Tag Archives: Canada

Posts from the road

Another Unexpected Detour

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(Belleville, Ontario, Canada)

Today was another example of how you just have to roll with it when you are travelling.

As I had been itching to get out on the road again, we drove to the nearby city of Belleville.   Our “excuse” was that today was Record Store Day and the last remaining Sam The Record Man store is located in Belleville.  Record Store Day now receives a lot of mainstream press, so I don’t think I need to describe it in detail.  In brief:  it is a celebration of independent record stores and more specifically the vinyl record format.  Lots of unique and rare records are released on Record Store Day…and only to independent record stores.  You won’t find these records at big box stores.

Alas, none of Sam’s Record Store Day offerings appealed to me.  We headed downtown to grab some lunch (Thai House – very good) and to see if there was any music of interest at the nearby used CD/record store.  While their vinyl offerings were uninspiring, we stumbled upon a DVD entitled “Radio Revolution:  The Rise and Fall of the Big 8”.   This DVD chronicles the fascinating history of Windsor’s CKLW radio station…a history that I knew nothing about, as that station essentially died in 1984 and I didn’t get involved in radio for another couple of years.  If you have any interest whatsoever in the history of Canadian radio, you’ll enjoy this documentary.

I met my wife at CFRC (Queen’s University Radio) in the late 1980s.  My band first got airplay there and I was actually interviewed as a musician there before becoming a programmer.  Once I passed my broadcast test, CFRC became the place to hang out between classes…and pretty much any other time.  It had interesting people and a hundred thousand records – what more could you ask for?  While I didn’t spend quite as much time at the station after (finally) finishing my studies at Queen’s, I ended up broadcasting at CFRC for 17 years.  Many of our closest friends today first came into our lives at CFRC (including the guy who helped me set up this blog!).

This documentary vividly brought back the characters, the fun and even the technology of our radio days.  What a special opportunity we had – all this music, with almost complete freedom to play whatever we wanted and to do so with as much creativity as we could muster.  We met some famous musicians as well as many more not-so-famous musicians.  All of them had a soft spot for grassroots radio; in fact, many of them had worked at stations just like ours.   Whevener I meet a musician today, my radio station experience is invariably the common ground.

City Hall (Belleville, Ontario)
City Hall (Belleville, Ontario)

I had hoped to take some spring photos on the way back to Kingston but fate intervened again.  The “CHECK ENGINE” light appeared in our car and we thought it would be best to get back to Kingston without stopping.  Of course, I have no regrets – our earlier-than-expected arrival in Kingston allowed us to watch the radio documentary almost right away.

Physically, then, it was a trip to Belleville.  In reality, however, it turned out be a trip through my broadcasting past (via Windsor!)…and a reminder of just how important radio has been in my life.

Stay tuned for what will undoubtedly be some very exciting adventures as I fly on Tuesday (with a stopover in Vienna, Austria) to my next destination!

Posts from Base Camp

Staying in Shape for Travel

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(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)

I do a lot of walking (and eating) when I travel, so I try to stay in peak travelling condition by being very physically active when I am in Kingston.  Hockey lasts all year, while soccer has just started and curling will end this week.  I supplement these sports with brisk walks in and around the city. 

Today’s post contains some photos from my local wanderings.  A favourite local destination is Lemoine Point, which is also home to an increasing number of wild animals.  

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Lemoine Point, Kingston (March 2014)

We used to see deer from time to time but they are now almost an everyday occurrence.  All of the deer in this post were spotted on the same trail, at approximately the same time of day. 

Lemoine Point, Kingston(February 2014)
Lemoine Point, Kingston (February 2014)

When Lemoine Point is too wet or muddy, there  is a (mostly paved) waterfront trail between Lake Ontario Park and Portsmouth Olympic Harbour.  It is a good place to cool off, as the wind really keeps the temperature down.

Lake Ontario Park - Kingston, Ontario (April 2014)
Near Lake Ontario Park – Kingston, Ontario (April 2014)

Running north from the built-up part of the city is the K&P Trail.  The most interesting part of this former railway is the long climb between Jackson Mills Road and Cordukes Road.  We walked the entire trail between Kingston and Harrowsmith last fall and are walking north of Harrowsmith this spring.   

Next Tuesday, I’ll be leaving on a lengthy (almost three weeks) overseas trip .   As always, I won’t specifically identify my destinations in advance on this blog.  One interesting aspect will be the use of two different alphabets, as well as at least four different languages (in name, if not necessarily in substance).  While there, I hope to see some professional soccer, as two of the countries I’ll be visiting will be participating in this year’s World Cup and two others narrowly missed qualifying.  However, the most important thing will be experiencing a beautiful region with a tragic recent past.

Posts from Base Camp

The Travel Checklist

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(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)

OK, I admit it.  I am a travel geek and have recorded every trip I have ever taken.  I know how many countries I have visited and how many times I’ve been to each of those countries.  In fact, because of the vastness (and proximity) of Canada and the United States, I have recorded the same information for all of the provinces, territories and states of those two countries.  Alas, if this becomes the basis of your travel planning, it becomes a “checklist” approach to travel…and I am trying to avoid falling into that trap.

Having said that, I’m not going to throw out my travel records.  Tallying up the number of countries visited is an interesting, though easily manipulated, way to measure how much one has traveled.   Although my travel decisions will (hopefully) not be guided by these statistics, I will continue updating my lifetime travel stats as the year progresses.  And yes, when the 12 months are over, I will probably calculate how many countries I visited during this special year.

I will also admit that one of the destinations under consideration for my travel year is Saskatchewan:  the only Canadian province/territory that I have never visited.  But I won’t go just to check it off the list…there must still be something special for me to see or do that justifies a visit.  Will it make the cut?  Stay tuned and see!