Do you remember the first time you tried pesto? I do. I had just turned 19 years old and I was living in Kingston, Ontario. I walked into a tiny, narrow, downtown restaurant on Princess Street called "Lukes!" In a few years, the titular Luke himself would turn 15, take over as the restaurant's executive chef, pivot the brand to "Luke's Gastronomy", and become Canada's foodie wunderkind. But in 1999 it was just Lukes! and I was just a student (likely with a coupon in hand...) who ordered the cheapest meal on the menu. Pesto pasta. It cost $9. Or maybe it was $12? In any case, there were long noodles and there was pesto, a deep muddy green mix of silky oils and granular cheese, nuts, and herb stalks. It was like being punched in the face with the most incredible mix of salty earthiness, the pungent herbaciousness of the basil wrestling with its own undertones of licorice and pepper. 

I was a goner. It was love at first bite.

Living in Kingston was like attending a culinary finishing school and I was a rough and tumble debutante who had never once moved past mashed potatoes. It introduced me to flavors, ingredients, and textures that were actually rather commonplace but had never crossed my path before. Things like hummus (smooth, but not too smooth, spread over triangles of firm pita bread and topped with red onion and cucumber), sky high cheesecake with ingredients like blackberry with peaches or Oreo crumble with swirls of Irish cream, scalding hot cafe au lait -too bitter for me to properly enjoy (don't worry - I evolved!) - and large, squishy cubes of tofu, flash fried, coated in a spicy sweet black bean sauce, served with bell peppers that were barely al dente. 

Amazing.

Little did I know when I was indulging on pesto pasta for the first time that I was sitting in the middle of what would soon be Canada's food capital. Today, Kingston, the first capital city of Canada, boasts the highest number of restaurants per capita in the country. It's second only to New Orleans in all of North America. When I had the opportunity to return, this time with student life long behind me, I knew I had to dive into Kingston's food scene once more.

Travel enthusiasts have probably heard of the highlands of Scotland, Iceland, Ireland, and Guatemala - but have they discovered Ontario's Highlands? The Ontario's Highlands Tourism Organization encompasses a large geographic territory in the south-eastern part of Ontario, Canada, including the Haliburton Highlands, Hastings County, Lanark County, Frontenac County, Lennox and Addington, and the Ottawa Valley. The vast landscape of Ontario's Highlands is famous for its natural wonders and its bragging rights include the title of Canada's geocaching capital and Canada's whitewater capital.  When Ryan and I visited the Highlands though, we had a different approach to discovering its outdoor treasures.

Thanks to Ontario's Highlands website, we discovered we were "Serenity Seekers", travelers who like to explore with purpose but also with leisure. People who soak in the beauty of nature in a relaxed way. Serenity Seekers are in pursuit of peace, relaxation, and rejuvenation. Sometimes that comes through a vigorous hike to see a waterfall, but it's just as likely to be found in a beautiful spa, enjoying a lovely view, or indulging at local restaurants. 

If you suspect you're a Serenity Seeker like me, there's an enticing three day itinerary to help you make the most of your time in Ontario's Highands. We did as much of it as we could, spending a lot of our time around the towns of Almonte and Carleton Place, and we added a few surprise stops of our own! Here are some of our most memorable and serene moments of discovery along the Serenity Seeker's route. 

After a long journey and arduous travel, there is nothing like a beautiful hotel to greet you at the end of the day. There’s something so soothing about having your needs anticipated and indulging yourself in a special retreat. This is exactly what I had in mind when we splurged on a stay at Toronto's Fairmont Royal York in the heart of city. I’m a huge believer that you can find great value at all points of the price spectrum and, even though the Fairmont is a well-known luxury hotel, I wanted to examine it for value. After all, in the heart of Toronto, there are many beautiful hotels – what makes the Royal York worth the splurge?

It will come as no surprise to many of you when I say that I love to eat! Reading between the lines of this blog will no doubt have showed the TurnipSeedTravel community that I adore local foods, am fascinated with coffee, will do just about anything for hot buttered bread, a good Brie, and consider nachos the greatest culinary adventure of our time. And, of course, I consider brownies a form of currency.

It was therefore a great treat for me to discover something entirely new to add to my culinary love list when I joined the City of Toronto for a TBEX tour of the distillery district. We were fortunate to drop into many fine food shops, but one in particular really stood out.

Legendary motion-sickness, a well-deserved reputation as a chicken – what on earth was I doing at a theme park? And how is it possible that I enjoyed it?

This summer, I was part of a TBEX press trip with Central Counties Tourism that included a stop at Canada’s Wonderland, one of the premier amusement parks in North America. They boast incredible roller coasters and amazing rides – none of which I had the least intention of going on. I’ve neither the stomach nor the nerves for such wild times – but I still had a ton of fun! Read on to find out what I loved.

For a girl best known for her love of thrill-seeking, extreme adventure activities such as… book club – or art tours – or writing in a café… it’s hard to find an activity wild enough to really get Vanessa’s adrenalin pumping! Who am I kidding – the readers of Turnipseed Travel know me better than that! It’s time to take a (tentative) walk on the wild side – with Segway! Here's what it was like taking a Toronto Segway Tour in the city's Distillery District with Go Tours.

Diary Note, May 2012: It’s TBEX time! The travel blogging community and the travel industry are anxiously awaiting the chance to meet face to face at the end of May and you couldn’t ask for a better host community than Toronto. Here are 5 things I love about this buzzing metropolis (and three that I don’t).