Originally posted by JimJohnson Many years ago that is my one-time mistake of not checking a host country's holiday calendar before planning international travel. ...we took visiting German relatives to Niagara Falls and couldn't figure out at first why we couldn't buy a bottle of wine in Ontario.
For what it is worth, living most of my life next door to Ontario, it is still hard to think of visits as 'international travel'. It has always felt more like being a guest welcome at a friend's home where some of the house rules are different.
First time ( 45 years ago) my wife and I went to England for a holiday, one day in a rural area, we couldn't figure out why we were having so much trouble finding any place open to eat. After asking around, we found out that the day was a Bank Holiday. We came across a local amateur soccer game and they had a guy selling hot dogs. Pulled in, watched a bit of the game and had lunch.
I agree. It is hard to think of popping over the US border as an international border. When I was young my parents had made arrangements with a family to park their trailer at a northern Minnesota farm. Every weekend starting in May, we would pick up our RV at the farm, always have a pleasant chat with the family, then haul it out about 20 miles to our spot at the state park. During the months of July and August each year we'd camp for these two months, with my mom, grandma, sister and myself. Dad would get about 4 weeks holiday during the year, which would be spread throughout July and August.
We got to know a lot of Americans from the nearby town and as fellow campers. I figure in total as a kid, counting weekends, trips to Illinois, Missouri to visit relatives and family friends, and all that camping in Minnesota.....I 'lived' in the States for around 18 months or so.
When I think of the USA, I have warm memories .