Staying in Saskatoon for the Summer

In the past few years I've begun to realize how underrated not traveling in the summer is. For most of my life, both as a kid and an adult, I spent considerable lengths of time away from home in the summer - going to lakes, road trips all over the continent, catching a Blue Jays series or two, and attending conferences. I don't discount the fun and memorable experiences these trips have provided at all, but especially as an adult there's been an element of FOMO related to summer travel as well. Summers in Saskatoon are so short and so lovely, it's nice to stick around and experience them. Last year Brahm and I made the conscious decision to not plan a major trip during the summer like we had in previous years, and it was so nice to just be here and enjoy ourselves.

Long weekends this year in Saskatoon have seemed especially dead, and especially wonderful for those of us who stuck around. It seems? a larger number of people are spending more time at The Lake where it is debatably "safer", which means there is a noticeable decrease in traffic and people and noise. If you don't have plans yet for September long and are on the fence about traveling, I definitely recommend having a Saskatoon long weekend staycation!

Here are some of the highlights of August long 2020 in Saskatoon for me:

• Biking to Broadway for a patio supper at Ace Burger and also gelato from Beppi's
• Picking raspberries and blackcurrants at Rhodes, getting an amazing raspberry ice cream sandwich, and making delicious jam and squares with my harvest
• Finally doing a long-planned small yard project - cutting out a bit more of the lawn to increase the size of one of the pollinator gardens

• Watching the bees in the yard go absolutely nuts for every flower they could possibly find
• Beginning to harvest a small but wide variety of items from my gardens - cherry tomatoes, ground cherries, dill, mint, basil, carrots, lettuce, arugula, peas, hot peppers, and strawberries
• Getting too much fresh produce from Robertson Valley Farm and Kaleidoscope Vegetable Gardens
• Watching the videos in the Saskatoon Horticultural Society's Virtual Passport Garden Tour (which I am on the planning committee for) and getting inspired for next year
• Floating in my backyard kiddie pool (if I close my eyes I can't even tell I'm not in a lake!)

Admittedly, we do have a short trip planned for mid-August; just 3 nights in a provincial park that is new to us. It feels like a good balance of getting to enjoy the offerings of the province and also not dealing with trying to find someone to water the garden for a week. Otherwise Saskatoon is a great place to have socially distanced summer staycations!