! It would have been a shame to come this far and not make a trip out there. Fortunately, my host graciously offered to drive us to the cape. Watch this YouTube video to see what I found…

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Exploring Signal Hill in St. John’s, Newfoundland

Published March 4, 2010 at 7:00 am |

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IMG 0026 300x225 Exploring Signal Hill in St. Johns, Newfoundland

“What’s the one place I should see?” is the question I always ask when arriving in a new destination. In many of the trips I take I only have time to see or do one activity. So I want to be sure I see the main attraction. This question is often asked to the person at the rental car counter that assists me, the taxi driver that drives me, the server that waits on me and/ or the front desk person who checks me in to the hotel. I like to ask this question to several people because A) I get a variety of opinions and B) the destination that comes up most often is probably the place to visit.

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Where is Jelly Bean Row?

Published March 3, 2010 at 7:00 am |

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“Where’s Jelly Bean Row,” I asked the lady behind the counter.

She laughed and explained that it’s not a particular place, but anywhere in St. John’s where the houses are multi-colored. Still needing clarification, she expanded…

St. John’s has it’s roots in the fishing industry. As ship captains returned from their trips at sea they would search for their homes, all lined up on the nearby hills. In order to make them each stand out, every house was painted a different, vibrant color. Any neighborhood in St. John’s with these colorful houses has been nicknamed Jelly Bean Row.

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Screeched-In at Trapper John’s

Published March 2, 2010 at 7:00 am |

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You’re probably wondering why I am kissing the rear-end of that stuffed animal. I wish I could tell you the reason why. All I can tell you is that it’s part of a fun ritual that I took part in while I was in St. John’s, Newfoundland. It’s called a “Screech-In”.

After a hard day’s work we went to Trapper John’s Museum N’ Pub. It’s located on George St., which was described to me as the Bourbon St., of Newfoundland (without the sex clubs). The street has an assortment of clubs and bars that invite you to warm up from the cold air outside.

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Seeing Snow for the First Time

Published March 1, 2010 at 7:00 am |

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Do you remember the feeling you felt the first time you saw snow fall? If you live in colder climates, chances are you don’t – simply because you were probably very little. You never had that feeling of wonderment, magic and beauty that is a snowfall. For all you readers in the warmer climates, that memory of seeing that first snowflake is probably more vivid.

I grew up in Massachusetts. All of my family lives there now. I’ve shoveled more snow and scraped more ice than I care to. Yet when I arrived in St. John’s, Newfoundland I was met with mixed emotions.

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A Day in St. John’s, Newfoundland

Published February 24, 2010 at 7:00 am |

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Today’s post comes to you from the St. John’s Airport. My flight to Halifax has been delayed by about 50 minutes for de-icing (I forgot that planes have to do that in the winter), so I’m writing this post to pass the time away.

With the free time I had this morning, I took advantage of exploring this surprisingly wonderful city in Canada. After breakfast at the Kcafe, where I tried Toutons (fried bread with molasses or maple syrup), I left for a trip to Cape Spear. Cape Spear is the easternmost point in North America. You can’t get further east on the continent without needing a swimsuit! The scenery was spectacular. I learned that in the early summer, you can see icebergs that have broken off floating around Newfoundland.

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