It was too hot.  It was too hot to sit in my apartment with no air conditioning and too hot to go outside.  I was stuck in the miserable heat.  I didn’t know anyone with a pool in the Toronto area and while cold showers helped, it was very temporary and I needed a long-term…

ESPN’s coverage of the World Series of Poker sparked the poker boom and introduced the masses to the crazy game of poker.  I wish I could say I had been playing poker before that but to be honest I couldn’t even list the winning hands in order.  Three of a kind beats what? It seems…

For weeks I’ve been wanting to see the Van Gogh exhibit at the National Gallery, so finally my family decided to make a weekend of it and go to Ottawa. Early Friday morning we departed from Union station by train and arrived in sunny downtown Ottawa rested and relaxed. Staying conveniently downtown for the weekend,…

Things to do in Ottawa- Visiting the National Gallery of Canada Seeing a painting by Van Gogh in person is so much different than seeing it on a computer screen or replicated on a glossy poster.  You are able to see the texture and brush strokes so clearly and the colors just seem so much…

I had heard a lot about “The Real Muskoka Experience” and it made me wonder what I had missed with my other Muskoka experiences.  I invited a group of family members to join me in what I hoped was the first of many real Muskoka experiences, at the Muskoka Boat and Heritage Centre located at…

When I was younger I used to think that seaplanes were just myths.  My sister would tell me that there was a plane that could land and take off from the water but I just assumed she was lying to me, like when she told me she had ridden a unicorn.  I asked my parents…

I found out last week that a group of my friends were going to Treetop Adventures and that I hadn’t been invited.  I assumed it was because most of my friends and family know me as a wimp when it comes to any kind of thrill seeking activity, and they are right, but I still…

I never imagined I would ever be looking directly into a giraffe’s eyes, but there I was at African Lion Safari, in my car with a giraffe nose pressed up against my window. My kids were in the back seat climbing over each other to get a better view while my wife scrambled to lean…

A few weeks ago a friend of mine called and told me that he and his wife were coming into town and wanted to know if I was up to doing something “outdoorsy”.    Usually I would make an excuse about it being too cold to be “outdoorsy” but with the mild spring we’ve had that…

As we drove through one of the most picturesque areas of Cape Velsey , in the heart of the Fruit Belt, we began to notice the sights, smells, and sounds of spring returning to Eastern Ontario.  Birds are chirping, flowers begin to bloom, and the hollow sound of corks being pulled from wine bottles at…