Buff Parham, 64, media-firm president; Rene Syler Parham, 49, TV personality; Casey Parham, 16; and Cole Parham, 14
Budget: Splurge
Duration: One Week
“You miss so much when you’re flying, so we prefer to drive. Once there, we like to do adventurous things like miniature golf or go-karting. And my husband and I always try to get away at least one night to have dinner by ourselves—a little splurge.”
Go here: Toronto, Canada
Why now: Toronto is fast becoming a mini–New York: Trump opened a hotel there, and a new Four Seasons with a Daniel Boulud restaurant debuted earlier this month. David Chang also joined the fun—introducing not one but four restaurants inside a giant glass cube. There’s even a new fashion week and a Soho House in a city with no Soho to speak of, plus plenty of microneighborhoods (five Chinatowns!) and amusement-packed day trips (like Niagara Falls, for starters) just a short car ride away.
What to do: Play 3-D dodgeball in the new trampoline-floored-and-walled Sky Zone ($13 per person per hour; 3636 Hawkstone Rd., Mississauga; toronto.skyzonesports.com). Flirt with death at the new EdgeWalk at CN Tower ($179 per person; through Nov. 11; 301 Front St. W.; edgewalkcntower.ca), where guests get strapped in before traversing a ledge some 1,200 feet above the ground.
Where to stay: Splurge on a room at the Trump International Hotel & Tower Toronto (from $404; trumptoronto.ca), which opened this year as the city’s tallest residential building. For a more affordable yet still chic option—where Amy Sacco held parties during the Toronto International Film Festival—you can’t go wrong with the Thompson Toronto (from $228; thompsonhotels.com).
Where to eat: It’s easy to go all out at the Momofuku Toronto complex (190 University Ave.; 647-253-8000), whether it’s Shoto’s $152 tasting menu or Daisho’s large-format meals ($127 to $610). For lunch, head to Sanagan’s Meat Locker (176 Baldwin St.; 416-593-9747), a butcher shop that sells massive pork-schnitzel sandwiches for seven bucks.
Buy this: A six-pack of Pilsner ($13.45) from Steam Whistle Brewing (255 Bremner Blvd.; 416-362-2337), a twelve-year-old brewery whose output rivals that of craft-obsessed Brooklyn.
Also consider: Driving to Minneapolis–St. Paul for dueling historical exhibits (“Lost Egypt” at the Science Museum of Minnesota and “China’s Terracotta Warriors: The First Emperor’s Legacy” at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts) and 40-seat neo-American eatery Tilia, a James Beard semifinalist.