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Casa Loma

by Brian on September 7, 2011 in Canada, Ontario, Travel

At the peak of his power it is said that Sir Henry Pellatt controlled as much as 25% of the Canadian economy. To showcase his great wealth he built what was at the time the largest residence in North America: Casa Loma, a 98-room Gothic revival style castle set on a hill in midtown Toronto. By the end of his life, Sir Henry had lost everything and his great castle almost came to ruin. Saved and restored by the Kiwanis Club in 1937, the great residence is now open to visitors. It is also one of the few houses which permit interior photography . . . Read More…

A Short Note on Canadian Wine

by Brian on September 5, 2011 in Canada, Food & Drink, Ontario, Travel

Ice Wine "Slushies" at Ice House Winery, Ontario, Canada

We love wine; perhaps too much. We love it at least as much as we love beer, which gets much more frequent attention here at EverywhereOnce. Certainly wine has reason to feel slighted. It shouldn’t. The East coast brews some world-class beers, and we’ve been overwhelmed by the embarrassment of brewery riches at our disposal. Our East coast winery experiences have been an embarrassment of a different sort. The “terroir” here just isn’t as well suited to the task, I’m afraid. So we’ve spent less time visiting, and therefore writing about, wineries.

One might naturally think that the cold weather conditions in Canada are positively dreadful for vinting wine. They’d be wrong.

A peculiar thing happens when grapes freeze on the vine. The sugars and other dissolved grape solids do not freeze, allowing for a more concentrated ‘must’ to be pressed from the frozen grapes. From this must, a fantastically sweet “ice wine” is made. Canada is the world’s largest producer of these delicious dessert wines, with Ontario accounting for 75% of Canadian output. If you’re in the area checking out Niagara Falls, Toronto, or other nearby destinations, you owe it to yourself to sample some of these awesome and truly unique wines.

Summer Rocks

by Brian on September 2, 2011 in Travel

Labor Day is here again, marking the unofficial end of summer. We’ll follow the sun south, all the way to Guatemala if our plans hold, to avoid missing out on warm weather. Something we will miss, though, are summer celebrations.

All across the continent – from the Deep South of the Louisiana Bayou to the Northern reaches of Toronto, Canada, as far west as Rapid City, South Dakota, and everywhere in between – we found large cities and small towns cordoning off a couple blocks of downtown real estate in weekly celebration. It didn’t matter where we were, the festivities all had a familiar feel: street food, beer in plastic cups, bands on stage, and a crush of locals looking to blow off a little steam. Same theme, different venue, always a good time.

So hoist a glass and bid this summer a fond adieu. It’s a long way to Memorial Day.

Have a good weekend everybody!