hdm, Toronto? I just found out (within the hour) that I'm coming to Toronto!

LOVE your post. I was quite sure it was a jetty post when I first saw it. Very cute!

Yay, Starrs! When are you coming to Toronto? How can I help? How long will you be here and where are you staying? I know great ethnic restaurants and great neighbourhoods -- ask me anything!

And what's a jetty post?

Starr's, don't miss the shoe museum in Toronto. Even if you think you won't enjoy it. Even if it's out of your way.

New Orleans! Azaleas are blooming, the grass is green and many of the historic parts of the city (inc. the French Quarter) have never looked better. Plus, we need your money! (Shameless plug there...)

missypie - I'm so sick of the cold. We're having cold pouring rain for the next three days. But you made me just a little glad. I really suffered last year.
At least the cold keeps my allergies away.
Thanks!

hdm, I'm coming in May and I'm coming for a conference and I HOPE I can come in a day or so early to actually see Toronto. I'd love info on ethnic restaurants, etc. I'll post on the Canada forum so I don't get in trouble for sidetracking this one. Look for me over there!

It's been Spring for over a month here and the Jacarandas are in full blue/purple bloom this week.
M (SMdA, Gto., MX)

I do not know why I would be raising any fuss by my questions. They are not trollish, just designed to open up discussion about topics that are travel related but rarely discussed on this board. The only thing I regret is misspelling Spring in my original posting.

Update:

I saw a blade of green grass this morning next to a dirty pile of snow. Is this a sign of spring?

Sprung has actually sprung here in Florida. We are in the 80's and are supposed to stay that way all through the weekend.

Spring is so far on in the UK that in the Lake District they are putting plastic daffodils in for the Easter tourists.

MD 'burbs of Wash DC: I saw the first crocus in my yard yesterday.

come to new orleans indeed! the azaleas are blooming like crazy and the sun is shining and the afternoon high is around 77 degrees. the french quarter has never looked so good. we have a new sanitation service that is taking great pride in keeping the streets and sidewalks clean. we have 778 restaurants open (this does not include any fast food establishments, but real live restaurants). the streetcar (redline) is running on canal street and the greenline does the loop from lee circle to canal street. uptown service is not up yet, but the bus runs down st. charles avenue.

in addition to the french quarter there's the aquarium, and the audubon zoo, the riverfront, etc. we also have a major art exhibit at the museum of art - the french have sent us impressionist works from their finest museums to help us attract visitors to boost our economy. it's called femme, femme,femme. women in french paitings.

it's a bit quiet now, but in april we will have french quarter fest april 13-15 and then jazzfest april 27-29 and may 4-6.

we want you to come and have such a wonderful experience that you return home and tell all of your friends and family to come see us. and yes, we NEED it badly.

spring break condo shopping is hectic right now but we booked 4 months ago and now find out the have OVERBOOKED the condo we have had a downpayment on. They said they changed us to an upgraded location but it is not on the beach or ocean front (ours was) Is this legal. Obviously they took downpayments from more than one renter and then took the highest bid and put the rest some where else. We booked it thru Bookit.com and they said the Agency at the condo in Destin, Fl did it. Now of course we cannot find any Condo but are not willing to accept their downgrade when we have had our confirmation and they have had our downpayment for 4 months. Has this ever happened to anyone and can we make them find us a beach front for the price we agreed to? It is the 2-6 of April

ANOTHER VOTE FOR NEW ORLEANS!! It is absolutely gorgeous right now! My husband is a pilot (based out of DFW - spends monday-friday there) and every time he comes home lately he's been saying "another day in paradise" and he's right! Best of all - crawfish season and the festivals are about to begin. Another suggestion - Natchez, MS if you're interested in history/Civil War. The Spring Pilgrimage should be coming up soon (many of the antebellum houses are open for tours). My mother, sister and I went for the Fall Pilgrimage and had a wonderful time. We stayed at the Dunleith Plantation (in the dairy!!). It was a destination vacation in itself.

spring has sprung in little rock arkansas

We've had some visitors from Sweden staying here in Sonoma County (yes, California) the past few weeks and they have commented several times that the hills here are so green right now it looks like Ireland!

Dear dingleberry, I can't wait to hear you tell everyone that Ireland is "dusty green"!

You should of course go where you want to, but just for the information of any other people looking for spring right now, we also have miles of orchards (pear, almond, cherry, apple) in full bloom and the vineyards are carpeted with neon yellow mustard flowers. "Wild lilac" (ceanothus) bushes are blooming in the hills and the poppies and lupine are starting to appear too.

I have lived in New York, Ohio, DC, Virginia, Florida, Kentucky, Wyoming, Oregon, and now northern California. ALL of those places have beautiful springs. They just have them at different times.

Yes, it has sprung in San Jose, CA. Today low 70's though we've had low 80's already a week or so ago.

Nice big, fat, puffy snowflakes in Denver today. We're getting a little greener though.
For the most part, Spring is moving in on us. Of course, it's almost always sunny and that makes it feel like Spring even when it isn't.

There are parts of CA where we don't actually have "dusty green" shades year round. I resemble that remark!

"Sprung is busting out all over" round here, my bed springs are'sprung', my waistline is 'sprung', Car door hinge is 'sprung, and the rats in the garage have 'sprung' their trap, but got away, I have 'sprung' my budget, my wrist watch is 'sprung', and there are only slight signs of Sprung around here... But hang in there...you wouldn't be the first to mispell a word, and so let's all laugh a little. Happy Spring to All.