Quebec City and Montreal

It's a long way from PEI to Quebec City, so we stopped overnight along the way. It's a good drive through lots of scenic forest and we did see bears.

We upgraded from camping to a hotel for the city visits. In the USA and Canada RVs are fantastic in the countryside but not well catered for in the cities. Luckily Stephen and Vivienne travel with a motorcycle so they were able to get into town despite

some rain.

We spent quite a long time at the Québec Civilisations Museum.  It's a hodge podge of colonial artifacts, updated with a more PC and well done section on the First Nation Peoples.

After a visit to the Port Vieux Market and a walk through the old, walled town,( a world heritage site,) we went to the famous Bar 1608 at Chateau Frontenac for cocktails. Quebec is a gourmet city, so we tried wines and snacks at Bar L' Escale and Bistro Papa George followed by dinner at Sapristi, where despite being part of a chain, we got excellent fresh pasta. Of course, that's down Breakneck Steps and along the very quaint Rue Petit Champlain.

The next day we walked the ramparts and explored the citadel and the old town a little more.  We spoiled ourselves with lunch at Michelin starred Saint Amour. In the afternoon we did a tour of the Parliament Building and had drinks in the Celio Revolving Bar, high above Grand Allee.

On the third day we drove out to Isle d' Orleans and Montmorency Falls. The island is known for it's organic farming and vineyards and is a real foodie destination.

We were happy to be back in Montreal and treated ourselves to a stay at the Monville Hotel. Like in Quebec City we used Uber wherever we went. Montreal is a city of neighborhoods, each best explored on foot. A stroll and drinks in Gay Village followed by local Asian food and Burlesque at The Wiggle Room on St. Laurent Blvd.

Gay Village

Perhaps we had been traveling too long or perhaps it was the comfy bed and block out curtians but we made the most of The Monville. 

Stephen and Vivienne joined us for a Dim Sum brunch in Chinatown. We enjoyed walking the Old City and later on we went to the Jean Talon Market in Little Italy.

We walked Mile End and  Plateau Mont Royal, stopping at coffee shops, bars and breweries with dinner of peri peri chicken Portuguese style at Rotisserie Romanos to round off the evening.

On Sunday, we enjoyed a lot more city wanderings, the World Press Photography exhibit, more bar hopping and a traditional dinner of poutine and smoked meats at Reuben's Deli and Steakhouse.

Maine, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island

We met Stephen and Vivienne in Boston and on the 6 September and headed up to Maine. 

They have a new RV ( Motorhome ) and we were following behind in a rented SUV. Camping is an ideal way to see the National Parks and before we realised it Neil and I had done 12 consecutive nights in a tent! Stephen was fantastic about helping us pitch each day and providing us with an electric light, a heater and a very big inflatable mattress with electric pump.

The braais and campfires were a welcome change after months of restaurants. It was pretty cold so we stopped at a Walmart to buy leggings and long t-shirts to cope with the winter weather.

We camped at Bar Harbor National Park for 3 nights. There's hiking in the mountains and walks on the beaches and Stephen and Vivienne did some cycling. We are not "tick the bucket list items" types but we did celebrate having travelled in all the 48 contiguous states of the USA. And spent at least a night in all but 3.

Maine Lobster Roll

The road border between the US and Canada was a breeze; no need to even get out of the car. We drove through New Brunswick. We camped a night in Alma and the following night in Picton with a view of the estuary.

We did 2 nights in Halifax, the capital of Nova Scotia. It's a nice little city with a small waterfront development. We toured the Fort and enjoyed traditional live music at the Irish pub. In a city of microbreweries the original a Alexander Keith's isn't bad and the brewery is worth a visit.

One day we did a road trip to Pictou and Lunenberg. It's a pretty coast but Pictou was very touristy and full of tour busses. Of course, you can get the quintessential fishing boat shot. And enjoy a hot chocolate with a view.

We spent 2 nights in Cape Breton National Park.

On Friday 13th we stayed at Fox Harbour. For Saturday we managed to get tickets to a music festival at Jost vineyards; great music and an insightful day into the lives of locals.

We crossed on to Prince Edward Island to camp at Prince Edward Island National Park. If you remember the Anne of Green Gables books from when you were a child, you might like the rather sappy museum in the original house where the author based her book.

Most restaurants we found to be pretty mediocre but we are giving a real shout out to Carr's Oyster Bar, a fantastic waterfront seafood place with good South African wine on the menu. Charlottetown has it's fair share of hipster bars and coffee shops to while away some time.

5 days then 3 days in the greatest city - NYC

I love Yotel. Very comfy bed. Rain shower. Ports to charge phones without having to clamber around under the desk on hands and knees discovering how clean the place actually is ( not ) and unplugging the TV or the lamp or the kettle in the process.

We hopped into an Uber and headed down to Chelsea Markets to meet Driekie, Dennis and Aimee - Leigh. The markets are dissapointingly crowded and touristy on a Sunday afternoon . We walked the High Line and were so impressed by the yet to be completed Hudson Yards development at 34th Street.

We actually had fun at the super touristy Revolving Bar Sky Lounge on the 47th floor of the Marriott Marquis on Times Square. For dinner, Virgil's BBQ didn't disappoint.

Nothing beats a bagel and coffee for breakfast a corner NY deli. Feeling like locals we hopped on the Metro line 7 and rode all the way to Flushing Meadows for day 1 of the US Open Tennis. What an impressive tennis complex and what a well organised tournament. We had seats for the day session in the brand new Louis Armstrong Stadium. Later in the day we moved to court 17 to watch Kevin Anderson. Next time we will just get General Admission tickets for the early rounds. It's really easy to get into any court except the centre one to watch your favourite players. I don't travel to tick off bucket list items but the goal of attending all four Tennis Grand Slam Tournaments has been achieved.

Later that night we headed off to Greenwich Village to Neil's favourite funk bar, The Groove. For almost 30 years he's been going there whenever he is in Manhattan and when we lived in New Jersey it was one of our favourite haunts. Imagine our consternation to find it full of tourists!! 1 group of beer drinking Europeans in sandals and socks could hardy tap a toe. The backpacking crowd sporting blond dreadlocks and fisherman pants shared 1 drink between them. The Asian guy had to eat his onion rings with one hand so he could video the entire set with his cellphone. Later on some locals and musos started arriving and jamming a bit and "the Groove" returned.

We visited the MOMA. 

We ate a special lunch at Nougatine. We caught the subway to Brooklyn for dinner with Gary. Neil was snapped by a sneaky fellow commuter and made famous on a site called ' Subway Creatures. ' 

We ate at Tabare, a Uruguayan restaurant and I had mulfatta, a featherlight gnocchi with pumpkin and cheese. New York is so uniquely cosmopolitan; for generations people from every corner of the globe have found their niche and their nieghbourhood. On Friday we headed off to NJ to spend Labor Day weekend with family and friends.

At the end of September we were back, this time staying with Fred and Terri and going loco in the less touristy neighbourhoods of Harlem and Brooklyn. Fred knows the city and showed us lots of interesting galleries, bars and streets. Ram and Ranji joined us one day.We ate Colombian breakfast, Tibetan lunch and Korean dinner. A world in one city like no other city in the world.

USA Midwest Roadtrip : Part 4

Thursday 16.08.  It wasn't a long drive to drive to Salt Lake City but it was a slow start. After checking out the Mormon Tabernacle,we strolled downtown and discovered a couple of hipster coffee bars and boutiques.It was a little surprising considering Mormon's don't drink coffee.

Friday 17.08 and 18.08.  We drove over to Park City to stay with Bob and Jane for a few nights. This was the main site of the Salt Lake Winter Olympics and is a beautiful modern ski resort in Winter.  It's a mecca for outdoorsy folks in Summer too. The Olympic Centre is worth a visit especially to see the pool ski jumping displays. You can enjoy a luge ride, a zip line or ride a ski slope in a tube. There are lots of good restaurants and shops and a few quirky bars in the main street.

Sunday 19.08. We drove through Utah and visited the Dinosaur National Park to see fossils, petroglyphs and rock art. We spent the night in Craig CO with pizza takeout for dinner.

Monday 20.08. They call all these Midwest states the fly-over states but if you want to know what makes America tick you need to do a road trip. It's not all NY and LA. We prefer to take a route that passes through each town rather than speeding along the Interstate with all the trucks. Crossing Colorado, by late afternoon we found ourselves at the Oak Wood Inn in Sterling, Nebraska.

Tuesday 21.08. And on we go..across Nebraska.We discovered an amazing Car Museum in Kearney NE. Why stop in Omaha, NE? I read that Omaha has the 3rd highest concentration of bars per capita in the USA. And the Counting Crows sang about it.  We did find a few bars in a very boring and quiet downtown. We ate a good steak at Monarch Prime and even found live music at the Omaha Lounge.

Wednesday 22.08. And on we go..into Iowa. Des Moines didn't delay us for long and we made it to  Iowa City; a nice college town that had a food festival on; and more bars than Omaha, I think. We got ourselves a bunch of coupons and wandered from restaurant to restaurant tasting all the gourmet bites.

Thursday 23.08  - 25.08. Chicago. Arriving back at our trusty River Hotel on the most glorious late summer's evening of the season we spent a few hours listening to live music at a wonderful Chicago Winery at Riverside Walk. House of Blues may be touristy but they do have excellent live bands.
On Friday we ate a very good set lunch at the 1 Michelin starred Blackbird. We spent the afternoon at the American Art Institue. On Saturday we did a musical matinee.You have to stroll the Miracle Mile even if you don't shop.  Later ex Cool and the Gang pianist, entertained us and a crowd of a certain age all evening at the Red Head Piano Bar. At exactly nine o'clock on a saturday, guess what he played?

And you can't go to Chicago without having the iconic deep-dish pizza!!

USA Midwest Roadtrip : Part 3

Saturday 11.08. It was a pretty long drive to Cody. We stayed at the Buffalo Bill Cabins. We went to the Night Rodeo. We enjoyed a night of live music at The Silver Dollar Bar on the sidelines of a wedding party.

Sunday 12.08. Our first day in Yellowstone National Park. The scenery was beautiful and we managed to get to Old Faithful just in time to see her sprout. The crowds were ridiculous. There were just streams of traffic on both sides of the road, backing up for miles if any animals were spotted. It wasn't teeming with game. I think you may have a better experience camping for a few days out of season. We stayed in Bozeman overnight.

Monday 13.08. We enjoyed another long drive to Glacier National Park. We were only able to drive 18 miles in on Going- to - the - Sun road due to wildfires. We then turned back and drove the long way round to West Glacier to overnight in Columbia Falls.Dominos Pizza in the room. Haze from the smoke of the fires was pretty bad in the entire area.

Tuesday 14.08. A big driving day via Missoula and across Wyoming on all the secondary roads. We stopped at the Ninepipe Bird Refuge and the Bison Range. We did see proghorns, red deer, coyotes and a few buffalo.

Wednesday 15.08. We decided to visit the Yellowstone Grizzly Refuge as that seemed the only chance we would have of seeing bears and wolves. We traversed Yellowstone again and headed into the very pretty Grand Teton NP. We spent the night in Jackson Hole at the Anvil Hotel.  What a great town. We got stuck in Moe's BBQ listening to live music and overdoing it on the 2 for 1 Happy Hour wine.We finally made it to the Silver Dollar for dinner followed by more music at the Cowboy Bar.