Or, in our case it's on the water again, rather than the road.
After spending September 2015 to May 2016 in our RV in Texas, we have flown back to Syracuse, N.Y. to start looping again. Blue Moon survived winter storage at Winter Harbor Marine in excellent condition. We spent the first week cleaning and provisioning the boat. Daily trips to Walmart were the order of the day. Gary flew in from Colorado to help with working on the boat and also to help us move the boat to Montreal, Canada.
St. Lawrence Seaway
June 1 - June 8, 2016
Crossing Lake Ontario, we started down the St. Lawrence River. The map looks like we should be going 'up' the St. Lawrence, but actually the river runs from south to north down to the Atlantic Ocean.
We saw large freighters.
Little houses built on rock islands.
King and Gary looked for fish.
Another beautiful sunset from an anchorage near Boldt Castle.
Canadian Coast Guard ship in the lock with us.
Last day on the St. Lawrence on our way to Lachine Marina In Montreal, Quebec Provence, and on our way to learning a few words in French.
A boat under sail in wind and choppy water.
Quebec City
June 9 - June 11, 2016
While at Montreal, we rented a car and drove to Quebec City for three days. We toured Old Quebec City, which was founded in 1608 by Samuel de Champlain. The city is recognized as the cradle of French civilization in North America and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Quebec City has 702,000 residents and 95% are native speakers of French. Most everyone we came into contact also spoke English.
Enjoying lunch at sidewalk cafes.
Quaint narrow streets are like a trip back in time.
More shops and cafes.
Great views of the St. Lawrence River.
The Hotel Chateau Frontenac is a luxury hotel with historic architecture and beautiful views of Old Quebec City and the St. Lawrence River. We walked around the hotel and enjoyed the view from this bar.
We enjoyed the Museum of Civilization which is situated in the Old Quebec area near the St. Lawrence River. Sharon and Vicki taking a rest.
We drove to Ile D'Orleans, an island across from Old Town Quebec. The island is located in the St Lawrence River, about 3 miles east of downtown Quebec City. The island was one of the first parts of the province to be colonized by the French, and a large percentage of French Canadians can trace ancestry to early residents of the island. The island has been described as the birthplace of francophones (people who speak French as their first language) in North America.
King, Sharon, Gary and Vicki enjoyed the beautiful scenery of the island, the river and also a wonderful lunch.
Montreal Old Montreal and Old Port
June 12 - 14, 2016
We learned the history of the city which dates back to the early 1600's. Most of Old Montreal was declared an historic district in 1964. The cobblestone streets, however, date back some 350 years. Difficult to walk on, but great old shops and restaurants.
Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue
June 15, 2016
Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue is an on-island suburb located at the western side of the Island of Montreal. It was founded as a parish in 1703. We purchased a Parks Canada Pass which allows us to tie up our boat at any lock wall. We enjoyed our stay at the Sainte Anne lock wall. We walked around the dock sidewalk and main street with inviting shops and restaurants. It was my (Sharon) birthday and Gary and Vicki treated me to dinner! A special memory of a special town with special friends. Special!
Ottawa River
June 16 - June 17, 2016
We traveled about 15 miles to our next stop, the Carillon (pronounced Carry-On) Lock and Power Station. This is an impressive power and locking station. We were told if the river was carrying gasoline rather than water it could fill 40,000 automobiles per second! A daily tour of the hydro plant is available.
On to Ottawa
June 18 - June 22, 2016
A beautiful morning leaving First Nations Anchorage.
We began our day to Ottawa with the first locks of the Rideau Canal, called the "magnificent flight of 8 locks" which are framed by Canada's Parliament building on one side and the impressive Chateau Laurier hotel on the other. This is the largest single set of locks on the entire Rideau system, providing a lift of 79 ft.
We had really looked forward to the lock flight, HOWEVER, it was a very difficult set of locks due to about a 20 mph side wind. It took all four of us on the boat and three lock attendants to wrangle our boat up the flight. Beautiful Canadian Parliament buildings on the left side of photo.
Safe at the lock wall, boats on the left bank.
Ottawa is a busy, bustling city that is preparing for its anniversary in 2017, therefore lots of construction.
The Byward Market is Ottawa's oldest neighborhood, which is centered around the nearly century old ByWard Market Square pavilion. Here we found arts and crafts, food, cafes and street performers. It was also HOT.
We couldn't resist, we purchased the Ontario fiddle head ferns. Not really knowing what to do with them, but there is always Google. I don't know if we would buy them again, but King ate them.
The famous Ottawa BeaverTail is a restaurant that serves pastries that look like a beaver tail (it is a whole wheat pastry with sweet or savory toppings). There was often a long line waiting to purchase, plus street performers to add to the enjoyment.
We decided to forgo the high calorie treat, so we went back to the boat. Gary and Vicki toured Parliament, on the French language tour, and then left the next day for cooler Colorado.
