Let's Go to Montreal!

Starting Data
Starting Mileage:  64,629
Time:  8:55
Weather:  Overcast and 60º
Book:  Pops


It took us just 11 minutes to get through the downtown area and onto a Parkway.  There was very heavy traffic coming into Toronto, but heading east out of town was not much of an issue.  There was a traffic snarl that lasted all of 6 minutes--so no complaints!


Before I get into the heart of today's information, I am going to make a list of the interesting signs and names that we saw today.  Great ones!
•National Canadian Canoe Museum
•Cobbledick Road
•Bark Place--A Pet Spaw
•Thyme Again Farmstand
•Parker's Barkers--Dog Grooming
•Nap 'n Nosh B&B
•Bread and Butter Bakery--Bread and Pastries
•Bliss--Fine Linens


Now back to the gist of today's trip.  We stopped at 10:05 at a service center in Port Hope, Ontario. The first order of business was to buy gas.  No more complaining at home about the price of gas, folks!  We put in 10.136 gallons @ 4.632 per gallon.  That would be $48.  (This includes $5.52 for what is called HST, which I am assuming stands for highway sales tax.)  The service centers that we have stopped at have all been immaculate.  They are called On-Tour in Ontario.  I learned something while reading the signs while Dave was grabbing a cup of coffee at Starbucks.  Did you know that there are 250,000 lakes in Ontario.  That's 1 lake for every 50 people living in the Province.  (I didn't think you knew that!)


As we were driving we could catch occasional glimpses of Lake Ontario, which got me looking at the atlas and before you know it, I had planned a serendipity side trip.  We exited 40 at Trenton and traveled along a scenic route (Hwy. 33) which dips south a bit and follows the shore of Lake Ontario.  The sun was beginning to come out now and again--our gas tank was full--so we decided it was time to get off the interstate, rearrange the trunk and put the top down on the convertible!  We traveled on Hwy 33 that is also known as "The Loyalist Parkway," "The Taste Trail" and "Art Trail."  We drove past lots of wineries.  (No, this time we didn't stop at the wineries.  Yes, John and Carol, that was a waste! But, our timing was not good.)  


We ended up crossing on the Glenora Ferry, a free ferry that connects Picton with Adolphustown.  It runs every 30 minutes from spring to fall.  It takes 15 minutes to cross.  We had a very smooth ride along with 5 other vehicles--1 motorcycle, 1 truck and 3 other cars.  When we drove off the ferry it wasn't long before we were driving through an area growing very familiar looking crops.  We passed soybean fields with NK signs that could have been in Black Hawk County!

Once again we were struck by all the beautiful flower beds.  The climate must be ideal.  The economy must be strong in this area.  We saw lots and lots of new homes being built--from "normal" family-sized homes to enormous homes.  We stopped at a little roadside park called Finkle Shore Park.  It was beautiful.  We walked all the way down to Lake Ontario.  Dave grabbed lunch at a ma and pa type trailer called Lakeside Fries.  We talked with the couple that owned it.  It is nearing the end of their season and they are looking forward to packing up and heading to Fort Myers, FL!  Dave had their special--a spicy polish sausage with hand-cut fries that were made while we stood there.  The lady said, "Oh, the fries are great right now.  The new potato crop you know."  Dave said it was delicious.  It looked mighty tasty.

As we were driving along we passed through a tiny village that had planters filled with petunias placed about every half block.  It was stunning.  Immediately after that Lake Ontario moved permanently next to car--just on the other side of the guard rail on my side.  We watched a number of sailboats sailing between where we were and Amherst Island.  It looked like a picture book.

We got back onto the 401 at 2:35.  Dave informed me then that we had driven 1,029 miles since leaving home.  (Remember, that doesn't count the miles that we "floated" from Milwaukee to Muskegon.)  We stopped again just before 4 at a service center.  Dave got me another enormous bottle of water.  We looked again at our Trip-Tik and crossed our fingers that our GPS system would deliver us safely to our hotel.  After looking at several different spots I was able to figure out where our hotel would be on the tiny little map in one of the AAA books.  We left the province of Ontario and entered in the province of Quebec at 4:50.  


We immediately were aware of how illiterate we are when it comes to French!  For those of you that may not know, Quebec is a French-speaking province.  So, road signs are written in French.  I found a handy little translation guide that at least gave us the direction words.  Thank goodness!


The traffic leaving Montreal was bumper to bumper at 5:30.  Luckily, we were heading into the city and the traffic was considerably lighter.  We arrived at our hotel--InterContinental Montreal.  This is by far the "swankiest" place we have ever stayed--including the Sofitel in Minneapolis.  Dave was able to pull the car up next to the entrance and before I knew it, he and the bellman had returned.  (We paid for the valet service.  It was a difference of only $5, and it meant that we didn't have to think about it.  They gave us a little tag and told us to call the desk about 10 minutes before we wished to have the car returned.)  I thought that I had grabbed everything, but left the camera!  So, unfortunately, we have no pictures of the hotel or our walk around Montreal. (Well, really it WAS in Kathi's purse all along. We just didn't find it until this morning! DGL)


The place is beautiful.  Our room is on the 21st floor and is very large.  Since I left the camera, here is a link to pictures of the hotel:  http://montreal.intercontinental.com/en/hotel/photos
If you look on the third row, pictures 2, 3 and 4 are our room.  




We walked only a short distance tonight.  We were both tired and hungry.  We clearly weren't dressed for dinner at our hotel, but found a very nice window side table at the restaurant at the Embassy Suites not too far away.  We both had great food.  I had grilled salmon and a green salad.  Dave had a steak and salad.  Once again the people watching was amazing!


Tomorrow is a long day.  I think we are going to try to get up and on the road by 8.