Step into a world of glowing pumpkins, intricate artistry, and community spirit at Upper Canada Village’s enchanting PumpkInferno.  Where can you go to hang out with Vincent van Gogh, Freddie Mercury, a giant octopus, and a few dinosaurs? If you’re me and it’s October, you head to Upper Canada Village, a heritage park in Morrisburg, eastern Ontario. Each autumn, this genteel farmland setting is transformed into an incredible pumpkin-focused experience, the decorative gourds transforming the landscape into every possible tableau, from classic art, rock and roll bands, undersea adventures, and, well, dinos. If you’re looking for an autumn experience that combines creativity, community spirit, and a touch of whimsy, you need to head to Upper Canada Village’s Pumpkinferno. My October wouldn’t be complete without it.
Perfectly located near Plattsburgh and Montreal, Chazy Orchards invites you to indulge in the best of fall. Savor the flavours of autumn with fresh apples, delicious cider, and mouthwatering treats at this historic orchard.
Looking for a sweet spot to visit this autumn, one filled with cinnamon, cider, and cozy vibes? You have to visit to Chazy Orchards in Chazy, New York. Located just minutes from the city of Plattsburgh and a short drive from Montreal, this is more than just a tasty culinary destination. Chazy Orchards is part of American food history, the world's largest McIntosh apple orchard, and an amazing dog-friendly site that is Clover-approved. Just look how cute she is sniffing the apples!
So demure! So mindful! Are you on board with this travel trend?  As the owner of the world's oldest running cozy travel blog (I think!), no one has been more excited than me to welcome this summer's biggest trend: Demure.
What, exactly is demure? It would be easy to dismiss it as simply TikTok's trend of the month. Demure means being modest, mindful, and a little cutesy. Yes, this sounds pretty close to the classical definition of the word but for beauty influencer Jools Lebron, who put it into everyone's lexicon this month, demure is so much more. It's about being respectful but not trying too hard. It's about rejecting the messy world, subtly protesting crassness and drama by sipping your drink with one perfectly groomed eyebrow arched. And I predict that this is going to be much more than a social media trend. I think it's going to be an ongoing lifestyle movement akin to the Danish hygge (homey coziness) phenomenal, because demure folks have been waiting SO long for their moment to come in a world of excess. Demure and travel go hand in hand. Staying in your seat until the aircraft has come to a complete stop at the gate? Demure. Kindly greeting your seatmate? Demure. Putting on your headphones, sipping your drink, and ignoring your seatmate? Also demure. Demure travellers are always polite with airport staff, never put their bare feet on someone else's seat, and pack carefully considered snacks without being too fussy about it. I wanted to have some fun with the idea of demure travel and talk about the best travel-inspired demure nail polish shades. Now, do I really know all that much about nail polish? Nope. Am I secretly hoping to ascend the ranks of beauty influencer? Definitely not. But your girl knows travel and is demure to the core. I chose OPI polish because A.) It has so many wonderful travel-inspired collections and B.) It's basically the only brand I know. Like I said: travel, not beauty, is my wheelhouse. Plus, the brand is so popular I know it will be easy for most readers to find. So mindful of me! Enjoy. In Red Bay, Labrador, I found a small beach that made a big impact.  Frolicking on the beach, as captured by my friend Yashy Selvadurai Murphy of https://www.parentingtogo.ca I can’t tell you when Labrador first hit my travel radar.
This rugged, remote Canadian region, a part of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador but physically connected to north-east Quebec, is not a spot for a wimpy traveller like me. Distances are far, amenities can be sparse, and the mosquitoes will strip you bare in seconds. Yet the place they call The Big Land has been calling for me for years. Labrador has topped my travel wish list since the beginning of the pandemic. When I had the opportunity to visit as part of the annual Travel Media Association of Canada conference, I knew I had to go. I dearly wanted to make Labrador’s acquaintance, but it’s doubtful that the region wanted the likes of me. I have no good reason to be enamoured with small Labrador fishing communities like Red Bay and Battle Harbour. My aversion to boats is both legendary and well-founded. Similarly, I can’t tell you why stories from events such as Cain’s Quest, Labrador’s legendary annual 3,100-kilometre snowmobile endurance race capture my heart. I dislike cold weather, sporty things, and noisy fanfare. Frankly, even the process of getting to Labrador is determinedly very non-Vanessa-ish. I like cold foam on coffee, not ferry decks, thank you very much. So, sure, the villages are cute, and the events are spirited, but this is clearly the kind of place I should appreciate through a documentary and not my own Gravol-addled brain. Thankfully, my heart is immune to common sense. If you love paintings by Maud Lewis, Nova Scotia's beloved folk artist, as much as I do, you'll want to check out these sites.  Paintings by Maud Lewis are characterized by their strong, bright colours and use of rural, domestic life as inspiration. Photo credit: Wikipedia Commons Maud Lewis was born Maud Dowley in 1903 in the southern Nova Scotia community of Yarmouth. By her death in 1970, she was recognized as a leading Canadian folk artist. Yet the woman who would become Nova Scotia’s treasure spent her life undervalued. If you love paintings by Maud Lewis, you will appreciate her talents even more after learning about her life and visiting the places in Nova Scotia that showcase her gifts.
In the most barren of circumstances, Maud created art – spectacular art. Her adulthood was a story of poverty, crippling and terrifying, and far from the romanticised austerity that sometimes creeps into her present-day narrative. Living with what we now recognize as degenerative juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, Maud bore constant pain. Married life in Digby brought a meagre house and a worse husband. Only a few neighbours offered comfort through hot meals, hot baths, and furtive visits. Defying her circumstances, she generated one of the most impressive yields of any artist. She painted shutters, baking pans, and scallop shells, along with nearly every surface of her diminutive house. She sold thousands of paintings depicting rural life, including oxen teams with gilded yokes and fluffy farm cats with wary eyes, often for just a dollar or two from her perch by the side of the road, a ploy devised by her husband to exploit sympathies and coax sales. Maud is often remembered as childlike with her petite stature and shy smile. But she was a gritty survivor, canny enough to turn her talents into a livelihood, carving a space for herself in an inhospitable world. I grew up in Nova Scotia, and I can’t remember a time when paintings by Maud Lewis weren’t a part of my life. As such, I’ve come to love these tourist attractions dedicated to her. Visiting them should be on any art lover’s travel list. At Neal Street Espresso, community and coffee go hand in hand.  'Pay It Forward' coffee is just one of the community-focused features at Neal Street Espresso. In the heart of London's colourful Neal's Yard neighbourhood, one cute and cozy cafe is serving up delicious coffee but there's something else on the menu: Second chances.
Neal Street Espresso (34 Neal Street) looks in many ways like a typical hip London coffee shop. Indeed, it is one. There is a robust menu of flat whites, mochas, and chai tea. You can grab your beverage with oat, almond, or soy milk and add a plump pastry or toasty hot sandwich on the side. The baristas are briskly efficient, foaming milk and taking orders without skipping a beat. In every way, they're just like any other cafe staff but there's a much deeper story here. Neal Street Espresso supports community members who have been part of the penal system and that starts with their staff. If you're a reader like me, London is the perfect city. Step inside London's literary wonderland and discover 11 bookstores you'll want to visit again and again.  The diverse and creative staff picks at the London Review of Books shop. London is a reader’s dream – and a shopper’s dream as well. However, how many bookstores are in London is a bit of a mystery. While one map claims there are 112 independent bookshops in this British capital, my personal experience says there are endless hidden gems when you add in the quaint second hand stores. Put the non-independent stores, regional chains, global powerhouses, and the kiosks dotting train stations and museums on the list and I suspect the number of book-selling venues easily surpasses a thousand. That’s great news if you’re a reader like me! These are eleven shops that are especially meaningful to me and the spots that I recommend to people again and again. London Review Bookshop (Bloomsbury) Nestled in Bloomsbury, the London Review Bookshop, an extension of the literary periodical, is a cozy haven with a penchant for classic and new fiction. Without a doubt, it is not only my favourite bookstore in London but it is now my favourite in all the world (don’t worry, Paris’ Shakespeare and Co is a close second). It feels like every single book in the shop has been carefully selected and I always discover something entirely new to me which I had never considered before but suddenly have to have. The shop also operates an absolutely delightful cake shop which offers hot drinks, homemade desserts, treats like coconut yogurt with rhubarb compote and granola, and savory fare including a soup and a stew of the day and a sandwich or two.
Did I mention I love this bookshop? I love it. Some people explore via food tours or shoe shopping. It seems my destiny is to discover the world one optometrist at a time.  Crisis averted! Inside my tiny Parisian apartment, eye glasses intact! What do Paris (France), Portland (Maine), and Yarmouth (Nova Scotia) have in common? Not much, to be honest. But I’ve come to see them through a new lens – if you’ll pardon the pun – thanks to local optometrists.
Some people see the world through – here’s that pun again – a specific lens. They explore destinations via a particular filter or set of experiences, discovering cities via food tours or shoe stores. I hadn’t thought that approach applied to me until I realized I was getting to know the globe via eye health facilities, one city at a time. Sometimes the best travel guides aren't guidebooks at all. These ten books will help you see travel, food, wine, life, and culture in a new way.  Do you remember the first book that inspired you to travel?
I have several. I vividly remember the details of Anne's voyage from Prince Edward Island to Nova Scotia to attend college in Anne Of The Island, the third instalment in Lucy Maud Montgomery's Green Gables series. I was enthralled by the packing scenes in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. What does one bring when you embark on a long carriage ride to see Charlotte Lucas and Mr. Collins? Early biographies of The Beatles made Liverpool's gritty streets and warm culture feel not that far away. I bet you have some memorable novels and memoirs that helped inform your travels, too. And now I have some more to add to your list. I'm confident there's something among my list of ten non-travel travel books that will appeal to every reader. These texts will change the way you look at food, drink, towns, cities, forests, fears, and friendships forever. Tuck one into your suitcase for your next trip. |
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