We began this adventure on May 22, 2014 with our American
Airlines flight from Austin to first, Chicago O’Hare, and then another flight
to Boston, arriving a bit late. We
checked into the Embassy Suites Hotel adjacent to Logan Airport and had a late
dinner in the hotel restaurant. It was
just a day of travel.
The next day, Friday, we spent with old friends we first met
in Hawaii 45 years ago, John and Zoe Ann Liepins. They came to our hotel and picked us up for a
day along the Boston coast. First we
headed north to the scenic fishing village of Rockport, Massachusetts. The day was cool in the 50s and overcast with
a few sprinkles from time to time. We
parked the car and walked around Rockport taking photos and trailing in and out
of shops. We had a nice lunch at My
Place by the Sea with a window view of the coastline. On the walk back to the car we stopped at
Tuck’s Chocolates and purchased our dessert.
We continued driving the scenic route along the coast south
to Gloucester where we stopped for photos with the old fisherman statue looking
out to sea. Pressing further southward
we drove a nice back road through Manchester-by-the-Sea, the campus of Endicott
College, Beverly and into Salem where we stopped to tour the House of Seven
Gables and Nathanial Hawthorne’s birthplace.
We drove into downtown Salem and found the old witch house, a witch
statue, and several witch museums. They
know how to market a past mistake.
Eventually we drove through Lynn and Revere into North
Boston where we parked and walked with the crowds. We stopped at Bricco’s Italian restaurant for
a delicious dinner. Afterwards we walked
along Hanover Street looking at all the tempting Italian bakeries. We saw the Old North Church where Paul Revere
received his lantern signals and the large statue of Paul Revere. Finally John and Zoe Ann took us back to our
hotel where we said our goodbyes once more.
Saturday we had breakfast in the hotel and arranged for a
ride to the pier where our ship, Maasdam
of the Holland America line, was docked.
In the waiting area we passed through security and found Rachel and
Deana before boarding the ship. We went
to our cabin, number 822 on the lower deck, and unpacked our suitcases. In a short while we all met Gretchen, Chris
and Sophie-Claire in one of the many lounges for a drink. We sailed at 4:00 pm and Rita and I stood on
the forward deck as we sailed out of Boston Harbor. The air was crisp but mostly sunny for a nice
start to our cruise. Soon we had the
obligatory life boat drill which always seems chaotic but hopefully works in an
emergency.
We all met in the nicer dining room about 6:00 pm for
dinner. Food and service were excellent
throughout the trip. We always ordered
wine with each couple taking turns picking out the evening’s drink. I began with a starter of scallops then a
pork shank on Boston baked beans followed by devil’s food cake for
dessert. Sophie-Claire was always
smartly dressed and usually well-behaved.
She ate most everything and the wait staff gave her top attention.
Sunday morning we woke up in Bar Harbor, Maine. We all met for breakfast at 8:00 am and then
caught tenders to the port about 9:30 am.
This was the only port where we had to use tenders. First we all walked the Shore Path along the
water where Sophie-Claire, her father and I jumped over rocks to a
promontory. We pressed on and ended up
at a local farmer’s market adjacent to a playground where Sophie-Claire could
run off some steam. We walked along Main
Street to Cottage Street where we had lunch at the Thirsty Whale Tavern. I had an Atlantic Brewery brown ale with my
lobster roll. Rita had fish and chips
and their home made root beer. After
lunch we walked to West Street and took an Oli’s Trolley tour through town and
up Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park.
After the tour we had ice cream at Mt. Dessert Ice Cream shop before
catching the tender back to the ship.
On board we had another nice dinner together. It was formal night which just meant, for me,
a tie and jacket. First I had beef
carpaccio for a starter and then surf and turf (steak and shrimp) for the main
course. Rita and I were presented with a
cake for our 50th anniversary which happened last February but was
celebrated tonight. We saw whales
breaking the surface on the port side of the ship. In the evening we went to a floor show of
Broadway songs. We sailed at night as
was the custom.
Monday was Memorial Day and we docked in Halifax, Nova
Scotia. The weather was cool in the 40s
with occasional rain and a brisk wind.
We had a group breakfast then met at 8:30 am for an excursion tour we
had all signed up for. First the bus
tour drove around the city showing us one street that was almost completely old
Sears and Roebuck houses. We saw graveyards
where victims of the Titanic sinking
were buried. Then we took highway 333
south to Peggy’s Cove where we had a stop to explore the village on our own. It is a very picturesque village sometimes
called the most photographed town in Canada.
The trip back to Halifax was along a pretty coastline and in Halifax we
stopped for a short visit at the Citadel overlooking the city. It began to rain harder so Rita and I
returned to the ship while the rest of our group had lunch in Halifax.
In the afternoon we began participating in trivia
contests. We usually ended up near the
top and won the contest a couple of times.
For dinner this evening I had duck pate, lobster and potato soup, baked
cod, and a brownie dessert.
Entertainment tonight was a fiddler and bag pipe concert of typical Cape
Breton music.
Tuesday we had docked in Sydney, at the top of Nova Scotia
which is known as the Cape Breton Highlands.
We all met on the Lido Deck (open air) where the bag pipe and fiddler
were entertaining everyone who joined the special crepe and pancake
breakfast. At 10:00 am we all met for
another excursion tour of Fortress Louisburg which was built by the
French. The weather was cold and windy
but we persevered and first watched a soldier’s loading and firing of a flint
lock musket. We were a bit early in the
season so there weren’t many park employees in period costumes. One welcome stop was in an old tavern where a
lady demonstrated, and served, the art of making hot chocolate. About 1:30 pm the tour ended back at the
ship. Everyone except Chris and I
returned on board. We walked to the
Governor’s Pub where live entertainment was more Cape Breton music with a
keyboard and fiddler group. Chris and I
had local Spruce red ale while Chris had chowder and I had a nice poutine, a
Canadian dish of fried potatoes with gravy and various toppings – this one
having cheese curds and bacon. Our ship
sailed about 5:00 pm.
This is Wednesday so we must be in Charlottetown, Prince
Edward Island. And we are! We all had breakfast together and departed
the ship about 10:00 am – no excursions today.
It was cloudy at first but soon the sun came out to help with the brisk,
cool wind. We walked to St. Dunstan’s
Basilica first then Confederation Hall where we toured the inside. Then we each went our separate ways. Rita and I walked around the downtown
shopping area and went into the Green Gables Store where we bought a small doll
(Anne of Green Gables) for Sophie-Claire.
We also walked into the Cows Chocolate store where we saw them making
chocolate-covered potato chips. We
didn’t try one.
We all met again at 12:30 pm for lunch at the Row House
restaurant which turned out very nice. I
had local red ale and a half lobster in the shell. Rita had fish and chips. The service was very good as was the
food. We walked back to the ship but
first stopped at a Cow Ice Cream store for dessert.
We departed PEI and sailed under the new Confederation
Bridge which links PEI with Nova Scotia.
Many people were up on the decks photographing the bridge as we sailed
under it. Later on Rita played the slot
machines in the casino where she won about $8 overall. We also watched the movie “Monuments Men” at
the theater.
Thursday was the only day at sea with no port visits. We took it easy as we rounded the Gaspe
Peninsula and entered into the St. Lawrence River. I finished reading my book in the library and
then played in a trivia quiz game. This
evening was formal night again so we dressed up and had photos taken by the
ship’s photographer before dinner.
We arrived in Quebec City early on Friday and after
breakfast on board we departed and toured the lower old city, going inside the
oldest stone church in North America, Notre Dame des Victories. We took the funicular to the upper city and
walked along the ramparts by the famous Chateau Frontenac Hotel. The rest toured the Citadel but Rita and I
walked up Avenue Saint Denis to Ruelle des Ursulines where we found the hotel,
Au Petit Hotel, where we stay next week.
Next we walked down Avenue Saint Louis to the Chateau Frontenac and went
inside to wait for the others. They
arrived after a while and wanted to ride a horse drawn buggy called a caliche
in French. While they did that Rita and
I went into a Starbucks for a cold mocha drink.
After their ride we walked to the Place d’Armes, to Place de l’Hotel de
Ville, and had lunch at a nice restaurant, Chez Boulay. After lunch Rita returned to the ship with
Gretchen, Chris and Sophie-Claire.
Rachel and Deana did a bit of shopping and I walked alone to St. Jean’s
Gate and Artillery Park. I walked down
to the lower city and did a bit of sightseeing there.
We all met for dinner again and this time there was a
special birthday cake for Chris. We were
celebrating his 50th birthday tonight but it really was last
January. We all went for group photos then packed our
bags and set them outside our door as we dock in the morning.
Saturday was the last day of the cruise. Montreal greeted us with sunshine and
temperatures in the 70s. We left the ship
about 9:30 am and caught taxis to the Marriott Chateau Champaign Hotel in
Central Montreal. Rita and I were put on
the 31st floor with magnificent views of the city. We all met downstairs and bought one-day
metro passes. One station was in the
basement of our hotel and we took the metro three stops to Champ de Mars
Station where we started our walk around Old Montreal. First we saw the Hotel de Ville and Place
Jacques Cartier with its monument to Admiral Nelson. We had a nice lunch of crepes in an open-air
restaurant called Jardine Nelson with a jazz band playing. Then we walked to Chateau Ramezay. Sophie-Claire was tired and crabby so
Gretchen and Chris took her back to the hotel for a nap. Rita and I walked with Rachel and Deana
through the Bonsecours Market, along a major street called “The Main”, through
the old port to the birthplace of Montreal in 1642, Place D’Youville to Place
d’Armes with Norte Dame Basilica. At
every church we saw there were many weddings taking place – one after the other. In the evening we met and walked to Beaver
Hall for our last meal together as a group on this trip. Rachel and Deana went to see Cirque Soleil
which is headquartered in Montreal. The
rest of us walked back to the hotel and retired for the night.
Sunday morning our group broke up – Rachel and Deana rented
a car and drove to Niagara Falls, Chris, Gretchen and Sophie-Claire flew back
to Washington, DC, and Rita and I picked up a rental car to drive further
northeast into the Gaspe Peninsula. We
rented a Chevrolet Cruze and decided to pay for a GPS too. We made our way out of Montreal in heavy
traffic and were directed to Motorway 20 arriving in Quebec City a few hours
later. We found our hotel easily and
settled into our room. We walked around
Quebec a little and had dinner at Aux Ancien Canadiens, a famous restaurant
with French-Canadian cuisine. We really
like the walled city of Quebec and think of it as the best European city in
North America.
Monday a continental breakfast was brought to our room with
the best croissant since France. We
checked out and found our way out of Quebec and headed further northeast on
Motorway 20. Soon we drove into the town
of Levis where we switched to the scenic coast road 132. It was pleasant driving this road with farms
on the right side and the St. Lawrence River on the left. We stopped in the pretty little town of
Islet-sur-le-Mer to photograph a pretty church with silver roof. We stopped to look at wood carvings in
Saint-Jean-Port-Joli where we bought a carving 41 years ago. We stopped in Kamouraska for lunch at
Poissonnerie (fish restaurant) Lauzier.
We shared a large shrimp kebab with rice and salad. I had a Boreal ale which tasted good.
We arrived in Riviere-du-Loup about 3:00 pm and checked into
our stay for the night, Hotel Levesque.
We were surprised and pleased at how nice a hotel it is with the most
modern motif throughout. It was one of
the best bathroom showers we have ever had in a hotel. We drove into and around town but there
didn’t seem to be much to see. We did
watch some emergency in a tall church steeple but didn’t hang around to see the
end results. It appeared some repairman
had an accident and had to be rescued by local fire trucks with long extension
ladders. Back at the hotel we ate
dinner in their Le Griffe restaurant.
Another great surprise – some of the best food for a hotel
restaurant. I had magret de canard with
vegetables and baked potato. For dessert
we shared a delicious chocolate fondant.
The next day we continued northeast on highway 132 with
clouds overhead and fog on the river. We
drove through Trois Pistoles and Rimouski with occasional stops for coffee or
to snap photos. Again the scenery on the
left was the St. Lawrence River and on the right were dairy farms and rolling
hills. Around Cap Chat the farmland
turned into higher mountains full of forests and some timber businesses. The road became curvier with beautiful views. Signs along the road near St. Anne-des-Monts
warned of rock slides and snow avalanches on the right and a sign that seemed
to indicate that huge waves from the river on our left could sweep cars off the
highway. It was a perilous stretch of
road. Actually the body of water on our
left was probably the Gulf of St. Lawrence at this point. We didn’t see much wildlife with the
exception of a fox and her two kits beside the highway. We stopped to see the lighthouse at Le Marte
and for gasoline at Riviere-au-Renaurd.
We eventually made it to the town of Gaspe and checked into our
hotel. We had dinner at Brise-Bise which
was nice. The maple syrup pie for
dessert was nicer.
Wednesday we woke to a foggy morning, especially over the
water. It was cool, in the 50s, with
occasional showers. After breakfast we
drove along the scenic coastline to the town of Perce. If I were to return to this area I would stay
in Perce instead of Gaspe – it appeared to be more interesting. There are large offshore rocks but our views
were limited by the fog. We headed
southwest along the bottom coast of the Gaspe Peninsula and stopped in Chandler
and Port Daniel for pretty views of this area.
The sun came out and burned the fog away. We stopped in New Richmond at a nice coffee
shop and had a smoked meat sandwich which is the Canadian way of saying
pastrami. The drive was idyllic with
mountainous forests giving way to farmlands once more and several road side
produce stands. We noticed more signs in
English, more Anglican churches and more anglicized town names such as Chandler,
New Richmond and Carleton. While we were
still in the province of Quebec I suspect this area was previously heavily
occupied by the English. We drove along
Chaleur Bay to the town of Pointe-a-la-Croix where we crossed the bridge into
New Brunswick and the town of Campbellton.
Here English was the first
language and French secondary on road signs.
We made it to our motel in the town of Dalhousie and it started to rain
harder. The town was not very pretty, the
motel was okay but a strange staff, and their restaurant was mediocre at best. We washed a load of clothes and called it a
night.
The next morning we returned through Campbellton and took
highway 17, also known as the Appalachian Route, southwest through thick
forests. There were plenty of signs
warning of moose but we didn’t see any.
This area in New Brunswick is the top of the Appalachian Mountain
range. We drove through Kedgwick and St.
Quentin to St. Leonard where we took Motorway 2 northwards to Riviere
Verte. Here we left the motorway, filled
up with gasoline and took back road highway 144 into Edmundston. Back on Motorway 2 we re-entered Quebec once
more and in the town of Notre-Dame-du-Lac we stopped at Fromagerie Le Detour,
bought cheeses, pheasant pate, a fresh baguette, and some apple cider for a
picnic. Since the weather was still cool
with off and on showers we parked by a planetarium and had our yummy picnic in
the car.
Back on the highway we drove through Riviere-du-Loup once
more but continued east on Motorway 20.
The GPS directed us into the town of Levis and onto a ferry that crossed
to Quebec City. It was a surprise but
turned out pleasant with good views of the city from the river. We made it back to the Au Petite Hotel where we
previously stayed and checked in once more.
It was nice and sunny so we started walking, first to the Parliament
building with tulips in bloom then to St. Matthew Church, an old church now
turned into a library. Next we walked
down St. Jean through the St. Jean Porte (St. John Gate) and stopped for beers
at an outdoor restaurant called Sapristi.
Their menu looked good so we ordered three starters and made a meal of
it. A little further down St. Jean we
stopped at a nice ice cream shop and indulged.
We walked back to the hotel and settled down for the night.
Friday we once more had a nice continental breakfast in our
room then headed out for one last walk in the Old Town of Quebec City. Then back to the hotel to check out and head
out on our last leg of this trip. This
time we headed east towards Montreal on Motorway 40 but soon exited and took
scenic highway 138, the King’s Highway, along the St. Lawrence River. The view was of pretty villages, prosperous
looking farms, and several produce stands with the first asparagus of the
season. At the town of Trois-Rivieres we
stopped for lunch at a nice restaurant called Le Sacristain, housed in an old
Wesleyan church. Rita had a delicious
quiche and my sandwich was equally delicious.
For dessert Rita had affogato while I had a rich brownie with ice cream
and an espresso afterwards. We
re-entered Motorway 40 and somehow, with the help (?) of the GPS made it
through Montreal and to the rental car office.
Their shuttle took us to the Marriott Hotel which is actually in the
airport terminal building. We checked in
and started to repack our luggage for tomorrow’s flight. We walked around in the airport terminal and
had a nice dinner at Archibald, a microbrewery with lots of game on the
menu. I had a very good salmon fillet
and their local amber ale.
Saturday ended our trip.
We cleared US customs in Montreal then had an early flight on Delta
Airline to Detroit with another flight to Austin. We arrived in Austin about 2:00 pm, picked up
our car and stopped at a restaurant for Tex-Mex and another stop at HEB for
groceries. All turned out well in
regards to the car and our house. The
rain gauge indicates we had about 2.5 inches of rain sometime while we were
gone so the plants fared well too.
It was a great trip and a nice celebration for our 50th
anniversary. Rita and I had taken much
of this same trip by car back in July of 1973 when we lived in New Jersey. The girls were too young to remember much of
that trip so they enjoyed seeing this part of Canada. The best part of the trip was having
leisurely meals on the ship together with Gretchen,
Chris, Rachel, Deana, and especially Sophie-Claire.
