From Tampa Bay to Winter Coats

I spent the past week in Tampa Bay for work ... taking in the sun and warmth. I mostly enjoyed walking around without a jacket, eating outside, and finally seeing The Phantom of the Opera. I returned on Friday. It was in the low 70s when I left Tampa Bay and in the upper teens when I got home. The reality of it all slapped me in the face - time to fork out some dough for a proper coat.

Yesterday, we shopped. Surprisingly, there is a lot to think about. Goose down is the warmest. However, if you are going to move around a lot, it may be to warm, and you may sweat, in which case, the down will get wet and you will eventually get cold and the coat will stink. You want it to be snug so that you don't create a cold zone between you and the coat. But not too snug because air in an insulator. Most of the Canadian brands come with components of a dead animal wrapped around the hood.

So, I really wanted this one. It's the Canada Goose Resolute Parka. It has reflective tape all over it, D rings for hanging stuff on it, a crazy long tunnel hood with a coyote-fur ruff, lots of pockets and velcro ...

The best part is that it has the Canada Goose disc on the right-sleeve.


Canada Goose is based out of Ontario. We also checked out a few Quebec brands, including Kanuk (ugly, expensive and warm) and Lolë (sporty, less ugly, expensive and warm). In the end, we both are getting coats made by North Face. I suspect our warm clothes shopping has just begun.

We did see many odd things while shopping. For example, one store had a wall of animals furs. We both felt like we traveled back in time to a trading post. We also saw a wonderful x-country child transport system (CTC). We didn't have a camera with us. Fortunately, someone by the name of Stephanie Kerwin had uploaded photos of her daughter Chloe enjoying the CTS.


I think we all know what Sam is getting for Christmas now!