On Saturday morning, we got up early enough to be at Ben and Jerry's early enough to have ice cream for breakfast.
After our factory tour and some sampling of "Americone Dream" we continued north and stopped for lunch in Burlington, Vermont. The kids had some really fancy mac and cheese. One kid loved it. The other kids sucked on lemons for sustenance.
We'd never been to Burlington before and it was very cute, lots of activity including a street magician. The kids were very impressed!
After Burlington we drove the rest of the way to Quebec city. It was pretty uneventful except for getting gas in rural Quebec where the language barrier was a little more of an obstacle than it would be for the rest of the trip. (Thank goodness Canadians are bilingual!)
By the time we got to our hotel, it was already almost dark but we aren't afraid to drag the kids around way past their bedtimes! The S'mores we had for dessert at our dinner definitely helped improve the mood though! The wall looked very dramatic at night!
And we even got to see a Celtic music festival. Irish music sung in French was an interesting experience!
Sunday morning after some "adventure flakes" (aka some non-Cheerio cereal) at our hotel we were on a mission to get to the Citadel to see the Changing of the Guard. (When Audrey agreed to be the goat, we had no idea how important the goat would be to the ceremony!)
It was a very impressive ceremony!
Afterward, we tried to distract a guard to no avail. Don't worry Quebec, these two yahoos will protect you from invaders!
After the Citadel, we spent the rest of the day wandering around the city.
Lots of cannons!
We rode the Funicular to the lower part of the city.
And we got reeled into a (tourist trap) restaurant where we tried Poutine for the first time.
Clearly, I am a fan.
The city was so amazingly beautiful, it felt like we were in Europe.
After a little break at the hotel to rest little legs, we went back out for dinner and to walk the wall a bit more.
We also promised Audrey a carriage ride but because of the heat we couldn't have one until after dark, by which time it was pouring down raining. A promise is a promise though and we had a nice (though wet) ride with a very chatty Quebec-er.
Our carriage ride took us past the Plains of Abraham so we made a point to go back in the daylight. It was a beautiful as I had imagined!
(The British are coming! But from which way?!)
The Joan of Arc Park was also beautiful!
On our way out of Quebec City we made a pit stop at Montmorency Falls.
It actually felt a little bouncy, so we made tracks pretty quickly!
After the falls we started the long drive towards our stopover in Fredericton. Lucky for us, the drive along the St. Lawrence river was spectacular! Fredericton was a pretty sleepy town, it's only claim to fame was a river nearby that Ted Williams liked to fish in.
When we got up we only had a few more hours to drive before we got to Prince Edward Island. From the moment we drove over the bridge it was like we were in a magical place. Each view was more beautiful than the last. The superimposition of the agricultural landscapes against the backdrop of the ocean was stunning. (The photos don't do it justice!)
Our cottage was pretty basic, almost like camping, which the kids loved. Between the pool and the playground they probably would have happy never leaving the grounds!
We did make them leave though! Our first night there we "dragged" them to Brackely Beach to see the sunset.
On our first full day on PEI we started checking off items on Bob's to-do list. First up Greenwich Beach.
The sand on PEI was very red!
After we had beached-out long enough we found some lunch and then went back to hike into the Greenwich Dunes. It was one of the most beautiful places we have ever been!
Audrey and I walked all the way over the dune and down to the beach to see about the sea creature sprouting out of the sand.
After our long hike through the dunes we decided that we deserved ice cream for dinner. Apparently Cow's Creamery is the Ben and Jerry of Canada so we were obligated to check it out.
On our second day we decided to check out Charlottetown, the only major city on the island.
After our walkabout we tried out a pizza place based on the recommendation of a friend and discovered the Best Pizza Ever. I may go back to PEI just to have that pizza again!
After lunch we did some souvenir shopping which turned out to be very food-centric (olive oil and chocolates) and then drove across the island to check out one of Bob's beaches, Basin Head Beach.
The kids decided to check out the surf which was a lot of fun for them. As it turns out, they are part seal and oblivious to frigid temperatures!
On our last day in PEI we visited the Anne of Green Gables attractions. In the morning we had our carriage ride around the "Lake of Shining Waters". (The lake is located at Silver Bush, the home of some of the cousins of L.M. Montgomery.) Maddy was super excited!
As part of the ride we got to spend a few hours at the beach near the lake. It was a gloomy day, but still beautiful.
After our carriage ride we toured Anne of Green Gables Heritage Place.
As we were wrapping up all the Anne of Green Gables attractions the weather turned around and we decided to try and squeeze in one last trip to Brackely Beach.
The water was so calm, and not even that cold!
The kids loved PEI so much, they started asking about coming back before we even left. They would have bought this cabin if they could have!
Then in was back on the road to the USA, just us, Pi and a couple contraband tomatoes sneaking back over the border.
It was such a great trip! We definitely want to go back some day!
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