Great places to go on vacation, and wonderful things to see and do once you get there.

Young boy jumping into lake

Take A Mini Vacay @ Cusheon Lake Resort

For us, the perfect vacation spot is a little less Napa and a little more Mayberry.

Young boy jumping into lake

 

TRAVEL ADVISORY | The province of British Columbia is peppered with posh resorts, and developers keep adding new ones all the time thinking that designer surroundings, celebrity-chef restaurants, spa treatments and 600-thread-count sheets are what make a vacation unique. That is one approach for sure, but it’s not our preference. We like a little less Napa and a little more Mayberry when it comes to summer retreats, which is why we love Cusheon Lake Resort on Salt Spring Island, a perfect example of the latter.

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Flying U

Mini Vacay @ Canada’s Oldest Dude Ranch

Pony up for a mini vacay at Canada’s oldest and most original dude ranch, The Flying U—where you’re allowed to ride out on your own.

Horse wrangle at Flying U Ranch

 

TRAVEL ADVISORY | I never went to a dude ranch as a kid, but my husband did. He and his brother spent a week as buckaroos at The Flying U guest ranch in B.C.’s Cariboo. It was their favourite childhood holiday. “Better ’n Disneyland” is how they described the experience to their friends when they got home, and the way they continued to speak of it years later. Read more

Iceberg Alley- FlyOver Canada

See Canada’s Wonders On FlyOver Canada

See all of Canada’s natural wonders on FlyOver Canada’s spectacular virtual flight ride.

Iceberg Alley- FlyOver Canada

 

TRAVEL ADVISORY | I flew across Canada the other day. It took a total of 30 minutes to travel from coast to coast. For $20 dollars I dipped, dove and soared in an aerial dance that began in Newfoundland’s surreal Iceberg Alley and ended in the Northwest Territories, where glowing, auroral streamers swirled in the northern light. Along the way, I flew into the misty middle of Niagara Falls, over the top of the astounding cirque glaciers found along ridge crests in the Rockies, and through a procession of other breathtaking Canadian landscapes. Read more

Griffith Observatory - 123rf

L.A.’s Best Free Attraction: The Griffith

But not like you think—the Griffith Observatory is the best free attraction in the city.

Star Gazing In L.A.

 

TRAVEL ADVISORY | It always surprises me when I hear that friends who’ve vacationed in Los Angeles multiple times haven’t ventured up Mount Hollywood to visit the Griffith Observatory, the most interesting FREE attraction in this town after the sun and the beach. Read more

The Coolest Way To Tour Vancouver

Many of the West Coast’s most spectacular homes are on the water. To see them, you should be too.

West Vancouver Waterfront Homes

 

TRAVEL ADVISORY | West Vancouver is hardly Amalfi, but like this picturesque stretch of Mediterranean waterfront in Italy, it does have interesting houses terraced into the rocky coastline, some with cascading, tropical gardens of Babylonian intent. And when the days are sunny and calm like they they will be shortly, we like to rent a (reasonably priced) runabout from Sewell’s Marina in Horseshoe Bay and treat our out-of-town guests to a tour of this gorgeous shoreline in one of Canada’s poshest postal codes. Read more

Top of Vancouver- Wikipedia Commons

Vancouver’s Revolving Eateries Are The Top

Does Vancouver have more revolving restaurants than anywhere outside of Asia?

View from the Top of Vancouver

 

TRAVEL ADVISORY | While the market for revolving restaurants is hot in the Middle East and Asia, no one is making new ones in North America, and the multitude of revolving restaurants here, most of which were built in the 1960s and 1970s, are shutting down.

What was once the chicest place in town to take your sweetie to eat is now—at least in North America—considered a tourist destination or the spot to dine with old aunties in taste-bud decline.

Too bad about these closures because revolving restaurants offer an unrepeatable experience, a one-of-a-kind way to see a city. In Vancouver we remain lucky: we still have three revolvers open for business. Read more

Why You Want To Visit San Diego Right Now

Balmy San Diego is the perfect escape hatch, particularly at this time of year when even the toniest hotels are offering deals.

12 Vintage_Large_Letter_Postcard_San_Diego_California_02__45737.1345432544.1280.1280

 

TRAVEL ADVISORY| Admit it fellow workers: a monitor tan is not a real tan. Office coffee is no substitute for a pink drink with an umbrella in it. A promotion cannot take the place of a vacation—especially one in a place where the sun always shines, and we can play lighthearted tourist for at least a long weekend. Read more

Boat Bluff Lighthouse - Kristien Rogister

Must-See BC: Ann Rose Picks Her Top 3 Spots

What’s on your provincial Travel Life List? Westworld magazine editor Anne Rose picks three of her top spots.

Boat Bluff Lighthouse - Kristien Rogister

 

OUR CANADIAN LIFE | Can familiarity really breed dismissal? When it comes to travel, there is always the possibility that locals, wherever they live, will think that only destinations far from home are remotely exotic and rare.

British Columbia has plenty of peerless places the rest of the world flocks to see, and if you haven’t taken the time to visit any of them, you don’t know the whole story about where you live. Anne Rose, editor-in-chief at Westworld magazine, has travelled extensively close to home. Here she shares with Frugalbits readers three superior ways to experience what’s exotic about Canada’s westernmost province. Read more

Great Wheel Seattle- SeattlePI

The Best Happy Hour Meals In Seattle

While top Seattle hotels remain pricey, you can get a sublime meal and drinks in this town for surprisingly little.

Great Wheel Seattle- SeattlePI

 

TRAVEL ADVISORY | Wanting to get out of town two weeks ago, we headed for Seattle. High-style hotels are pricey in this city, but we snagged a lovely room at Seattle’s Pan Pacific for $185 per night (parking was $20 extra), at least $70 less than every other top-name hotel we checked with. Plus we saved a bundle on dinner.

The Pan Pacific is located in trendy South Lake Union, a mere five-minute walk into the heart of downtown where, after a day of exploring and shopping, local friends introduced us to another great Seattle money saver: happy hour meals. Read more

Exterior Wing Sang Gallery On East Pender Street, Vancouver

Visit The Wing Sang Soon—It’s Free!

Kudos to Bob Rennie for giving us another spectacular reason to love Vancouver.

Exterior Wing Sang Gallery On East Pender Street, Vancouver

 

FREE & SPECTACULAR | Vancouver real estate marketing mogul Bob Rennie’s private art gallery in the Wing Sang Building on East Pender Street has been open to the public just over two years now. I had been putting off seeing it for a completely irrational reason—you need to sign up in advance to get in. Lucky for me, friends added my name to their group of four planning a visit, and we all went for a free one-hour guided tour last week. Read more