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Where’s the beach?
Yep, it’s still summer. I’m hoping that summer lasts well into November, just to make up for the lack of spring weather. In the meantime, it’s here. Tourist season has arrived, big time. If there were to be a Top Ten Tourist Questions list, I’d have to say the number one question would be a three-way tie for the requests for directions to the Beer Store, the LCBO and the beach.
When we were in the UK this spring LOML and I asked a lot of folks a pile of tourist questions. Where’s the underground station? Which overground will get us to Westminster Abbey? Where can I top up my Oyster Card? Which one of these is ten pence? Does anyone have change for the loo? No stop signs! What the heck is that about? However, as I recall, my first tourist-type question was for the location of the beer store. When I’m touristing, I’m not any different than any other traveller. I drop the good habits, foregoing the water with a squeeze of lemon, for a pint. And, as much as I deplore profiling, I most definitely profiled the young fellow who looked to me like he’d be the kind to enjoy a pint or two. What I could glean through his Yorkshire-accented English was the UK does have shops devoted to liquor and beer, but, generally speaking, folks just pick up their booze where they pick up their breakfast cereal. Now how flipping civilized is that, I ask you? As it turned out, I didn’t have to break up my daily shopping list into two or three categories while I was in jolly old England. A one-stop-shop covered just about all of my dietary needs. The downside, of course, was that I often purchased more booze than we really needed. As if such a thing could be possible when vacationing. In truth, it was a bit like what happens when I’m confronted by luscious display of fruit and vegetables. I buy based on how delicious everything looks, and I do so with good intentions. The difference being, I’d throw the mucky kale and the mushy bananas out at the end of the week, while the booze never lasted that long. And we all know, most liquor doesn’t have a best before date, right? I never had to ask the beach question while we were there.
So, here we are in the summer of 2017. On the streets and in the stores, we’re rubbing shoulders with scantily clad vacationers. Their bare parts are red from too much sun. Their flip-flops are caked with sand. They float in on a wave of sunscreen and bug spray chem-florals that manage to suppress the cloying aroma of fertilizer and manure from the local farm gardens. We’re surrounded by people who want to make the most of their two-weeks-with-pay. People who found out what most of us already know. The County rocks. It rocks with beaches and ice cream places. It rocks with restaurants and food trucks. It rocks with patios and music. It rocks with trails, flora and fauna. It rocks with retail and resale. The County rolls around and rocks in its history and heritage. Magazine and newspaper writers extol the virtues of the bounty of the County from every possible angle. Bloggers blog. Reviewers review. Oh yeah.
Stop fighting it. Engage with them. Touristy questions will be asked. Why not ask a few of your own? You know you’re a County Person when you wanna ask where the tourists come from or where they’re staying or how they found out about this place we call home. Just go ahead and ask. Who knows, you may enjoy yourself, especially if you remember we’ve got what they want. The County.
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