Day 7: Halifax to Quebec

From: Halifax, NS
To: Quebec City, QC
KMs - TBD - we're the worst at checking the odometer
Sim's Iced Cap Tally: 5 - that's what I'm talking about

We awoke this morning after a tumultuous night of no power, some power, no internet.  My phone started to pick up the WiFi but I was unable to get my laptop online.  Hence the late delivery of the posting.  As I sit here now in our AMAZING room in the heart of Old Quebec I am also without internet and waiting for the front desk attendant to return to bestow the password upon me.

We got all of our stuff packed up and loaded into the car.  It was the longest stay in one place (three nights) so it took a bit more effort to rally.  After a third consumption of my weight in fried potato, we started the day with a brisk walk up Citadel Hill which was conveniently located across the street from our hotel.  I had been eying it since we arrived and it looked like a good challenge.  Compared to walking up Sackville it was an absolute dream.  Once at the top we took in some historical information and headed back down so we could check out.  On the road by just after 9am.  We decided to switch up the route.  We ended up taking the second bridge out of the city and across the river to Dartmouth.  This time I knew in advance how to get change and actually pay the tolls and not just take my change and attempt to drive off into the sunset.

There was a funny ask-and-answer moment during the car ride.  We drove passed an exit from a private parking lot, and posted facing the exit was a Wrong Way poster.  Sim thought it looked wide enough for two lanes, entrance and exit, and she saw a car driving in the wrong way so she said “That’s confusing to me.” And just at the moment the next song lyric was “I can understand why you are confused.”  That gave us a good laugh.

The first planned stopped was at The Dunes of Bouctouche.  It’s an awesome 12km Dune that juts out of the North Shore of New Brunswick.  We walked about halfway out the boardwalked area which is about 1.5km in total.  We tried to get another action shot for Sim, but the uneven ground made the illusion more difficult.  We took the secondary loop back through a wooded area.  It was a quick detour, but it was another favourite of mine from last trip and I wanted Sim to share in that experience.  This stop lined up with our master plan to take an alternate route home.  On my last trip I took the Fredericton route in, the Dalhousie-Rimouski route out, but drove right past the “Appalachian Trail” on both sides.  Being just south of Hwy 108 – the Appalachian Trail – positioned us perfectly to take it back across New Brunswick.  I think I can speak for both of us when I say this was the biggest mistake of our trip.  It was 137 km of piss-poor roads, with no escapes.  You are warned going in that it’s the last gas station for a substantial period of time but not that the roads are completely uneven and utter shit.  About 56km in there was a road sign for uneven roads and someone had penned in beneath “81km”, and it was a true statement.  We made up a bit of time by going briskly.  I was hoping the treeline would break and we would see this magnificent display of mountains.  Why allow non-locals to drive this road, it is complete crap.  To be honest, I didn’t see any road signs for it this time around, only a memory of them from 7 years ago.  Maybe they don’t exist anymore for that reason.  The only god send was that we had no one in front of or behind us for almost the entire run.  Except at the end when this car from Maine, with a driver that could barely see over the dash, and with a handicap symbol on his plate, decided going almost 15 under the speed limit was a safe mode of transport.  This was right around Grand Falls when he finally took a road South and we carried on.  There must be good deals at the local Piggly Wiggly that he crosses the border to shop at.

After we broke free from his terrible road reign and found our way back to Hwy 2 it was clear sailing.  All in all it was about 13 hrs on the road, a long day of driving indeed.  Sim did a magnificent job navigating us into Quebec City and through the streets of Old Quebec.  We walked up the flight of stairs to the hotel and checked in.  We were the last to check-in and it was 9:30pm.  Apparently….without our knowledge and to much of our delight, Quebec City is having a national day of celebration and we were just in time to experience the festivities.  The clerk was nice enough to give us a bar recommendation and draw a map showing us where the main stage was located.  We quickly stashed our bags, parked the car, and hit the town.  We walked around the old city looking for some dinner eats.  Just outside the stone entrance we found a nice Italian resto.  Sim got the Duck Risotto and I picked one of the many delicious pastas, Angel Hair and Basil with Bocconcini cheese.  Just outside the patio, a jazz band was playing and in front of them was a makeshift dancefloor where couples of all sorts were cutting a rug.  A man was dancing a jig all by himself with an umbrella as a cane.  It was fantastic.

Following dinner we hunted down a bar recommended by the hotel front desk.  We were sold at Best Cocktails in the city.  L’Ateril.  We zigged uphill and then zagged uphill even further.  A few months ago I might have just died but with all of my practice at home I almost kept pace with Sim.  A few small breaks now again to keep my heart rate normal is all I ask.  I had an Amaretto Sour and Sim had a Zelda (sake, gin, ginger, grapefruit and other goodness. Ordered because of the name, of course).  I followed that with a Sangria and Sim had a Negroni Fizz.  We were going to split the last two but I wussed out and she finished the Negroni and let me milk the Sangria.  We sat on the patio and watched hoards of people marching past on the streets closed off to cars.  We’re still unsure of what’s being celebrated but dammit people were in a good mood.  On the easy (read: downhill) walk home we passed several people in the street screaming and shouting.  Some people yelled greeting at us, but en francais so unintelligible to either of us.  We decided it was the best possible night we could have asked for to be here.

Tomorrow is our last day on the road.  It feels good to be 8-9 hrs away from home.  I mean, this morning we were in Halifax and tomorrow night we’ll be in Toronto.  So that’s quite the haul for the last two days. And we got in 12,500 steps today to boot.

I’m in love with Quebec City.  We leave tomorrow morning and I miss it already.