Canada Vacation Suggestions (Toronto to Quebec City)

[Ksyrup]

We're already looking ahead to next summer and considering a road trip into Canada, from KY up to Detroit and then on to Toronto and basically following the St. Lawrence River potentially up to Quebec City.

For those who live in or know these areas well, I'm curious about a bunch of things:

1. Best areas to stay in Toronto/Montreal/Quebec City? Number of days we should devote to each area? Hotels or resorts we absolutely ought to consider?
2. Best places along that general route that we should consider visiting or staying? Is Ottawa worth going to if we have time?
3. If we wanted to do a combo city-and-nature trip, which cities should we stay in and which areas outside of certain cities would be best for lake/mountain/hiking options (I identified Mont Tremblant as a potential option - thoughts welcome)?

Any other thoughts on the general itinerary are welcomed. We did a NE US road trip last summer, so we can handle a multi-stop, 2500 mile trip over 10-12 days.

[JPhillips]

We were in Montreal in July and it was great. We stayed right on the edge of the old city which is also close to the river. We went to the botanical gardens and they were great with a cool view of the Olympic stadium.

[sterlingice]

Visited Toronto and Niagara Falls back in 2018, though can't help with the rest of your visit.

Obviously, if you haven't done it before and have the time - Niagara Falls is definitely worth the visit. We stayed one night at the Embassy Suites there and it's expensive but very cool to have a room that overlooks the falls. And, of course, the boat is well worth doing.

Speaking of expensive hotels - and I mean expensive - it was about $500 when we went and it's even more now. There's a Marriott that's part of the Skydome and you can get a room that's basically a center field skybox. They have floor to ceiling windows that you can watch from and a smaller window you can open up to get the ambient crowd noise. Interestingly, after the game, you can watch them clean the stadium and then, the next morning, watch some of the game prep for the next day - we were there Saturday night and then before Sunday day game - might be different for other games. Lots of rules around that stay, tho - like when you have to check in and check out and security you have to go through and stuff like that. My cousin and her family came up and had fun watching the game with us and we got a couple of pizzas delivered so they're specific but not super strict.

The rest of the time, we stayed in downtown Toronto because I had some Hyatt points but I'm no help, otherwise in terms of comparing what's useful.

As for Toronto, here's what else we went to see:
* CN Tower was kindof expensive but fun to do, especially for the kids. Though, I mean, if you've seen one of these types of structures, you've seen them all. The glass floor is a little freaky
* Casa Loma - it's a pretty cool grounds and some fun little history stuff as it's like a modern-ish castle. Lots of filming done there, like it's the X-Men mansion in the movies, etc.
* Centre Island - was a fun little outing to take the ferry to the island and it's a little amusement park that was perfect for running a 3yo around on
* Hockey Hall of Fame is a little small for what it should be but it's still good stuff. The hockey cathedral is pretty darn cool.
* Royal Ontario Museum was a good-ish national "natural history museum" type with some history, some science, etc


SI

[flere-imsaho]

I mainly have experience with Quebec City, from living in Maine and going there several times with either my wife, or my brother & Dad, etc....

First, it's a really hilly city and not really built for cars (not a lot of parking) so be prepared to walk a lot, especially up and down stairs.

Second, the area around the Chateau Frontenac is definitely the most touristy part, especially the part down the hill to the east. It's still fun, but prepare for swarming tourists. In this area, the restaurants just down the hill (between 136 and the hill) are so touristy as to not be worth it. However, the restaurants in the area just to the west of the Chateau (on the same level, generally) while still touristy, are pretty good. In general, it's worth doing some research before you go, because the good food in QC is really good.

Third, I do recommend hiking around Mt. Saint-Anne, about a 45-minute drive away up the St. Lawrence, if you like hiking. Beautiful area, well-maintained, etc....

Fourth, the Musee des beaux-arts (right on the central plain over looking the river) is totally worth it. Check out every nook and cranny of the several wings. The surrounding parkland area, and old walls, are also a fantastic visit.

But fifth, my favorite museum, and quite possibly one my favorite museums in the world, is the Museum of Civilization, just down the hill. While they have a lot of fun special exhibits (and a good cafe), just the multiple exhibit areas that walk you through the history (including pre-colonial) of Canada and Quebec are utterly fantastic and captivating.

Hope that helps!

[Mota]

I live near Toronto, so I have been to many of the places named. I agree with all of the choices. Quebec City and Montreal in particular have some really old areas that are great for walking and shops, and there is really good eating. Especially in those areas, do NOT go to the franchise restaurants, local food is so much better. I'm a big fan of driving somewhere, parking the car, and then walking to all the destination places after that.

Ottawa - the Rideau canal is also really nice, if you're going from Toronto to Montreal, it's not that far out of the way. I've actually never been in my adult years, but my parents have gone several times and they always enjoy it.

Oh, if you're a fan of wine, the Niagara region has a lot of great wine. Stay in Niagara on the Lake or Jordan, and get a van tour of the wineries. I went a few years ago and checked out 5 different wineries, it's a lot of fun. The hotels there are pretty expensive as well (everything near Niagara is expensive). I went this summer to a single winery and drove there, it's like you're in a different universe, it's pretty quiet out in the wine areas.

Also you can check out Blue Mountain (near Collingwood), it's about 2 hours north of Toronto. It's a little village build around a ski mountain, but there are tons of things to do during the summer. I climbed up the mountain and almost died. But there are segway tours, you can bike up around the mountain, lots of fun stuff.

I think it's a matter of if you're travelling with kids of not, and the kind of things that you like, you can't go wrong with any of the suggestions on this thread.

[Ksyrup]

Thanks for the responses.

It's going to be me, my wife, and 19 & 23 year old kids. Three of us enjoy hiking, we drag the 4th along...

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

we drag the 4th along...

Sadists.

[Ksyrup]

Builds character.

[Mota]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Thanks for the responses.

It's going to be me, my wife, and 19 & 23 year old kids. Three of us enjoy hiking, we drag the 4th along...

My son is 18, so I know exactly what you're talking about.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Builds character.

Just remember: you're doing that to someone that will be involved in choosing your nursing home someday

[flere-imsaho]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Thanks for the responses.

It's going to be me, my wife, and 19 & 23 year old kids. Three of us enjoy hiking, we drag the 4th along...

I know I said hiking near Mont. Saint-Anne in Quebec was good, but also very, very good is hiking in Parc National de la Jacques-Cartier, especially L'Eperson trail to Les Loups Lookout.

[Butter]

My wife and I are actually going to Montreal and Quebec in early October

If anyone has specific restaurant recommendations, I'd love to hear them

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by Butter

My wife and I are actually going to Montreal and Quebec in early October

If anyone has specific restaurant recommendations, I'd love to hear them

Every place has poutine. I mean every. e went to an Italian place in the old city and they had poutine. We went to a ramen place in Chinatown and they had poutine.

If you can get the app to work, which I couldn't, the Cite Memorie art exhibit is cool. It's a bunch of projections around the city with sounds played through an app as you walk from place to place.

[bhlloy]

Originally Posted by Butter

My wife and I are actually going to Montreal and Quebec in early October

If anyone has specific restaurant recommendations, I'd love to hear them

Garde Manger in the Old Town in Montreal is probably the best restaurant I've ever been to in my life. It was a recommendation from a coworker who lived there for a while and it didn't disappoint when we went in February 2020.

Not particularly cheap, but well worth it IMO.

[Mota]

My boss used to live in Montreal. He recommended the following restaurants.
Olive & Gourmando
Ma Poule Mouillée

I also went to Schwartz' Deli in Old Montreal and it was fantastic. They seat you at these big tables with other randos. Weirdly, it works. People in Montreal are really friendly and it was fun.

Yes, poutine is everywhere. I went to a place called Poutineville and it was really good. Not fancy at all, it's basic fast food poutine, with quite a few options. No frills. You can get pretty fancy with poutine these days as people try to differentiate themselves, but in the end you just need nice fresh fries, super fresh cheese curds (squeeky cheese means it's fresh), and gravy. If you can do that right, it's better than pulled pork, bacon, unicorns, etc.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

Every place has poutine.

For some reason, this sentence made me think about discovering "smoked meat" in Montreal.

Not a life changing moment for me or anything, but a darned solid find that I understand the popularity of very quickly.

[Butter]

Good stuff in here, thanks everyone. Thanks KSyrup for letting me mildly threadjack

[Ksyrup]

No problem. I'm sure it will be useful to us next summer as well.

[Ksyrup]

This could probably go in the Weather thread, but I have a specific question related to my upcoming vacation for anyone in Canada, so I'm putting it here.

I figured a summer Canada driving vacation would be a pretty safe bet, relatively speaking. However, the wildfires have me concerned. We leave in 2 weeks and are driving up to Toronto to Ottawa to Mont Tremblant to Montreal to Quebec City between the 23rd and 1st. Right now, the smoke maps I'm seeing do not look good. I read that at the Yankees game last night they had an air quality index in the 150s so I assume it's worse in some areas of Canada.

Anyway, my questions are... what's it looks like on the ground right now, and does anyone see a long-term forecast that suggests this should be contained or dissipated due to a change in weather (rain, etc.)? I don't want to blow up an entire vacation that was planned (and priced out) last summer a week before we go, but I also have no interest in dealing with serious smoke issues.

Everything I read and see is mainly focused on impact to US cities and nothing really discussing long-term (like 2-3 weeks out), so I'm curious if anyone closer to the situation is hearing/seeing things. This map is very helpful, but it's only a 2 day forecast:

Smoke Forecast - FireSmoke.ca

From looking at what I think are the equivalent levels of what we consider to be the Air Quality Index in the US and the PM2 levels on that map... I'm more than a bit concerned about being up there for 10 days if those levels maintain.

On a completely unrelated note... anyone got thoughts on a vacation that can be planned on the fly without completely breaking the bank?

[Mota]

I live in Toronto, and you can actually see the smoke at the ground level. Nothing heavy, but there is something in the air. Smells like a campfire as well, we're hundreds of miles away and it's still making it all the way here. They're keeping the kids inside during recess at school. We just closed our windows to keep it out of the house, I do have a mildly scratchy throat right now.

[Ksyrup]

Based on that forecast map I posted above, tomorrow looks pretty bad in your area (between Toronto and Ottawa specifically).

Any word on if efforts to contain it, or possibly weather, might ease the situation any time soon?

[Mota]

I did take a trip to Old Montreal about a month ago. We went to see the debut of the new Cirque du Soleil show, it was at the old port. We stayed at Hotel Nelligan which is a great (but pretty expensive) boutique hotel, right on the main strip. Old Montreal is super nice, lots of cobblestone streets, full of bars and restaurants. We went to a mozzarella bar which was outstanding. We also went back to Schwartz's deli for the best smoked meat sandwich, and La Banquise for the best poutine in Montreal. It was a walking vacation, we walked about 40,000 steps in 2.5 days that we were there, but everything was in walking distance.
One thing that I wasn't a big fan of is the amount of homeless people in the area. I guess it's the same in every big city now, but there were definitely a lot more than the last time I went.

Also we took a trip into downtown Toronto this past weekend, and I had the best hamburger of my life. Aloette at Queen/Spadina, it wasn't cheap ($30 CAD for a burger and fries) but it was 100% worth it. Reservation only, and it books up a month ahead. Probably because it made it to this show:
You HAVE to Try This Burger at Aloette in Toronto | Big Food Bucket List - YouTube

[britrock88]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

This could probably go in the Weather thread, but I have a specific question related to my upcoming vacation for anyone in Canada, so I'm putting it here.

I figured a summer Canada driving vacation would be a pretty safe bet, relatively speaking. However, the wildfires have me concerned. We leave in 2 weeks and are driving up to Toronto to Ottawa to Mont Tremblant to Montreal to Quebec City between the 23rd and 1st. Right now, the smoke maps I'm seeing do not look good. I read that at the Yankees game last night they had an air quality index in the 150s so I assume it's worse in some areas of Canada.

Anyway, my questions are... what's it looks like on the ground right now, and does anyone see a long-term forecast that suggests this should be contained or dissipated due to a change in weather (rain, etc.)? I don't want to blow up an entire vacation that was planned (and priced out) last summer a week before we go, but I also have no interest in dealing with serious smoke issues.

Everything I read and see is mainly focused on impact to US cities and nothing really discussing long-term (like 2-3 weeks out), so I'm curious if anyone closer to the situation is hearing/seeing things. This map is very helpful, but it's only a 2 day forecast:

Smoke Forecast - FireSmoke.ca

From looking at what I think are the equivalent levels of what we consider to be the Air Quality Index in the US and the PM2 levels on that map... I'm more than a bit concerned about being up there for 10 days if those levels maintain.

On a completely unrelated note... anyone got thoughts on a vacation that can be planned on the fly without completely breaking the bank?

Total armchair opinion, but I would suggest proceeding as planned, bringing N95s for everybody, and prioritizing your outdoor activities in case you find the air's too rough for everything you hoped to do. It seems too difficult to project what the fires/winds will be 2-3 weeks in advance.

[Ksyrup]

The issue is, if it was just a decision to cancel and that's it, then we could hold off until about the 18th or 19th to make the call (that's when the first of the hotel cancellations have to happen before I get charged). But we're looking to go on a vacation somewhere. So realistically, we've probably got until the middle of next week to pull the plug and go forward with a Plan B that we can actually make happen.

I'm hoping that by next Wednesday or so, the weather will have changed enough that we'll have some indication as to whether it's going to continue to be bad, or they get some rain and wind direction changes (which I think are forecast) to at least salvage the trip. Because we're going up there to be mostly outside, not sit in a hotel room or go from building to building.

I've got one potential Plan B scoped out that would salvage the first weekend in Toronto (the only money outlay that I can't get back for tickets to a couple of things) and then head somewhere else. We'll see.

[Mota]

I think you have plenty of time. Today wasn't great in Toronto, but it is supposed to clear up quite a bit by tomorrow, we're planning to go for our regular walk in the morning tomorrow.

[Ksyrup]

In case anyone is interested in my pre-vacation decisions, we're going to make the trip. However, the one area I am most concerned about is Ottawa/Montreal/Mont Tremblant. We would be spending 4 nights in those areas. Just looking at the 48 hour smoke map right now, there's going to be some decently heavy smoke up there on and off. Chances are, that's going to continue for the next couple of weeks.

Ottawa is mainly a stopping point between Toronto and the next stop. We plan to take in a few sights, but we won't be there for more than 18-24 hours, I'm guessing. So we can manage that one. We're definitely going to Montreal, and that's only 1 night, so I'm not changing that one.

Mont Tremblant is my biggest concern - northwest of Montreal and up in the mountains, it looks like it is still taking regular shots of thicker smoke. We plan(ned) to be there for 2 nights. And of course, as luck would have it, the hotel we're booked at has the least favorable cancellation policy of any place we're staying (7 days). Basically, we have to make a call on this stay by next Monday.

My thought - cancel Mont Tremblant and pivot to a 2-3 hour drive from Ottawa south into the NY Adirondacks (Lake Placid maybe?). To the extent smoke is still reaching down that far, it definitely seems to be lighter. And it still gives us a couple of mountain/lake days, which is what we were shooting for. Of course, we could get nailed with a poorly timed ramp up of smoke and wind that makes being at either place less than ideal, but I feel like NY mountains buys us a bit of a buffer.

Anyone have suggestions for up that way?

[Mota]

Things are a lot better in the Toronto area at least. Back to normal now. It's rained the last couple of days, and supposed to rain again tomorrow, which was much needed. You should be okay over here at least.

[Ksyrup]

We're about halfway through our trip and right now back in the US for a brief stay in Lake Placid. A few observations from our time so far in Canada (mainly Niagara, Toronto and Ottawa):

- We happened to be in Toronto during pride weekend. Very cool. The whole vibe was positive and pretty much everyone took part. Strange to see, honestly. The weirdest sight for me was a white dude driving a big ass pickup truck with pride flags sticking out of his doors like you'd see on a CFB weekend.

- It is really striking when you've lived in the south and small cities for so long how diverse other places can be. Again, very cool.

- Went to the Friday Jays/A's game and the A's won. So we saw a pretty rare feat. Rogers Centre was cool.

- The MPH/Km thing is a mindfuck. I missed 2 exits simply because the baked-in timing in my head when seeing, say, 4.6 left made me think in terms of miles not kilometers and I zoomed right past. It's like if they suddenly made FB broadcast commercials half as long and my innate ability to know exactly when to turn a game back on as the commercials end has been thrown into chaos.

- Also, the speed limits are too slow. There were whole stretches of nothing for dozens of kilometers and it was still 100 KPH. When there's nothing but a Tim Hortons every 30 kilometers, you should be able to drive faster than 63 MPH.

- We didn't spend much time in Ottawa but it was very smoky on Sunday night when we got in. We drove around a bit on Monday morning before heading south. Parliament buildings and the arboretum/Hog's Back Falls we're cool.

- We stopped for lunch in Cornwall just before the border. Decided to go into a Walmart. Holy shit! It was like being in Jungle Jim's there was so much cool stuff we don't get in the US. We walked out with half a dozen boxes of cereal we had never seen (different flavors of cheerios and oatmeal crisp). They had Honeycomb and Sugar Smacks which I swear we haven't seen in the US in 30 years. They had Oh Henry and Mars bars - MIA in the US for years. We were like kids in a candy store.

- It took about 3 minutes to get through Canada customs and 10 minutes getting back into the US. Dude couldn't figure out our license plate (my wife has a specialty KY breast cancer awareness plate) and then started grilling us about where we'd been and where we were going. He finally let us go. It was weird.

We're going to get out and enjoy the mountains here while we can. It's supposed to rain for days but it's clear this morning. Tomorrow headed back into Canada to Montreal and then Quebec city.

[Edward64]

I've travelled from Detroit into Canada via the Ambassador bridge.

On my return back into US, the Border security folks came by to my SUV as I waited in line. As one of them talked to me, another opened my rear hatch and had his dog sniff around.

Not really a big deal, nothing to hide but always thought they should have asked first (even if they didn't need to).

[Mota]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

We're about halfway through our trip and right now back in the US for a brief stay in Lake Placid. A few observations from our time so far in Canada (mainly Niagara, Toronto and Ottawa):

- We happened to be in Toronto during pride weekend. Very cool. The whole vibe was positive and pretty much everyone took part. Strange to see, honestly. The weirdest sight for me was a white dude driving a big ass pickup truck with pride flags sticking out of his doors like you'd see on a CFB weekend.

- It is really striking when you've lived in the south and small cities for so long how diverse other places can be. Again, very cool.

- Went to the Friday Jays/A's game and the A's won. So we saw a pretty rare feat. Rogers Centre was cool.

- The MPH/Km thing is a mindfuck. I missed 2 exits simply because the baked-in timing in my head when seeing, say, 4.6 left made me think in terms of miles not kilometers and I zoomed right past. It's like if they suddenly made FB broadcast commercials half as long and my innate ability to know exactly when to turn a game back on as the commercials end has been thrown into chaos.

- Also, the speed limits are too slow. There were whole stretches of nothing for dozens of kilometers and it was still 100 KPH. When there's nothing but a Tim Hortons every 30 kilometers, you should be able to drive faster than 63 MPH.

- We didn't spend much time in Ottawa but it was very smoky on Sunday night when we got in. We drove around a bit on Monday morning before heading south. Parliament buildings and the arboretum/Hog's Back Falls we're cool.

- We stopped for lunch in Cornwall just before the border. Decided to go into a Walmart. Holy shit! It was like being in Jungle Jim's there was so much cool stuff we don't get in the US. We walked out with half a dozen boxes of cereal we had never seen (different flavors of cheerios and oatmeal crisp). They had Honeycomb and Sugar Smacks which I swear we haven't seen in the US in 30 years. They had Oh Henry and Mars bars - MIA in the US for years. We were like kids in a candy store.

- It took about 3 minutes to get through Canada customs and 10 minutes getting back into the US. Dude couldn't figure out our license plate (my wife has a specialty KY breast cancer awareness plate) and then started grilling us about where we'd been and where we were going. He finally let us go. It was weird.

We're going to get out and enjoy the mountains here while we can. It's supposed to rain for days but it's clear this morning. Tomorrow headed back into Canada to Montreal and then Quebec city.

That's cool! Glad you had a good time. In Quebec City, make sure to walk through the fort at the St. Laurence River junction. It was protecting Canada from invaders back in the 1700's. But there's a ton of shops to walk down after you've gone to the fort. I spent a nice afternoon there a few years back.

We feel the same way when we go into the US, I went to buy some alcohol and there were so many different choices! And you can pretty much only buy alcohol at LCBO locations, so just going to a store was very different. I think for candy, I saw Payola and Three Musketeers in the USA, and we don't have those at all.

100km speed limit is pretty slow, but you can really go up to 120km before worrying about getting a ticket. Don't be obvious about it, but traffic always flows faster than the speed limit here.

[NoSkillz]

Originally Posted by Mota

That's cool! Glad you had a good time. In Quebec City, make sure to walk through the fort at the St. Laurence River junction. It was protecting Canada from invaders back in the 1700's. But there's a ton of shops to walk down after you've gone to the fort. I spent a nice afternoon there a few years back.

We feel the same way when we go into the US, I went to buy some alcohol and there were so many different choices! And you can pretty much only buy alcohol at LCBO locations, so just going to a store was very different. I think for candy, I saw Payola and Three Musketeers in the USA, and we don't have those at all.

100km speed limit is pretty slow, but you can really go up to 120km before worrying about getting a ticket. Don't be obvious about it, but traffic always flows faster than the speed limit here.

Another Canadian chiming in on the speed limits. 20% over any of the limits is a very easy barometer where you aren't going to get pulled over by any cops. I'm 50 years old and I've never had a single speeding ticket in my life abiding by that 20% rule.

So going 60 km/hr in a 50, 84 km/hr in a 70 and 120 km/hr in a 100 will not cause the cops to even blink an eye.

[Lathum]

I think it is great that based on your review the think you were most excited about was a Canadian Walmart.

[Ksyrup]

Funny about the speed limit because at various points on the 401 (I think?) there are signs that say 120 KPH = $95 fine, 140 KPH = $225 and 150 KPH = $295. So I joked to my wife that I should be able to go 119 KPH and even if they pull me over, there's no fine. Or at least I'd argue it based on the signs.

Another thing I forgot to mention was that I had peameal bacon at breakfast in Toronto one morning. Apparently it's an Ontario thing? I liked it. Leaner part of the pig sliced, rolled in cornmeal and fried. Tasted like a combo of ham and bacon, less salty and (slightly) less fatty.

I was also surprised at how quickly some of my 3 years of French 35 years ago in HS started coming back as we hit more and more French language signs. My kids keep butchering the words and breaking out into accents that verge on like Swedish crossed with South American. It's annoying.

[Ksyrup]

So, I'm seeing that Montreal is going to be in heavy smoke tomorrow - just as we get there! Great!

I guess Underground City is going to be the way to go?

[Mota]

In Canada, we all want to go to Target. I guess we just like to experience something different!
You're fine in Montreal speaking English. You may encounter a bit more resistance in Quebec City, as it's not as bilingual. Don't go to any small towns unless you have practiced up your french!

[damnMikeBrown]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

We're about halfway through our trip and right now back in the US for a brief stay in Lake Placid. A few observations from our time so far in Canada (mainly Niagara, Toronto and Ottawa):

- We happened to be in Toronto during pride weekend. Very cool. The whole vibe was positive and pretty much everyone took part. Strange to see, honestly. The weirdest sight for me was a white dude driving a big ass pickup truck with pride flags sticking out of his doors like you'd see on a CFB weekend.

- It is really striking when you've lived in the south and small cities for so long how diverse other places can be. Again, very cool.

- Went to the Friday Jays/A's game and the A's won. So we saw a pretty rare feat. Rogers Centre was cool.

- The MPH/Km thing is a mindfuck. I missed 2 exits simply because the baked-in timing in my head when seeing, say, 4.6 left made me think in terms of miles not kilometers and I zoomed right past. It's like if they suddenly made FB broadcast commercials half as long and my innate ability to know exactly when to turn a game back on as the commercials end has been thrown into chaos.

- Also, the speed limits are too slow. There were whole stretches of nothing for dozens of kilometers and it was still 100 KPH. When there's nothing but a Tim Hortons every 30 kilometers, you should be able to drive faster than 63 MPH.

- We didn't spend much time in Ottawa but it was very smoky on Sunday night when we got in. We drove around a bit on Monday morning before heading south. Parliament buildings and the arboretum/Hog's Back Falls we're cool.

- We stopped for lunch in Cornwall just before the border. Decided to go into a Walmart. Holy shit! It was like being in Jungle Jim's there was so much cool stuff we don't get in the US. We walked out with half a dozen boxes of cereal we had never seen (different flavors of cheerios and oatmeal crisp). They had Honeycomb and Sugar Smacks which I swear we haven't seen in the US in 30 years. They had Oh Henry and Mars bars - MIA in the US for years. We were like kids in a candy store.

- It took about 3 minutes to get through Canada customs and 10 minutes getting back into the US. Dude couldn't figure out our license plate (my wife has a specialty KY breast cancer awareness plate) and then started grilling us about where we'd been and where we were going. He finally let us go. It was weird.

We're going to get out and enjoy the mountains here while we can. It's supposed to rain for days but it's clear this morning. Tomorrow headed back into Canada to Montreal and then Quebec city.

Small world!

We just came from Cincinnati, up to Toronto, and have been in Lake Placid the past 2 days.

The rain while driving out of Toronto a few days ago was INTENSE. I don’t know how driving under water could have been more wet,

Lake Placid has been great and well worth it…. Well, except for when we came in to town at 12:30 am and I got a ticket for not using my blinker at a stop sign…still upset with that.

My daughter plays hockey and we’re on our way to CT for yet another hockey thing…. The Hockey HOF was good with all the memorabilia. Lake Placid is great with the sense of real hockey history. Unfortunately she can’t skate here until they open up the ice on July 3rd.

[NoSkillz]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Funny about the speed limit because at various points on the 401 (I think?) there are signs that say 120 KPH = $95 fine, 140 KPH = $225 and 150 KPH = $295. So I joked to my wife that I should be able to go 119 KPH and even if they pull me over, there's no fine. Or at least I'd argue it based on the signs.

Another thing I forgot to mention was that I had peameal bacon at breakfast in Toronto one morning. Apparently it's an Ontario thing? I liked it. Leaner part of the pig sliced, rolled in cornmeal and fried. Tasted like a combo of ham and bacon, less salty and (slightly) less fatty.

I was also surprised at how quickly some of my 3 years of French 35 years ago in HS started coming back as we hit more and more French language signs. My kids keep butchering the words and breaking out into accents that verge on like Swedish crossed with South American. It's annoying.

That's funny - I spent half my life driving 119 km/hr for that very reason!

In the years since, I've become friends with a few cops and they've all said that it's not worth their time to pull anyone over unless they are going 25% over the limit. So you should be fine at 20%.

And yes, Peameal is the best.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by damnMikeBrown

Small world!

We just came from Cincinnati, up to Toronto, and have been in Lake Placid the past 2 days.

The rain while driving out of Toronto a few days ago was INTENSE. I don’t know how driving under water could have been more wet,

Lake Placid has been great and well worth it…. Well, except for when we came in to town at 12:30 am and I got a ticket for not using my blinker at a stop sign…still upset with that.

My daughter plays hockey and we’re on our way to CT for yet another hockey thing…. The Hockey HOF was good with all the memorabilia. Lake Placid is great with the sense of real hockey history. Unfortunately she can’t skate here until they open up the ice on July 3rd.

Crazy!

We stayed at the Crowne Plaza and had a great view of the lake. Very impressed with the area, especially as a last minute replacement for Mont Tremblant due to the fires. It was supposed to rain all day on Tuesday but it didn't, so we got in a drive up to Whiteface Mountain and a couple of small hikes. This morning we did the Olympic Museum. Every place we ate was really good. The place was overrun with lacrosse players for a tournament or recruiting showcase or something.

Montreal was supposed to be in heavy smoke today but the combo of rain and NE winds cut it way back and it was mostly done raining by the time we got there around 3pm and barely a slight haze if that. Hopefully it keeps up the next few days. Meanwhile, back home, it was very smoky. We walked Old Montreal this evening and had anniversary dinner at a steakhouse. My daughter had her 3rd and 4th drinks (she's 19 and the drinking age up here is 18-19 depending on the province).

We realized after we left Toronto that we stayed at the same hotel as the CMNT this past weekend. We were pretty sure they were with the Canada soccer program based on their attire, but didn't know they played this week until we saw the highlights.

[Lathum]

Hows the air? We got an air quality warning here in NJ

[Ksyrup]

The rain and wind blew it all away, so far. It's overcast, windy and cool, which frankly is perfect - we came up here to get away from heat, so this is great. I didn't really see even a hint of smoke today but we'll see what tomorrow brings.

[Lathum]

Must be blowing it down here

[Ksyrup]

We were supposed to get heavy smoke but I think the rain tamped it down, then we noticed the wind blowing to the NE later in the day. I think it's just part of the swirling system action. But yeah, the backside of that system has a S-SE wind bringing it down to the states. My family in Michigan said they were advised not to leave their houses today.

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by Lathum

Hows the air? We got an air quality warning here in NJ

Isn't that normal?

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

Isn't that normal?

How about you fuck right off