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July 12, 2011
Montreal, Canada
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We arrived in Montreal last evening and the hotel is right in the heart of everything. Mark had a work call to take so this morning, Jonna, Darby, and Grayson walked down to McGill University to check out the campus. It was a beautiful day today in Montreal and it actually got quite hot. We walked from the university down to Rue Sainte-Catherine to check out the main shopping street. Darby's poor ankle was starting to hurt already and so we stopped at a McDonald's for a cold drink and to rest the ankle. The kids commented on how clean and well organized the McDonalds was here. We don't frequent McDonalds much, but this one in Montreal was super clean and the employees were all calling out "Bonjour" as we entered. They enjoyed having Fruitopia - a Coke product they had never seen in the US and Jonna remember from her days working at Coke in the early 1990s. After circling back to the hotel around lunchtime to check on Mark, Darby decided that her ankle just couldn't take it any more today. She decided to stay in the room and rest it and catch up on her summer reading while Mark, Jonna, and Grayson set off to explore the rest of Montreal. We purchased one day Metro passes and hopped on the subway at the Place-Des-Arts station to head to Old Montreal. After switching from the Green to the Orange line, we disembarked at the Place-D'Armes station and headed to Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal. It was so beautiful. The church itself was a smaller chapel version and started by Jesuits in the early 1600s before it was taken over by Sulpician Fathers and a larger church was built in the Baroque style on the current site in 1657. By 1800, the church had again grown to small to accommodate the growing number of parishioners and the church we know today was planned. Back in that day it was quite a scandal that James O'Donnell, an Irish Protestant, was hired to undertake the task of building the Catholic church. The church was finally completed shortly after O'Donnell's death in 1830. Decoration of the interior continued until the 1870s. The church is really beautiful and not to be missed if in Montreal!
After leaving Notre-Dame, we headed down the street and grabbed a quick lunch at Restaurant Pasta Pia. We enjoyed walking through Old Montreal watching the street performers and admiring the architecture.
We hopped back on the Metro after enjoying Old Montreal and headed up to the Cote-des-Neiges Metro station to visit the Saint Joseph's Oratory. Founded in 1904 by Saint Brother André and his friends, the original tiny chapel gradually grew over the 20th
century into the impressive structure it is today. There are 283 steps leading up the Basilica from the street level and there is a set of wooden steps in the first area reserved for prayer and for those who come wanting to climb this first set of 99 steps on their knees. It is an amazing place and Alfred Bessette, who later took the name Brother Andre, was a faithful follower of Christ and he left quite a legacy. Another place not to be missed in Montreal. By the time we finished touring the basilica and the prayer gardens behind it, it was nearly 5:30 pm so we headed back to the hotel to check on Darby. It was a good day and we enjoyed seeing Montreal!
July 13, 2011
Toronto, Canada
Today we were off to Toronto to see our friends Ric Gray and Bonnie Sitherwood. They live in Oakville, a suburb of Toronto and we have been trying to get up to visit them since they moved there 15 years ago! We headed off from Montreal at about 6:30 am and decided to take a quick driving tour of the city before we left to show Darby the things she missed yesterday because of her ankle. Navigating in Montreal, coupled with Jonna's poor french skills made it an adventure, but we were able to negotiate the streets and drive past Notre Dame and Saint Joseph's Oratory. Montreal is a beautiful city and we would love to go back and spend much more time there in the future.
The drive to Toronto was an long one and we were happy to cross over from Quebec into Ontario! All of the signs were in English which made the kids happy, but Jonna and Mark enjoyed the European feel of Quebec!
We arrive in Toronto in the early afternoon and spent some time at the CN Tower (Toronto's most famous landmark) and people watching in a coffee shop grabbing a bite to eat. The weather was fabulous so we just enjoyed being there! To beat the traffic, we headed out to Oakville around 3:30 and arrived a little early in Oakville, so we headed to a nearby park to check out Lake Ontario. Ric/Bonnie's home is very near the lake and the town of Oakville is so quaint and cute.
The lake is enormous and edged with rocks and driftwood. The kids enjoyed skipping stones and Mark and Jonna enjoyed sitting out in the fresh air. The temperature was perfect and the breeze made it heavenly.
We finally headed to Ric/Bonnie's house
and we thought we were in Disneyland when we arrived because there was so much to do and it was so beautifully manicured! Their backyard is situated right on the river that leads into Lake Ontario and Ric has done an amazing job of landscaping the deck and the loads of steps leading the the lower backyard. Grayson had a ball toasting hotdogs in the fire pit, jumping on the trampoline, swinging on the tire swing, and swinging on the rope swing right into the river! Cole (Ric/Bonnie's 12 year old son) was a great companion for Grayson in these endeavors. Bonnie took Jonna and Darby out in the boat down the river and into Lake Ontario and it was great to see lots of the people hanging out on their boats at the yacht club and enjoying the great and beautiful outdoors! What a wonderful visit!
July 14, 2011
Niagara Falls, Canada
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Today, we headed out from Oakville towards Niagara Falls. It is only a 45 minute drive. We were planning on spending the night there and had an amazing room at the Embassy Suites overlooking the falls reserved, but Bonnie and Ric convinced us that the falls themselves are pretty touristy so we decided to just go for the day and then spend time relaxing at their cottage in Long Point on Lake Erie. That is what we decided to do. When we arrived at the Falls, we walked along the edge and admired the beauty and the mist of the falls. Even if you have seen the falls before, it is like the Grand Canyon, it is awe-inspiring every time! We have always wanted to do the Maid of the Mist boat ride to the base of the falls so we got our tickets and rain slickers and headed down to the boat. It did not disappoint. We loved getting so close to the falls and feeling the power that they generate. We were interested to learn about a 7 year old boy that was swept over the falls in 1963 in only a bathing suit and a life preserver that survived and was actually rescued by a Maid of the Mist ship. Maid of the Mist has been operating since 1946 and the kids got especially interested in doing it when they saw the Bruce Almighty movie several years ago. We we got to the base of the falls, Mark made everyone say their favorite Bruce Almighty saying! The kids were way too cool to do it, but Mark and Jonna got a good laugh about it! We would have done the walk behind the falls, but because Darby was still wearing the boot for her ankle, that wasn't an option. Bonnie and Ric were right though, Niagara Falls is beautiful and certainly not to be missed, but it has become a bit touristy. We were glad we decided to head on over to Long Point to enjoy the cottage.
July 15, 2011
Long Point, Canada
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We arrived at the cottage yesterday late afternoon and Ric was there repairing some screens. It is an adorable little cottage situated right along Lake Erie in an area called Long Point. What a great getaway! Lake Erie is the shallowest of all the great lakes and unlike most of the other lake areas on the great lakes, it has a sandy beach. Long Point is about 30-40 miles directly across from Erie, Pennsylvania, but no land is in sight so it feels exactly like the ocean, except for the fact that the lake is fresh water. We enjoyed sitting on the beach yesterday afternoon/evening and then dining at a local restaurant called Neighbours. We slept with all the windows and doors open with only screens and it was amazing. The climate here in the summer sure beats Georgia! Ric told us that Long Point is really only a great place to visit in June-September and then the weather in Canada makes it unpleasant. You sure wouldn't know it could be anything but pleasant when you visit in July.
We spent Friday hanging at the beach, the kids playing in the sand and Mark, and Jonna, and Ric visiting for a while. We decided to pack it up in early afternoon and head home. We were going to try to stay an extra night, but the 16 hour drive on Saturday worried Mark, so we decided to drive halfway this afternoon. We headed out west toward Detroit and after three hours in the car, crossed the bridge back into the USA. A few more hours south we stopped for the night. We had strategically timed the trip with a stop in Cincinnati for some Skyline Chili dinner. Saturday morning, we headed out early at about 6:30 am and arrived home at 3:30 pm. The trip was fantastic and we saw a lot of our beautiful country and the country of Canada, but we are glad to be back home concluding another Blount Adventure!
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