Day 112 – July 24

Exiting Pickerel Park required a bit of backtracking through the maze of roads we had taken the previous day. We found our way back to the # 2 east and began to wind our way through some interesting local tourist attractions such as the Millhaven Correctional Institute and the Frontenac Minimum Security Institution. Incarceration seemed to be a bit of a cottage industry in the area. I made a mental note, avoid picking up any hitch hikers dressed either in bold horizontal black and white stripes (very unflattering for the heavy set criminal by the way) or in a fluorescent hunter orange jump suit.

By marked contrast not far down the road we drove through Bath and Collins Bay, two very well heeled communities where the local energy seemed to be more focused on mowing expansive lawns and filling the numerous marinas with large power boats. A bicycle path, whose only occupants seemed to be several golf carts paralleled the highway. Gananoque passed by uneventfully as we moved on to the 1000 Islands Parkway. I got bored at about 3 of trying to verify accuracy of that number.

Whether there is more or less than a 1000 ‘Islands’ may be a moot point, but by my observation every rock big enough to perch more than one seagull that dares to so much as poke its head above the surface of the water has something built on it, be it a ‘simple’ boathouse and dock or some turret festooned building that by comparison makes Casa Loma look like a mobile home. There is serious money here. It occurred to me that scientists should investigate if rising sea levels are really being caused by global warming or possibly by the sinking of this real estate under the burden of the crushing weight of these steroid popping ‘get away’ cottages. Who really needs a cottage bigger than a Wallmart with a boat moored next to it big enough to dwarf half of the ships of the Canadian Naval Fleet.

The ‘cottage’

We stopped in Brockville for a coffee and had a quick walk around town. Beautiful brick houses lined the street and the downtown boasted a wide array of heritage buildings. However a couple of storefronts were vacant and had ‘for lease’ signs in their windows and there was a tattoo parlour on the Main Street, a sure sign that rental values are decreasing. My guess is that like many small town retailers Brockville is fighting a battle against the big box stores, I hope they win. It would be a shame to see this pretty streetscape become a sea of plywood windows.

We planned to spend the night in a hotel in Montreal and I had the address plugged into my GPS. Unfortunately a flurry of road work had closed the most direct route but with GPS and finally iPhone with google maps in hand we arrived at the Hotel Brossard. We had stayed at this hotel last October when we flew to Montreal to buy the BRT. As we looked from our room out to the beast parked in the same spot she had been parked those 9 months earlier in some ways it seemed like only yesterday that we were here and in other ways it seemed like forever since we made those first steps towards this great adventure we have been having.

After a quick change of clothes we drove to the nearest Metro station and took the Metro to Old Montreal – the narrow cobblestone streets of Vieux-Montreal are no place for the anachronistic bulk of the beast, she is no Calèche. We walked the streets for a while, stopping to admire Notre Dame, a busker plying his trade and the work of the local artists. Old Montreal is such a phenomenal capsule of culture, with such fond memories for us – we briefly honeymooned here in the snow almost 34 years ago on a budget that today wouldn’t gas up the BRT – that just walking the streets seems like an escape to another time and another world.

Notre Dame

Working the crowd

We found a small restaurant that offered food we were unlikely to find at home, a mozzarella bar, ‘il mangia foco’. It specialized in various mozzarella cheeses, pizzas and other fare Italien – a great celebratory meal as the miles rapidly brought us closer to home and family. We started with two glasses of Prosecco and then sampled a smoked mozzarella with porchetta and smoked dried tomato side dishes. The cheese was superb and the tomatoes were like little candy smoke bombs. Shared wood fired margherita and quartre fromage pizzas, strawberry shortcake served on slate slabs followed by expressos completed an amazing meal. The walk back to the Metro was appreciated.

Il mangia foco

When we got back to the parking lot at the Metro station we were greeted by the flashing lights of police cars and a milling throng of people. Many folks had taken up positions along the nearby highway in portable chairs. We could not fathom what was going on and were none the wiser when we asked some francophones who were perched in the back of their SUV. The best we could come up with was something was going to happen in 10 minutes at 10:00. We eventually figured out that there was going to be a fireworks show. July 24 didn’t ring a bell for us but a quick Google search informed us that we were in the midst of a summer long international fireworks festival and that July 24 was the night Croatia was performing with the theme of Artificial Intelligence so we settled into our front row seats in the BRT and waited.

We were not disappointed. A fantastic display of spectacular fireworks amazed us for 30 minutes. Again our timing was impeccable. With the aid of google maps we returned to our hotel and the luxury of a king sized bed.

Oooh

aah!