Category: 2016 East Coast

There was a cannon from a ship and I took a flash of the barrel.

After more than 2 weeks sharing the back seat, I am happy to report that Mara and Cameron are still getting along 😘

In celebration of this being our last night if vacation, we began our meal with ice cream cones:)

Then we headed to a lovely restaurant and enjoyed some live jazz while we ate. This has been a great trip, filled with fun times and great memories!

We had a full day in Montréal for our last (non-driving) day of this cross-country holiday. We began our day with Mara as our tour guide at Pointe-à-Caillère. We saw the view of the original Place Royale from above, and then we climbed down to walk along the original walks of the city, almost 400 years old! Really neat!

While there, there was a cool exhibit all about the life of a privateer. We all tried our hand at a few things, like testing out our “sea legs”.

We enjoyed a lovely lunch at a bistro, complete with live piano. We had planned on going to the Centre de Sciences, but it was closed due to a workers strike. Boo! Jamie found a cool alternative and we headed a little further along the pier to the SOS Labyrinthe-a mystery/maze activity centre. We had about an hour to find 4 objects while navigating a maze in an old hangar. Some air conditioners would have really helped, but it was lots of fun anyway.

We strolled back via the Marché Bonsecours (they have AC!) and then hit our last tourist stop of the day-Notre Dame. Our hotel is just around the corner. The cathedral is stunning! It was the perfect place to pause at the end of a hot, busy day. And the kids had fun imagining all of the secret passageways that are likely behind all of the curtained off areas!

We arrived in Montréal after a chaotic drive through rush hour, construction, and one-way cobblestone streets. Time for a stroll along Rue St-Paul and dinner at “Les 3 Brasseurs”. Local brewery + pub food = just what we were hoping for!

Before we left Rivière-du-loup, we stopped at the Parc des Chutes and checked out a very cool waterfall and hydro-electric plant! Lovely paths through the woods, LOTS of stairs, but very cool falls!

We arrived in Rivière-du-loup, and we were treated to an amazing sunset! We sat out on the patio for dinner, but headed inside after a bit after watching a storm front roll in off the river. Very cool to watch, but we didn’t want to be left eating cold (or wet!) food. Tomorrow, it’s off to Montreal!

We are headed back home, via NB and QC. This time, on our way through New Brunswick, we stopped for a yummy tour of the Covered Bridge Potato Chip Factory. You, know…for the kids.

We are currently getting ready for dinner for our last night in Montreal. Tomorrow is the 5 hour drive home. We’re almost there! I can’t wait to get home.

We began our day in Nova Scotia. We drive through New Brunswick to get to the Confederation Bridge. Then we crossed into PEI. And finally, after paying the toll to leave the Island, we ended our day back in New Brunswick. Whee!

When asked what they wanted to do in PEI, the answers from the kids were: eat ice cream at “Cows”; eat French fries (PEI=potatoes); walk on the beach. I really wanted to drive the bridge. It was a quick visit, but we were able to squeeze everything in:) 

What a beautiful province! We drove back to the bridge surrounded by fields of potatoes growing in the red earth. And we crossed the bridge at dusk…just lovely!