The Maclean’s all-new and interactive Guide to Great Canadian Pit Stops

On a fateful evening in July I drove past the remnants of a summertime haunt on the outskirts of St. Thomas, Ont. My family and I faithfully frequented The Polar King for footlongs, french fries and always a vanilla soft-serve dipped in butterscotch.

Although the charming roadside pit stop no longer exists, it got me thinking, “Surely, this country must be busting at the seams with similar off-the-beaten-track food destinations.”

It got me thinking of some other stuff, like:

• “I could find those pit stops.”
• “I could ask readers for their help.”
• “In fact, I could build an interactive map of those spots. All readers would have to do is click on the map pin for important information.”

I invited you to submit your favourite roadside destination. Boy, did you deliver.

So let me introduce you to the first edition of the Great Canadian Pit Stop map:

*Please click on the image below to access the interactive map.

There’s bound to be more, so leave your comments below, on the map’s page, or email them to [email protected].  I”ll be sure to add your suggestions to the second edition next summer.  That’s right, the second edition.