Another Québec City Adventure Part I

“Stop being afraid of what could go wrong and think of what could go right.” -Anonymous 

Old Québec (Vieux-Québec) is an amazing place to visit. Our first trip to this beautiful city was to celebrate Stan's birthday in 2018. There's so much to see, wonderful food to try, people to watch and history to learn. I think we could enjoy more than just three days. 

We stayed at a penthouse apartment on Rue de Trésor. The building dates back to 1907, which makes it relatively new for this city. It's located at the corner of Rue de Trésor and Rue de Buadeand surrounded by lots of shops and restaurants.

The weather was perfect while we were here and I have so many photos to share. For this reason I'll be doing multiple posts for this trip. Today's post will be all about our apartment and the view.

Our building. Unfortunately there was street construction going on in front of the building on Rue de Buadeand.

We have the top floor. Well not the whole floor, but the section in this photo. Our bedroom at the very top. Surrounded by windows.

The entry to our building off Rue de Trésor

The apartment.

The bedroom and large bath tub were amazing.

We used the extra room downstairs as a dressing room since the spiral staircase made it almost impossible to carry our suitcases to the main bedroom.

Our bedroom from the terrace. The steeple to the right is Notre-Dame de Québec Basilica-Cathedral.

The photos are looking north to south along the Saint Lawrence River. The steeple in this photo is the Seminary of Quebec founded in 1663.

The Seminary of Quebec is the oldest educational house for boys in Canada.

Looking north to Île d'Orléans.

The reflection of the sunset.

The Louis S. St-Laurent Building, Old Post Office, built in 1873.

Louis S. St-Laurent Building and the Fairmont Le Château Frontenac.

Fairmont Le Château Frontenac was constructed between 1892 and 1893, and its first wing officially opened on December 18, 1893. 

Night view of the Château with a moon that is almost full.

The old post office building.

Oct. 19 - Saratoga Springs, NY

"Wrinkles only go where smiles have been." -Jimmy Buffett

We’re taking another fall vacation. This time we’re on our way to Quebec City. It’s almost ten hours from our home in Lewisburg so we thought we’d do a little exploring on the way there. We’ve only been in Saratoga Spring to go to the horse races years ago. So we thought we’d spend part of the day to see what else this pretty little town has to offer. 

Saratoga Springs is named for the mineral springs in the area, which has made it a popular resort destination for over 200 years. It's also known for thoroughbred horse racing. The Saratoga Race Course is one of the oldest and most famous thoroughbred horse racing tracks in the country. The Belmont Stakes are held here every June. Informal trotting and harness races date back as early as 1847 and the Saratoga Race Course was officially opened in August 1864. The city's official slogan is "Health, History, and Horses".

We chose the historic Inn at Saratoga Springs for our stay. It was built in 1843 and is the oldest continuously-operating hotel in Saratoga Springs. Initially it was a simple large boarding house for people who came to soak in the springs. In 1866 as tourism began to boom in Saratoga Springs it began operating as a true hotel.

This room at the inn is used as a sitting room and a dining room. The bottom pictures show our room.

We spent the afternoon at Saratoga Spa State Park. We hiked a little, sampled the spring water and looked at the old spa buildings. The park is renowned for its natural mineral springs, classical 1930s architecture and rich history as a premier health and wellness destination. In the 19th century, the area became a popular place to visit for the medicinal effects the springs held. The spa was named a state park in 1962. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987, for its natural and architectural features, and for its role as the subject of early conservation measures. The park features mineral baths, walking trails and the Saratoga Performing Arts Center.

Later in the afternoon we walked around the downtown area. The weather was just right for soaking in the sights of this beautiful little town and the warmth of the sunshine.

State Seal Spring is famed for providing a smooth, refreshing, and clean-tasting drinking water. It was wonderful and we filled our water bottle several times.

There are 13 distinct natural, cold-water carbonated mineral springs throughout the park. We tried three of four. Definitely not a fan of the more mineral tasting springs. Each spring has a little different properties, taste and beneficial qualities. Geyser Island Spouter ("The Geyser") is a continuously bubbling and spouting natural carbonated spring surrounded by a growing dome and island of hardened mineral deposits called tufa.

We hiked along Geyser Creek. 

Some of the buildings in the park. There are two spas, an event building, two pools, a golf course, tennis courts, a preforming arts center, a car museum and twelve miles of multi use hiking trails.

We enjoyed dinner at a Spanish Tapas Restaurant called Boca Bistro. 

Toasting to my good friend's birthday...she was celebrating in Turk and Caicos.

We had meatballs and  Shishito peppers. Both were very good.

Fun in Canada

"Don't be in such a hurry to reach the view that you miss the beauty along the way." -Unknown

The grands had never been to Canada so one day we drove over to do a little exploring. We drove through Rockport (just so everyone could say they’d been to another Rockport) and then stopped at a little rocky beach. The kids got a little wet so our next adventure was finding some dry clothes. We drove over to Brockville to a larger, very nice Walmart. Nothing like going to another country just to spend time at Walmart. 

After the shopping detour we walked through Brockville Railway Tunnel. The tunnel runs under the downtown core of Brockville. It was built between 1854 and 1860 to allow the fledgling Brockville and Ottawa Railway to connect the Brockville industrial waterfront area to the outlying areas lying between the St Lawrence and Ottawa rivers. It was Canada's first railroad tunnel. Today it is part of the Brock Trail recreational pathway. Complete with LED light show and music. The 1/3 mile walk gives history of the tunnel and a chance to see the mineral formations.

From Brockville we headed west to the Arbru Solar Brew Pub for lunch. It was such a beautiful day so we sat outside and had a great time. After lunch we headed to Gananoque to do a little more exploring and shopping. We came ashore here in 2018 when we spent a few weeks in the 1000 Islands on The Pearl. 

Brockville Railway Tunnel

The tunnel was designed to leak. Allowing water to permeate the stone walls prevents the buildup of hydrostatic pressure that could cause the walls to collapse. This continuous flow of water has caused the beautiful mineral deposits that are seen throughout the tunnel. 

The south end of the tunnel comes out in a park along the St. Lawrence River.

Lunch at the Arbru Brewery.

Gananoque Courthouse 

The Gananoque River runs through part of the town.

Dessert at the MJ Baker's Dozen.

Fun in town.

Our second trip into Canada was on the boat…we didn’t stop anywhere so we didn’t need to check into customs. It wasn’t the nicest day but we wanted to take the kids around some of the beautiful islands and through the International Rift. It’s a narrow deep cut that separates the Canadian Hill Island from the US Wellesley Island. The International Rift Bridge crosses at this point. The water is coke bottle green and so clear you can see the bottom even in the deepest spots.

The small International Rift Bridge. It is one of three bridges that make up the Thousand Islands International Bridge System.

Going under the bridge.

The United States on the left and Canada on the right.

Looking back at the rift.

The kids have one leg in Canada and one in the USA.

Riding through some of the pretty islands.

Just one of the many tankers we show during our stay. The kids loved seeing them.