10/18–Flying home

Well, this is the end of our North Eastern saga. It’s been great. The morning starts off fine, until we sit in traffic for at least 20 minutes getting to the Thrifty drop off, only to find out that we can’t drop the car off there. We have to go to the airport.  No one told us that! And to top it all off the Thrifty rep there is a real jerk – first of all ignoring us for all of about 5 minutes while we stood patiently waiting, only to be rudely told to go to the airport! Sheesh.  We’re irritated!

More traffic, but we manage to make it to the airport in under 15 minutes.  We drop off the car, tell the agent about our experience (as well as the car’s condition) and he was very accommodating. So now we’re much more relaxed. Until the Delta terminal check in when, despite being a Delta Amex card carrying passenger, and paying for our tickets with the darn card, we don’t get our bags for free.  What? When did that change? And why do I have this card?

$50 later, we arrive at the United lounge (thank you for a better credit card with better benefits!) and waste away the hour and a half before our flight with coffee and doughnut holes.  Yum!

Then it’s bye bye Boston!  See ya next time!

10/17–White River Junction to Salem, oh, I mean Peabody

Ok – so this is a first.  Each day, we map out our travels for the next leg of our trip—plans that were made months (and sometimes over a year) in advance.  So, as we were making our plans to get from VT to Salem, MA, for our last night we can’t seem to find the Salem Park Inn in Salem.  It’s odd, but it keeps coming up New Hampshire.  Huh? Well, much to our chagrin (and amusement actually), Ed had booked a hotel in Salem, NH, not Salem, MA for tonight!  Oops!  It wasn’t that big of a deal, since Salem, NH isn’t all that far from Boston, but we had a restaurant.com coupon for a restaurant in Salem, MA, plus, while Salem, NH is only an hour from Logan, Salem, MA is more like 20 minutes and we didn’t really want to have to mess with traffic and delays for an hour (or more) in the morning.

Quick work and fast thinking found us a hotel in Peabody – right off Route 1 which was perfect in terms of location and price.  Cancel NH, hello Peabody! 

So, we left White River Junction and headed down the scenic way to Peabody, keeping on Routes 2 and 5 though iconic little Vermont villages, farmland with huge old red barn and more head of cattle than you can count and beautiful fall foliage.

Trying to find a place to picnic, we must have hit 5 different state parks, all closed for the season. So, we finally headed into Salem and found a lovely little park by the water where we could eat.

Then, we drove through the heart of Salem to get a look around and find the restaurant for this evening, then got the heck out of there  - fast!  It’s Halloween season – and there is probably no place crazier than Salem at Halloween.  Didn’t think of that either!

We ended up just meandering about on Cape Ann, through Beverly and Manchester by the sea. Very pretty driving, such quaint traditional NE villages  and towns.  Beautiful.

Back at the hotel, we rearrange our bags/packing, sit outside in the sunshine and read, then hit the gym for a bit before our last dinner!  Into Salem we go, and to Scratch Kitchen, this great, kitschy little sandwich shop where everything is smoked and/or comes with bacon.  Our kind of place!  It’s really strange though – as packed as the town is, this place is empty. Seriously – empty. We are the only customers the whole night.  Bizarre too because it’s great food at really reasonable prices!  Weird.

So, we enjoyed our personal dining staff and just hung out eating bacon dusted fries (yeah, bad, but oh so good), two fish tacos and a smoked brisket sandwich.  Yum Yum.  Nice way to finish off our bad eating trip and start thinking about the salads and chicken we’ll be having tomorrow night!  Not that I’ll be sad mind you, I love salad and chicken – and it sure helps reduce the extra bacon fat that accumulates around your waist after 3 weeks of being lenient with what goes into your mouth!

We meander through every little NE neighborhood between Salem and Peabody(thanks to Alice and her stupid directional sense) back to the hotel, where we finalize our suitcases and get ready for the flights home.

10/16–Burlington to White River Junction

Today we continue on with our wacky food tour, heading out from Burlington to Waterbury where we planned to go to the Cold Hollow Cider Mill for apple cider and cider doughnuts, then to Ben & Jerry’s for an ice cream tour, followed by the Alchemist brewery and topped off with the Green Mountain coffee tour.  The best laid plans….

Turns out Waterbury is only 15 minutes away and well, we don’t want ice cream at 9:30 in the morning (for a $4 tour fee, btw), nor do we want beer that early.  So, we end up just hitting the Cider Mill – which was fun and yummy!  Hot cider and cider doughnuts (yes, Ed even ate a doughnut!  I have the picture to prove it!)

We walked through the mill area (where there was a bus tour – dear me!) and managed to peek around the clusters of bus-people to get a glimpse of how they press the cider – which was pretty interesting actually.  Then we beat feet out of there as quickly as possible to avoid the following bus!  We headed straight to the Green Mountain coffee center, which turned out to be a nice pictorial history of the coffee company (and found out that they recently bought Keurig – didn’t know that!).  But the “factory tour” isn’t really a factory – and there is just a café there which we decided to pass on – I was still full from the cider!

So – we headed down the road to Cabot and the Cabot cheese factory tour.  We’ve been there before, but it is still interesting and we love the sampling. Plus we needed to stock up on our popcorn topping!  We also bought some more smoked bacon cheese which we found in Boston and love.

Back on the road we headed into White River Junction, wishing there were more places to stop along the way to take pictures of all the great colors and landscapes.

After checking into the hotel, we went back out to reconnoiter the town and the restaurant for tonight’s dinner:  Elixir.  it is hard to find – in an old train depot, so we blazed our trail and made sure we knew where to go.  Next we stopped at CJ’s for a drink (that bartender knows how to pour too!) then back to the hotel for coffee, a nap for me and the gym for Ed!

We headed out to Elixir a little before 7 and thought we might be in big trouble when we couldn’t find a parking spot in the lot.  I left Ed in the car to go in and scope out the bar. The owner was there at the door and helpfully pointed out 3 couples who were going to be leaving to go to a play soon.  Ed found a parking space and we came inside to wait.

As it turned out, we got seats pretty quickly when one of the local guys gave us his and stood for a while (thank you Chris!).  This place was hoppin!  And for good reason – the food was excellent and totally reasonable priced!  We started with (bad, bad, bad) the French fries with aioli – they came highly recommended and rightly so – very delicate and the aioli was prefect!  For dinner I had twin cocoa dusted filets (amazing) and Ed had blackened scallops (which were also superb).  The owner was so attentive (not just to us, but to everything) and it was great to watch. You knew he poured his all into this place, and it showed through with everything.  Great find!

10/15–Montreal to Burlington VT

We are on the road around 9, out of the city easy peasy, and through the border in no time (the border patrol guy takes one look at our passports and says “wow, these are super-sized!”).

We drive toward Burlington through the Lake Champlain area, stopping at the visitor’s info center where the ladies there were so very helpful!  The lake and brightly colored leaves are beautiful around here. 

We meander down the two lane highway, skirting the lake, looking for a picnic spot. All the parks are closed for the season. So, we ended up waiting to eat until Burlington, where we sit on a great park bench over looking the water.  Cool!

Full from our sausage and cheese, we begin our Vermont culinary tour (well, culinary is a stretch, but….) as we head to the Lake Champlain chocolate factory for their tour.  It’s a very informative half an hour, all about where they get their chocolate, how it is made, their products and their new artisanal chocolates they are developing.  It’s not actually a “tour”, since we are sitting on a viewing platform, listening to the lecture and looking at the factory through a huge plate glass window, but its still pretty interesting.  And of course, the chocolate samples are great, but the actual chocolate for sale is so pricey we pass (yeah, well, what can I say?).

And yes, those are chocolate bunnies on the left! They’ve been making them for months and storing them in their warehouse for Easter.  Unbelievable!

Next, we head to the hotel to check in, knowing the room won’t be ready but wanting to make sure we get a room with a refrigerator. We organize that, then move on to the next stop on our tour:  the Magic Hat brewery. 

Here, we take a self-guided tour through their wacky place. Very fun – love the way they market and promote themselves.  They’ve got some great memorabilia in there too! Like all their beer signs, a spin wheel of a bunch of their beer taps and this spooky sort of Buddha looking huge face hanging in the hall.  Oh, and the Mardi Gras cut out…yeah…odd..but..hey..it is Magic Hat at its finest!

After watching the bottling process (which can mesmerize you for hours!), we end up back downstairs in the tasting room where we both find some beers we really like (yep, even I had a couple I’d drink!). 

Six pack later and we’re out the door back to the hotel to check in.

Organized and rested, we head to dinner at the Upper Pub café, the bar portion of the Windjammer restaurant in the Best Western. You’d not think of going to a hotel to eat, but this place was great!  We shared a pork burger (Long Trail Ale brined pork loin, ground with pancetta, pepper jack cheese & sautéed vegetables, topped with tarragon aioli – I’m trying to recreate the recipe!!!) and a maple chipotle pulled pork sandwich that was just fantastic!  And too much food!

We haul ourselves back to the hotel and collapse on the bed!  Tomorrow the long road (ha!) to White River Junction!

10/14–Thanksgiving day in Montreal

It’s an awful day! Dreary, rainy, misty. We decide to explore the underground (which Turgay has told us is “just shops” ) so we can at least get some walking in this morning without drowning.  The underground is, well, just shops!  It’s a series of underground malls really.  But we don’t care, because we just want to walk and stay dry. We manage to get all the way around to the train station, then turn back.

Back in the room, we have a late breakfast/lunch, then decide to brave the weather and head to the old port area.  Nothing much going on down there except tourism! But we happen to luck into a celebration though – Canada has declared 2013 to be the year of Korea (and Korea has done the same for Canada) to commemorate the partnership during the Korean war.  There are 2 Korean ships in port and their military band, dancers, color guard and Asian fighting teams are here.  In addition, Canadian war veterans are also in attendance to receive medals (one of whom didn’t RSVP but showed up anyway and causes quite the agitation with one of the organizers – we of course feel his pain!).

It’s a very interesting presentation, and the traditional dancing is great.  After standing there for the better part of an hour though, we’re ready to celebrate ourselves with a beverage, so we duck into this great brew pub – Les 3 Brasseurs – or the 3 brewers.  It’s a great place, and a shame we’ve already had lunch because the food looks good too.  Instead we warm up with beer and wine, then head back out and walk back to the hotel.

We also decide to cook in this evening as well since it’s icky weather and we don’t want to walk all the way down to the restaurant we had found.  More sausages from the grocery store (these things are GREAT) and we are set.  Frittata with broccoli and cauliflower, sausages (leftovers for lunch tomorrow) and all our stockpiled desserts!  Then MNF.  All is well in Montreal!

10/13–Montreal

Another astonishing day! Not a cloud in the sky. We head down to the Atwater market to rent bikes for a ride around the canal and the St. Lawrence river.  We take the subway, then walk past the market as they are beginning to open.  Ah…fall…

We are early – of course – but then the rental guys are late!  We have a few moments of worry because it is a holiday weekend. But eventually, they all show up, we gear up and off we go.

The bike paths are fantastic – there are miles and miles of them from which to choose. We had decided to bike down the canals and then loop around on the St. Lawrence past the rapids and back into Atwater.  All told, it will be a 20 mile bike hike through spectacular trees and parks. Fabulous!

Our first stop is the Parc Rene-Levesque, which is a narrow island at the end of the bike route, perched like a finger pointing out in the St. Lawrence. It’s stunningly green, with interesting but slightly odd sculptures placed about.

After a quick stop here, we wanted to find a café for cappuccino, but the area the bike guy told us about doesn’t really look promising. So, we head out around the loop that will take us through neighborhoods and parkland by the St. Lawrence.  We actually stumble upon a little corner store and café where we sit in the sun, warming ourselves with the rays – and the caffeine!

Back on the paths, we loop down and around some beautiful river scenery, old stone buildings…

…and a windmill of all things!

More stone houses, and more gorgeous parks with fall colors aflame in the trees.

We finally make the last turn out of the park, and immediately get lost trying to find our way back to the market and the rental kiosk.  There is some construction going on, and while all we have to do is follow the bike path, it mysteriously disappears right when we need it most! After a couple of wrong turns, we finally make it back and turn our trusty rides back into the bike guys.

Then, it’s off to the market for lunch. It’s a nice little market, with incredible produce at really good prices – none of which we can use since we’re at the end of our accommodations with cooking facilities.  Darn! But it is fun to walk around, and lunch at an Italian type deli is great – hot Panini – chicken with pesto and cheese for me, an Italian hoagie for Ed.  We’re satisfied!

We head back to the hotel to rest for a bit, but it is such a beautiful day we don’t want to stay inside for long.  So, we decided to walk up to Parc du Mont Royal.  And wow what a walk…UP for sure!  But when we get to the main entrance, we’re surprised with a huge drum circle!!! 

Too wild – they are here every Sunday afternoon – just like our Friday nights in Asheville. Very fun to stand and watch all the gyrations and thumping going on in the afternoon sun.  Cool!

Back at hotel we relax and watch some football.  Then we troop off to St. Laurent street (where all the bars and restaurants are in this area) for a Portuguese dinner!  We found a great little, local restaurant called Jano that reputedly has the best roasted chicken.  We’re game!  And Jano lived up to its reputation – definitely.  A cozy little place where everyone was friendly, smiling, happy and helpful. The food was excellent and in vast supply.  Yes, the chicken was the best! I had a chicken breast, Ed had a combo – all incredibly good.  A couple of beers and wines, and we were ready for our invigorating walk back home.

Football for dessert (LOL) then bed!