Travelling In The COVID Era
Well, our little Ontario roadtrip is over and it certainly was a lot of fun. Time now to settle back to our day-to-day lives.
It was interesting travelling during the age of COVID as we did. Things in the hotel and travel industry have changed immensely. We found this most noticeable with regard to hotel dining: all the hotels we stayed in had cancelled their food services and closed their dining rooms. If breakfasts were still served, it was in an extremely restricted or minimal Continental style, and the food must be eaten in the guests’ room. The best hotel dining situation we encountered during this trip was at the Stone Gate Inn in Orillia. There, they struck a good balance between staying safe from COVID and providing the best meal service they could to their guests. The Stone Gate had a pretty good system going – using a supplied form with the breakfast menu, the guest would choose next morning’s meal, call it in to Reception, and choose the time they would like to pick it up and bring it to their room to enjoy. We really appreciated this system as it still allowed us to enjoy the full complement of the hotel’s breakfast menu.
Reflecting…
Although I seem to say this at the close of all my travel blogs, again I sing the praises of our beautiful country – Canada – when I return home. It really is true, though – we do live in one of the most beautiful countries in the world and are so fortunate to be enjoying life here in the true north, strong and free. We have so many places of beauty and things to discover here in Canada – I find it interesting that we Canadians spend a lot of time and money travelling to other countries and continents, and we tend not to visit our own back yard as much as we should or could. COVID-19 certainly forced our hand for Vince and myself, and I’m so grateful it did! We witnessed so much beauty on our local trip and found so much to be thankful for in this country.
Back In The Big City
The trip was extremely beneficial for Vince and myself at this time. It took us out of the COVID-induced stress of downtown Toronto, with it’s record number of mentally ill street people venting their daily frustration on us (again, more fallout from COVID). People around the Georgian Bay and Bruce Peninsula area were so friendly, so kind, so warm…. just so… normal. The morning after we returned to Toronto, Vince had a reminder of how things currently are in the big city.
It was 8:00AM on a weekday morning and he had gone to do some grocery shopping at Loblaws, as he frequently does at that early hour. Fast approaching Vince was a wild-looking man sporting a green Mohawk haircut and lime green shoes. As he got closer he bellowed at Vince:
YOU’RE NOTHING BUT A MINDLESS BRAINDEAD ZOMBIE MASK SLAVE!!!
Welcome back to nutty downtown Toronto. So much for the infusion of Grey-Bruce County’s calm and peacefulness.
Ah well, it’s OK. There’s never a dull moment downtown and it keeps us all entertained if nothing else.
Until Next Time…
So, COVID rages on relentlessly, or so it feels, but we must simply carry on and continue to do the best we can during these days in which everything has been turned upside down.
As a closing note, I’ll leave you with the message we found on the St. Edmund’s Church sign in Tobermory:
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