Honeymoon

Doing things out of order seems to be a recurring theme in our relationship: We went on our first "date" before we were dating, we got married before we had a wedding, and now, the story of the honeymoon we took before the ceremony. I guess we never have been ones for tradition. And after spending two weeks running around the Mid-Atlantic to see our families, we needed a little down time. Nothing like a road trip to recover from a road trip, am I right?

To save time and countless miles on Jason's old LeBaron, we devised a somewhat complicated plan: Fly from Baltimore to Manchester, NH (the cheapest roundtrip flight on Southwest). Rent a car from New Hampshire and drive to Burlington. From Burlington, carry on to Montreal and Quebec City before coming down through Maine and eventually back to NH. At the end of the trip, Jason would stay in Baltimore for his own bachelor party, and I would fly directly back to Rochester to start putting the final touches on things for the wedding. Ready, set, go!

Burlington, VT
We stayed at a great little AirBnB within walking distance of downtown Burlington. Our host was really friendly and left us a few local beers and some Ben and Jerry's in the fridge to welcome us. He gave us some great recommendations for stuff to do and we took full advantage of his local knowledge. Highlights include a visit to Shelburne Farms and the Magic Hat brewery, and a walk along the harbor.

Montreal
Everyone told us how amazing Montreal was so we planned to stay there for three full days and really take time to explore. We chose a cheap hotel so the neighborhood wasn't great but it was quite close to a subway stop and it seemed relatively close to other interesting things. I guess being in Europe has skewed my perception because what looked close on the map was actually worlds away. Much like most North American cities, the public transit doesn't really take you close enough to the things you want to see, requiring on average a 20-minute walk on both sides of your trip. Also, the cool European vibe that I was hoping for in a French-Canadian city was mostly absent. Aside from the fairly small old town neighborhood, Montreal looks a lot of any other big city in the world.

They take their French so seriously.

Poutine

Chinatown, where we had dinner our first night.

Schwartz's Deli. Notice how Jason's belly is already sad.

We had a lot of suggestions of places to go but almost all of them turned out to be a bit disappointing. The two famous bagel bakeries were unremarkable, Schwartz's Deli gave us the shits, which was even more insulting after we had waited in line for 45 minutes for a mediocre roast beef sandwich, and Mount Royal park was a major let down. We expected some amazing views of the city from the top and instead got this:

To be fair, in other parts of the park, you could get a nice glimpse of the city through the trees but we would never have known if we weren't just wandering around trying to find our way out of the park.

For lack of other options, we spent a day out by the Olympic stadium at the Biodome, Insectarium and Botanical Gardens. This was probably the highlight of the trip and these are not things that we typically seek out when we travel.

Holding a vinegar scorpion. It tickles!

In the end, the real thing didn't quite live up to the hype. There are some cool spots, like the seafood restaurant and cocktail bar Le Majestique and Dieu de Ciel brasserie, but they are pretty scattered around the city and annoyingly hard to get to. Sorry, Montreal. I wasn't blown away.

Quebec City
Hoping for better luck on our next destination, we headed down the road to Quebec City. Before you get to town, you pass Montmorency Falls, which are a good 30 meters higher than Niagara Falls. It's definitely worth a visit if you're passing through the area.

As we drove through downtown Quebec to our hotel, I was already struck by how European the city felt. The architecture, the little shops and tiny restaurants, the narrow streets, a formidable castle overlooking the river... It was like being back in France. This is what I was looking for!

The St. Lawrence river at dusk

Château Frontenac

Enjoying a "breuvage" at Le Lapin Sauté.

Unfortunately for us, we had only planned for one night in Quebec so we didn't get to see very much. We did catch the changing of the guard ceremony at the Citadel of Quebec, which involved guys in British-looking outfits, parading around with the goat. The view of the city from the top of the hill was incredible. I would go back to Quebec in a heartbeat.

Even the Labatt Blue labels are in French

Moosehead Lake, Maine
At this point, we were ready for a little R&R away from the hustle and bustle of the big city. We crossed back into the US to spend a few days in a cabin on the lake in the middle of nowhere. Sure, there were some other cabins around and we befriended our neighbors for a night or two, but the closest thing resembling a town was a good 20 minutes down the road. It was quiet and that was great.

He's never been happier.

One of the things Jason misses most about living back in the US is fishing. He doesn't have any of his gear here and even if he did, he doesn't have a license and doesn't know the good spots and doesn't know enough French to ask locals where they are and doesn't have a car to get there anyway. So when he asked me to pack his tackle box and fishing poles in my suitcase, I couldn't refuse. We rented a little boat and I drove him around the lake all day as he fiddled with hooks and lures and lines and worms. I couldn't care less about fishing but I love being out on the water so it was a perfect compromise. Sadly, Jason only got one bite in the 5 hours we were out on the lake and he didn't manage to reel it in but at least we got to be on a boat all day. I count it as a win.

THRILLED

When we got back to shore, Jason decided he needed to catch something, so we put in a line at the edge of the dock. Suddenly, we're ripping fish out of the water. We didn't keep any because they were teeny tiny little things but I think he was happy to have caught anything, regardless of the size.

Bar Harbor
Our final stop was a bit further south in the state, near Acadia National Park. We stayed just outside of the town of Bar Harbor (mostly because it was a lot cheaper) and drove into town to tour around and eat. We spent most of our time hiking around in the park and climbing whatever mountains were around. Before you get impressed, Bar Harbor is a big cruise ship destination so everything is very well adapted for tourists, even those with limited mobility. We ate more lobster in three days than I had eaten in the rest of my lifetime and enjoyed some truly beautiful scenery.

Right in the heart of Bar Harbor

Giant lobster dinner

Day 2 was spent walking around Acadia National Park. We started at the peak of Cadillac Mountain (the highest peak on the east coast) and took the Park Loop Road around to Bubble Pond and then over to the Great Head trail that took us by Sand Beach and Thunderhole.

On our last full day, we grabbed a nice BBQ and beer lunch at Atlantic Brewing, before trekking up Flying Mountain, and then we checked out a lighthouse, since that is apparently the thing to do in Maine.

With our bellies full of lobster, we drove back down to New Hampshire to catch our flight back to Baltimore. Paul came to pick up Jason and Rick, who had flown all the way from Bordeaux for Jason's bachelor party and to be in the wedding the following weekend.

I waited for my flight back to Rochester and had the pleasure of chatting with a former student from Renaissance Academy who works at the airport. He kept me company for the whole 2+ hours of my layover and it was so SO good to see him and catch up. He has a little girl that he loves more than anything and he is so WOKE. He knows that he could have easily ended up on the path that many of his friends chose but he wants better for himself and his family. I couldn't be prouder of the man he has become. It was the perfect ending to an excellent trip.

And now it's time to get married. Again.