Local TouristJust what are those EDR signs anyway?
WindsorOntarioNews.com Jan 17 2012Just what are those EDR signs that have sprung up on provincial highways in recent years? EDR stands for Emergency Detour Route. They’re placed on the 401, 402 and 403 in southwestern Ontario. They start at interchanges and direct traffic along detour routes in cases of emergency and the freeway has to be closed, according to Ministry of Transportation spokesman Bob Nichols.
The Motor City's one man tour company
WindsorOntarioNews.com Oct 14 2011Stewart McMillin is a one man tour company. McMillin, a resident of Detroit, has a laundry list of personalized tours he gives groups for all manner of neighbourhoods and sites in the Greater Detroit area. “I’m sort of a work in progress,” the gregarious McMillan said while about to start one of his tours recently. McMillin, a long time Michigander, became fascinated with the city and started his tour business in part to educate himself.
Traverse City's northern Michigan flair
WindsorOntarioNews.com Aug 31 2011Traverse City is about four hours from Detroit but a world away when it comes to the smog-free skies and otherwise pristine natural environment that surrounds it in northern Michigan. But, make no mistake, this is a major resort. The city is on Grand Traverse Bay, a recreational sailor’s delight, and with a long crescent beach that packs beachgoers in on hot days.
Port Stanley, St. Thomas studies in contrast
WindsorOntarioNews.com Aug 3 2011Saint Thomas and Port Stanley are contrasts. Port Stanley on Lake Erie has turned itself into something of a trendy vacation spot with pubs and upscale restaurants and their patio decks lining the harbour. Both towns are in Elgin County, not far from London and mostly on the south side of Hwy. 401 but which tourist materials make clear is a geographical entity very much unto itself.
Time to take Hitsville USA's musical tour
WindsorOntarioNews.com July 14 2011After living in this area all these years it was with a bit of embarrassment to finally end up visiting the Motown Historical Museum in Detroit. The museum, on West Grand Blvd., several blocks west of Woodward Ave. near the city’s New Center area, is in the Hitsville USA group of houses that once were the headquarters of the classic Motown sound from the 1960s and 70s. Finally, we agreed, it was time to get in the car, drive over, and visit the small white clad and blue trim building with the plate glass window and posters welcoming tourists from around the world.
Groovy market in "fashionable" Ferndale
WindsorOntarioNews.com May 31 2011The man who designed many iconic Detroit rock and roll posters has a booth at the Rust Belt Market. Carl Lundgren designed posters in the heyday of Detroit rock and roll, featuring such groups as the MC 5, Amboy Dukes and the Bob Seger System. He made them for long gone concert venues such as the Grande Ballroom and the Eastown Theatre. He’s a living legend but unassuming.
VIA Rail Canada begins refurbishing much of its Ontario - Quebec passenger coach fleet
WindsorOntarioNews.com April 28 2011VIA Rail Canada is rebuilding the backbone of its fleet that serves the Windsor-Quebec City corridor, the venerable LRC (Light, Rapid, Comfortable) passenger cars. The cars, acquired in the 1980s, will be filly refurbished by 2014, VIA says. In March the first 46 LRC Economy class cars were delivered to the Montreal Maintenance Centre.
Getting to and from Toronto island airport
WindsorOntarioNews.com March 20 2011
Long sought Porter Airlines will start serving Windsor April 27 with up to three roundtrip flights daily. The airline touts the convenience of flying to a downtown Toronto airport. But the airport – known as Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport – is in fact on an island. That may give travellers unfamiliar with it pause about exactly how convenient it is to connect to nearby downtown Toronto and the rest of the city.
Can hotel fill niche left by Wheels Inn?
WindsorOntarioNews.com Feb 27 2011
Could the Pelee Days Inn replace the once popular and now lamented Wheels Inn? The Wheels Inn in Chatham, for decades, was a magnate for families who wanted to escape for weekends or holidays, with a variety of amusement rides, recreation facilities, dining and a hotel under one roof. But Wheels closed and is now being converted into a convention centre along with the new Holiday Inn hotel. Meanwhile, Leamington’s Pelee Days Inn has amenities unique to southwestern Ontario.
Make run for Chatham for Fergie Jenkins stamp unveiling event
WindsorOntarioNews.com Jan 11 2011
Make a run for Chatham Feb. 5 for the unveiling of the new Canada Post Fergie Jenkins Commemorative Stamp. Ferguson Arthur Jenkins, born in Chatham in 1942, will also be on hand for the luncheon, part of Black History Month. Jenkins had 18 seasons in the pros as a pitcher with Philadelphia, Texas Rangers and mainly the Chicago Cubs, which retired his number 31 a couple of years ago. Tickets are only five dollars and available through CKtickets.com.
Lightfest, German markt in Metro Detroit
WindsorOntarioNews.com Nov 17 2010
The well-known Wayne County Lightfest opens for another season tomorrow and runs until Dec. 31 (closed Christmas Day). Sponsored by the Wayne County Parks Dept. this drive through a mammoth lights display takes you along Hines Drive. Hines Drive is spectacular itself. The Drive follows the Middle Rouge River and offers numerous pull-offs and picnic areas among its natural surroundings. You would never know you were in the middle of Metropolitan Detroit.
Rochester's charm just a half hour north of Oakland MallWindsorOntarioNews.com Sept 30 2010For people who think Metro Detroit is just one mass network of six lane boulevards and endless fast food strips, cities like Rochester are more than a delightful surprise. Rochester, like Royal Oak, Birmingham and Plymouth, has vibrant
To get there you drive north along I-75 past Oakland Mall to Rochester Rd. and exit, heading north about eight miles. All told the drive is about 45 minutes from downtown Detroit.
Bayfield known for upscale shops, restosWindsorOntarioNews.com Aug 24 2010It had been some time since we visited Bayfield, the village on Lake Huron sandwiched between Grand Bend and Goderich. Bayfield is the antidote to Grand Bend. If Grand Bend is party central and tends to the tacky Bayfield is quiet, charming and astonishingly beautiful.
The luxury setting enhanced a quiet weekend in the community, with a short walk through leafy streets down to the sailboat-packed harbour and the sands of Lake Huron.
Sorry, Grosse Pointes' shoreline is restricted to, ah, residents onlyWindsorOntarioNews Aug 13 2010Grosse Pointe. Or rather, “the Pointes” since there are five of them, are a feast for the motoring eyes. To get there you travel along Jefferson Ave from the City of Detroit. It’s like going through the looking glass as you emerge at Alter Rd. from the decayed, trash-strewn streets of the Motor
The Pointes are known for their mansions, well kept properties, bucolic shoreline and some magnificent points of interest, like the Italian Renaissance tower at the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club. But if you want to admire the area from its signature shoreline you’re better off staying in your car. That land across the river? It's Grosse Isle!
WindsorOntarioNews.com July 29 2010
Essex County residents driving along County Rd. 20 – the route that runs along the Detroit River – have stared at it thousands of times. It’s a huge land mass, barely a mile across, looking very similar to Essex County’s own coastline, dotted with houses and a road that skirts the water’s edge. That island is Grosse Isle Michigan, and it’s a great place to go for a drive and picnic. Grosse Isle is the largest island in the Detroit River and, particularly in summer, has a laid back sumptuous summer resort feeling. To get there take I-75 south to Trenton, and simply cross the bridge to the island. (Trenton, by the way, can also be seen from Canada by its twin red and white power station smoke stacks.) Who knew? Toledo has a botanical garden
WindsorOntarioNews.com July 5 2010
Most of us probably don’t think of Toledo, as in Ohio, as being the most scenic of communities. (Perhaps, from Toledo’s perspective, the same could be said of Windsor.) But just as Windsor’s riverfront parks wow the unsuspecting Toledo has several diamonds in the rough. Like the Toledo Botanical Garden.
The Garden, which was created in 1964, is run by Toledo Area Metroparks, the city, and a board as a public-private partnership. It’s located on the city’s west side. To get there you take I-75 to I-475, exiting several streets away at Talmadge. For detailed instructions click on the Garden’s web site below. |
downtowns offering a rich selection of cafes, bars, restaurants and trendy boutiques.
The last time we were there was in the late-Nineties. We stayed at the famous Little Inn on Main Street. Everyone seems to know the Little Inn, which happens to be Ontario’s longest continually-running inn dating from 1832.
City to the pristine confines of this affluent suburb.
Can & US airline prices show huge differences
It’s a great thing we live on the border. Because we can take advantage of such great airline ticket prices. A random air fare comparison on Orbitz brought out some stunning numbers. For example, a round-trip ticket booked Feb. 3 from Windsor to New York City leaving Feb 5 and returning Feb 8 costs $1768. That’s via Air Canada or U.S. Airways. On Porter Airlines seat sale the price was considerably cheaper, ringing in at $636 but that didn’t include taxes, fees and surcharges. By comparison, flying from Detroit, one could find a Spirit Airlines flight listed for as low as $89 US with the next cheapest $178 or $218, or $222 on Air Trans all fees included. And those flights via Canada also required at least one or two stops. The Spirit flights were direct and Air Trans had one stop. - 3/2/12
Visitor Guide a bang up job
The revamped local tourist agency may have stumbled out of the gate when its CEO Chris Ryan resigned earlier this year. The agency had only recently gotten back on its feet with new staff and a new mandate. But Ryan’s resignation for unknown reasons put a fresh cloud over it. Despite Who's responsible for faded license plates?
Why so some cars sport faded license plates and are the plates legal? According to the Ministry of Government Services, which produces them, it’s the vehicle owner’s responsibility to ensure the numbers and letters are readable. Police can enforce under the Highway Traffic Act. For those who have unreadable plates the cost to replace is only $20, or $100 if personalized. So why are some plates so faded? According to spokesman Ciaran Ganley prior to 1994 Ontario license plates were manufactured using laminate applied to aluminum substrate and the plate numbers continued to be coated using paint. But “in an effort to improve licence plate quality” the government looked at alternate coating solutions. Since 2006 licence plate characters have been coated “using a thermal transfer foil in place of solvent based paints providing a stronger more consistent coating and eliminating fading.” The manufacturer guarantees the plates for up to five years and the average life expectancy is eight under normal wear and tear. “We are not actively looking at replacing the current process,” Ganley said. - 6/13/11
Elly Johnson interim CEO of regional travel agency
After more than two months the local tourism agency has an interim CEO. This follows the stepping down in January of former CEO Chris Ryan who left for unknown reasons. Elly Johnson was director of group programs and development and is a Certified Travel Manager (CTM). She has been with the revamped tourism agency, known as Tourism Windsor Essex Pelee Island (TWEPI) since its start in 2009. Her portfolio has included meetings and conventions, sports tourism and black history. In a release the agency says Johnson’s background includes travel industry retail, wholesale and tourism management at the national and international levels. In other news, the agency’s transitional board will begin a national search for a new permanent CEO. It will also begin, in the coming weeks, the “recruitment process” for a new board. – 4/6/11
I-94 revamp set to begin near Blue Water Bridge
Construction begins Feb. 28 on reconstruction of Michigan’s I-94 leading to the Blue Water Bridge between Sarnia and Pt. Huron. Construction is expected to be wrapped up in Nov 2012. The project will widen 2.2 miles of east and westbound lanes of joint I-94/I-69 between Lapeer Rd. and Pine Grove Ave, says Michigan’s transportation department. The project is to “ensure (the area) remains a viable trade crossing.” Two lanes will be open during peak time border traffic in both directions. - 2/19/11
Via Rail offers new service
For local tourists who want to be long-distance tourists Via Rail is offering an alternative for people wishing to travel to Ottawa and Montreal. Starting Jan. 17 Via is offering several trains a day that will run in both directions with a stop in the nation’s capital. Until now travellers could travel only from Toronto to Ottawa or Toronto to Montreal and vice-versa. The Toronto to Montreal trains ran a more southerly route through Kingston. Passengers heading to Ottawa had to change trains to go on to Montreal. Via began the new route with a couple of trains last October. It still offers trains on the more southerly route, bypassing the nation’s capital. – 1/11/11
The King's Inn restored
In what surely will be a boost to downtown Kingsville – making the lovely lakeside community a tourist destination (we don’t understand why it isn’t more of one now) - the King’s Hotel Inn and Suites is having its grand re-opening today. The historic building, which dates from 1885, was renovated by the Towle family. In recent years it served as a pub. The location is about as downtown as you can get in this town which also boasts several trendy and upscale restaurants, at 12 Main St. E. - 11/18/10OPP often at highway construction sites
Travelling extensively along Hwy 401 recently we were surprised to often see OPP cruisers - with lights flashing - at construction sites. Here's the reason from the MTO's Bob Nichols: As part of MTO's agreement with a contractor, there are specified requirements for traffic control during construction work. The MTO has not changed our approach by requiring the contractor to provide more OPP presence than in previous years. The contractor may decide on their own to have OPP present to enhance the safety of their workers. The contractor is responsible for making these arrangements with the OPP. In cases where highway construction involves extensive single-laning, the contractor may choose to arrange OPP presence on the site as a safety measure, often due to high traffic volumes. Given the significant amount of construction taking place this year along the Highway 401 corridor, both MTO and OPP are always interested in ensuring an extra presence on construction sites as an added safety measure....The OPP did not respond to requests for comment. - 11/6/11