Happy fifth anniversary to Ottawa Road Trips!

Five years ago yesterday, I hit “send” on the first-ever Ottawa Road Trips newsletter, a few weeks after officially launching this website. It’s been a fun, fascinating and (yes, I’ll admit) occasionally exhausting half-decade since. I’ve driven my trusty Mazda all over Eastern Ontario, Southern Ontario, the Outaouais, Montreal, the Eastern Townships and upstate New York. I even packed my bike in the trunk and drove into the heart of Manhattan. I’ve slid down ziplines and hiked up trails. I’ve toured museums and wandered through festivals. I’ve eaten more than my weight in ice cream and scones alone. I’ve met so many wonderful people I can’t begin to count them all, and I’ve loved trading emails and information with readers.

So, to celebrate, I thought I’d post a short list of some of my favourite and most popular posts from the first five years—just in case you missed them, or you’d like to read them again. Enjoy!

Ontario’s biggest aerial and zipline park opens in 1000 Islands (July 8, 2016)

I have a soft spot for this post, for two reasons. First, I really enjoyed my day at Skywood Eco Adventure Park near Brockville and thought it was such a great addition to Eastern Ontario’s range of tourist attractions. Second, the piece was very popular with readers—it was one of my first posts to really take off on Facebook. If you like ziplining and ropes courses, check it out!

Discovering Almonte’s culinary secrets on the new Good Food Tour (May 5, 2017)

The day I spent in Almonte with a good friend for this post about a culinary walking tour just struck me as the quintessential happy day trip: great conversation, delicious food, pretty surroundings and a nice walk. Our guide, Cathy Reside, really knows her stuff, too! Note: The tours are on hiatus in 2022 due to significant road construction in Almonte.

Five ways to get to New York City from Ottawa (September 14, 2014)

Year in and year out, this little post I wrote in about an hour has been my top post of all time. Every week, it gets hits from all over the world. I guess everyone wants to see the Big Apple! The post gives you tips for getting to New York City by car, bus, plane, train or a car-train combination.

50 road trips and weekend getaways from Ottawa you MUST try this summer! (June 19, 2017)

This is another post that gets a lot of traffic, year round. It gives you one or two ideas for things to do in each of 50 destinations across our region, from Aylmer and Alexandria Bay to Wilno and Wakefield. It needs a bit of updating (that’s on my to-do list for the next week or so), but most of the tips are still pretty solid.

Across the Prairies by train, with 17 poets (April 23, 2015)

In 2015, I had the exceptional chance to travel from Winnipeg to Vancouver on VIA Rail’s long-haul train, The Canadian. I was “embedded” with a group of 17 Canadian poets celebrating National Poetry Month by travelling together, writing, collaborating and giving public readings on what was dubbed the PoeTrain. They were so talented, welcoming and warm that they even convinced me to try my hand at a verse or two. Of course, the spectacular scenery was also inspiring. Here’s my post about the leg of the journey from Winnipeg to Edmonton.

11 great reasons to get away to Gananoque and Chaffeys Lock (April 30, 2018)

One of the main reasons I was happy with this post about Gananoque and Chaffeys Lock was the photos. I’ve been noodling around with photography since joining my high school camera club in Grade 10 (back when we learned how to develop prints in a darkroom), but I often come back from a trip feeling as though I haven’t quite captured a place the way I wanted to. On this trip, some gorgeous sunshine helped. (Note: The amazing aerial photo of Boldt Castle in this post is not mine, alas!)

A personal post: The healing power of water (June 1, 2015)

This one was a bit of a departure for me. As long-time readers have probably noticed, I don’t write a lot about myself on this site—unless it’s in the context of a place I’ve visited. However, after my mom passed away, I did write this post about my mom and her love of travel. If you’ve inherited a sense of wanderlust from your family, you might find it rings a bell or two.

These are among my favourites of the posts I’ve written myself, but I’ve also been delighted to share wonderful posts on this site by a group of talented guest authors, including Katharine Fletcher’s post about spring road trips for art lovers, Peter Johansen’s tale of a New York town with Wizard of Oz connections, Karan Smith’s piece about Toronto family fun and Hollie Grace James’s post about Quebec’s Ice Hotel. Check them out!

And one last thing: Whether you’ve been reading this site since I launched it in 2014 or this is your very first visit, thanks so much! If you ever have any questions about our region, don’t hesitate to ask—I’ll do my best to answer.

If you enjoyed this post and would like more tips on things to see and do in Ottawa, Eastern Ontario, the Outaouais, Montreal and upstate New York, why not subscribe to my free e-newsletter?