DW and I stayed at a fully booked campground this weekend. This particular campground is in Michigan, about 10 minutes from the Canadian border (Port Huron KOA if anyone is wondering). This weekend is a long weekend for Canadians, and it seems that half of Ontario was camping there. Seriously - about 3/4 of the campers had Ontario plates. Anyhow, often when we camp there, we see several large groups of boisterous drunks, and lots of morons driving golf carts recklessly. This weekend, we saw very little of that, ergo the title of this thread. What do you think? For those of you wondering why we camp there, aside from being a short drive from home, it's for the benefit of the grandkids. They have three pools, multiple playgrounds, and some nice planned activites.
I have been traveling to Canada for decades for every thing from family reunions, fishing trips and day trips. It seems to me that the use of alcohol in Canada is more respected than here in the States. Unfortunately, here in the US, there seems more of an ingrained cultural excuse that getting stupidly drunk is acceptable. Without trying to be too political, I personally think that the US can learn a lot from other countries on how to behave properly.
I am a proud Canadian and plan on staying that way. Not to start an argument but I have been to many places around the world and when a local sees a mostly white english speaking traveler they automatically assume American. However, when they find out I'm Canadian their attitude changes greatly for the better. I get handshakes, hugs and warm welcomes rather than mostly being ignored. I'm not going to speculate as to why this happens but I have seen it over and over again. Edit: Make no mistake, Canadians like to drink as well. Cold beer makes the world go around.
I hope we don't spoil our Americans friends good attitude towards us with some poor decisions. Thanks for thinking highly of us, eh.
When in London last year to have tea with our Queen (she wasn't home.. guess ole Chuckie didn't pass along the email..) I talked with a few locals, from the bus, taxi drivers, hotel staff, tour guides and everyday folks.. Each one had a attitude change when they learned we were from Canada.. Some of it was subtle and hardly noticeable and at other times it was quite noticeable.. As for the drinking part.. Remember we Canadians have a higher tolerance .. our lite beer equals their regular beer..
*Note to self - prior to traveling abroad, invest in Maple Leafs jersey, but don't try to drink like a Canadian.
Years ago, a friend of mine was serving in the Military in Germany. When he would go on leave (out of uniform) he would say he was Canadian. Kind of sad really, b/c I don't think a lot of us Americans deserve the bad reputation.
I wonder if that is just that particular KOA? We stay in a lot of state parks in Michigan and Conservations Areas in Ontario, and while there are occasionally groups of boisterous drunks, for the most part, people are respectful on both sides of the border. Some of the state parks I used to avoid now have alcohol bans, but I'll just offer that those parks tended to fill up with people from Illinois, and not nice people from Michigan or Ontario. Come to think of it, some of the Provincial Parks have seasonal alcohol bans, typically for Victoria Day. Maybe the Pinery is attracting Chicago drunks, too.
This particular KOA is definitely worse than other CGs that we stay at. And don't get me started on people from Chicago. I used to live in Southern Illinois, and they would invade the area every fall for deer season. Every year without fail, some knucklehead from Chicago would not only shoot a cow or a horse, but they would try to take it to a check station!!
It is because the United States is the number one super power. No one likes the boss, they all want to see us fall down. Canada on the other hand is no threat to anyone.
I've seen quite a few Canucks get stupid drunk in my day. Must be something about the air in curling clubs... Seriously though, if my time in Canada taught me anything, it's that people are people and that the stereotypes that abound are usually blown out of the water once you really get to know folks.
My Moose-dog has always been the sweetest, kindest, most thoughtful dog. Whereas my Bat-dog is stubborn, obnoxious, and annoying. I got their dna tested. Big surprise: Moose-dog is Canadian (Newfoundland); Bat-dog is not... From what I have experienced, there is no given in regards to partiers other than campgrounds close to urban areas in the summer - they are most likely to experience problems with drinking.
