Mom travel with Suzanna Keith

By Suzanna Keith, GoGirlfriend contributor

Fun family vacation in nearby Collingwood

A fun, fall getaway in Collingwood Ontario, on the beautiful Georgian triangle, makes for a relaxing vacation for the whole family. Not only is the weather still nice for the beach during the day and cozy bonfires at night, but also the exchange rate is easy on the American wallet. Collingwood is a two-hour car ride from Toronto (three hours from Buffalo) and is considered one of Ontario’s cottage getaway areas by Canadians.

Collingwood features a wide variety of sporting activities from boating and swimming to rock climbing and mountain biking, to golf and tennis. The town also boasts some unusual and entertaining events like the Elvis Festival, The Collingwood Arts festival, Wakestock, Tall Ship Celebration and Fall Culture days.

Between events, you can visit one of the many beautiful beaches along the Georgian Bay of Lake Huron. Wasaga Beach has wide sandy beaches, family friendly picnic grounds and hosts a renowned Blues Festival in the fall. Sunset Point has rocky beaches but houses the famous Chipper selling "to die for" hand cut French fries (try with vinegar) and ice cream. Northwinds Beach offers year round camping with gorgeous views.

Using Collingwood as home base, you can plan a variety of action packed days. Hit nearby Thornbury for 9 holes of easy family friendly Par 3 golf at Tomahawk for only $5 a person. Your gang can recover from the golf outing with a jump and swim off the Thornbury Pier followed by sandwiches at the Bakery on the main drag.

If you need some mom-time without the kids, slip away from lunch for a quick stroll among the shops that feature local artisan décor and fashions. Rejoin the kids in the afternoon for some canoeing or kayaking on the Beaver River with Free Spirit tours (guaranteed to tire out the kids).

Another local attraction, Blue Mountain Resort can be a destination onto itself with a signature golf course, tennis, their Scandinave Spa, mini golf, the mountain coaster, paddle boats, tons of shopping and tree-top zip-lining. The Resort features a calendar of outdoor movie nights and concerts for the whole family to enjoy. Blue Mountain also ranks as one of Toronto’s top winter resorts featuring night skiing.

Collingwood accommodations

Most major airlines fly into Toronto but if you live on the East Coast, it might be worth your while to do a road trip given the time it takes to travel through customs lineups at the airport. Others options are to fly into Buffalo or Detroit and rent a car. Regardless, your family will need a car to get around once you get to the area.

Make sure you give yourself plenty of time in advance of your trip to have passports ready.

• Blue Mountain Resort offers a range of accommodations from 4-bedroom homes on the golf course to two bedroom condos in the village to the Westin Hotel.
• Cranberry Village Resort features an inn and family-friendly condos on Keith Avenue, the former site of the famous Keith Family Dairy.
• Camp in one of the provincial campgrounds near Collingwood: Craigleigth Provincial Park, Wasaga Beach Provincial Park or Pretty River Provincial Park.

Family friendly restaurants in Collingwood

• Firehouse Restaurant – Indulge in a delicious brick oven pizza.
• Tessoro & Azzura – For tasty Italian fare.
• The Red Hen – Yummy grilled cheese and diner food.

An adult’s night out in Collingwood

• The Huron Club – Enjoy dinner, live music and a lively bar scene.
• Tremont Hotel – Located behind the library that doubles as an art studio and a restaurant.
• The Casbah – Housed in the middle of town and provides live music every night.

Other fun family friendly attractions to check out are the murals throughout town, Collingwood Sports Hall of Fame and The Collingwood Museum with its wonderful overview of local history. You can also catch Tuesday night jazz in the park by the museum. Finally, if you’ve never been to Toronto, we highly recommend spending a few days in the spectacular city.

Taking a family fall getaway in Collingwood on the beautiful Georgian triangle is a relaxing vacation the whole family. Collingwood will always be a special place for us given that my husband grew up vacationing there and our extended family calls the picturesque town home.

What are you special family vacation destinations? Comment below as we love to hear from our friends! Find us on Twitter or Facebook and let’s start talking!

About Suzanna Keith

Suzanna Keith is an experienced marketing professional who believes in leveraging revolutionary insights and ideas to grow extraordinary brands. Her expertise includes researching consumer insights and building on these insights to drive long-term strategic direction in all aspects of brand management. Prior to starting her own consulting company Skconcepts, Suzanna served as Brand Manager for Mitchum AP at Revlon in NY, NY. Originally from Bristol, TN, Suzanna graduated from Bryn Mawr College and received her MBA in marketing from New York University. Suzanna is currently EVP for OnlineMomMedia, consults for FaceForward.com, writes the blog Techandtravelmom.com and also blogs for GoGirlfriend.com. Along with her husband and three children, Suzanna splits her time between NY and Texas. 

Catch up with Suzanna online:

• TechandTravelmom.com
• Twitter: @skconcepts
• Facebook: TechandTravelmom
• Pinterest
• Google+
• Instagram
• Onlinemommedia
• StumbleUpon
• Linked In