Holy cow! I cannot wait for the book to come out.
Driving into work today, there was a massive banner on one of the overpasses over the Beltway that read: “John So-and-So, I am pregnant, you need to call me back. Clare.”
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In June, my wife and I are doing a cruise from Quebec City around to Boston. We will have a day in QC ahead of the cruise. Any suggestions?
Poutine and Gauloises.
There is a main shopping area-2-3 streets with one shop after another. Chateau Frontenac is high on a hill overlooking the water. Walk around inside if you are not staying there; it is magnificent. I am not a foodie so I cannot help you there. Quebec City is one of my favorite places of the places I have been.
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Try to spend 2 to 3 days there if you can. Old Quebec city is my favorite spot in North America. AI put together a good list:
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**Place Royale & Quartier Petit-Champlain:**Explore the heart of Old Québec with charming streets, shops, and restaurants.
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Château Frontenac: Admire this iconic hotel and its stunning architecture on a cliffside.
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La Citadelle de Québec: Visit the historic star-shaped fortress.
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Terrasse Dufferin: Enjoy panoramic views of the city and the St. Lawrence River.
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Fortifications of Québec National Historic Site: Explore the historic walls and learn about the city’s military past.
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Old Port (Vieux-Port): Wander through the old buildings, museums, and shops, including Rue Saint-Paul for antiques.
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Notre-Dame de Québec Basilica-Cathedral: Visit the oldest cathedral in North America.
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Île d’Orléans: Explore this island known for its artisans, local culture, and gourmet shops.
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Old Quebec Funicular: Take a ride on this funicular for a unique perspective of the city.
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Musée de la civilisation: Explore interactive exhibits on society and culture.
In classic French fashion, leave time to sit at a cafe and drink a coffee and watch the world go by. And leave 1-2 hours for dinner. Aux Anciens Canadiens Is my favorite restaurant. Watch your head in there if you’re over 6 feet tall.
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I have done a lot of these and concur with his recs, especially his saying one day is not enough time in QC.
Thanks for the recommendations - will share with my wife and will look at geography to see what we can squeeze in. We are flying in on Friday at noon and get on the boat Saturday - so we only have an afternoon and a morning available.
But I did splurge (we are celebrating our 35th anniversary) and booked the hotel deal the cruise offered at the Château Frontenac.
Our itenerary includes stops at: (give ideas if you have them)
Charlottetown PEI
Sydney Nova Scotia
Halafax Nova Scotia
Portland ME
Boston MA (Disembark Saturday morning and fly home the Sunday morning - Yankees happen to be at Fenway that night about to buy tickets)
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Charlottetown and Halifax are awesome. You’ll really enjoy both of them. Sorry to hear about Boston.
Green River looks amazing. I can hear Fogarty singing about it in my head.
I agree with your Quebec City observations. I really enjoyed it.
I’ve only been on the Green in Utah, so I’m guessing Wyoming is amazing as well.
Me, too. Stayed in Moab and did the nearby Nat’l Parks.
I got stuck in DFW for 24 hours Friday/Saturday. My hobo skills were put to the test.
I got to the United club around 1230 for a 2pm flight. We boarded and then captain let us know FAA shutdown traffic at IAH and we deplaned. Weather at IAH was wreaking havoc.
So back to the club. At this point, a 2 hour delay, so I did some work and drank some wine.
Next, delayed again until 6. There were still 4 other planes, with decent amount of seats so I figured I’d be able to get on one. Weather was clearing up in Houston and flights were starting to land there again. Then one of the 4 remaining gets cancelled and now our flight is pushed to 8.
At that point, concerns over crews timing out became real. Getting a car would’ve been an option, except I wasn’t going to drive 4 hours on copious amounts of alcohol.
There are now 2 planes leaving at 1030, I switch to the other 1030 to get a better seat. While in line the other 1030 cancels, whew. Then 10 minutes later ours cancels.
United consolidates everyone on those 2 flights to the last flight out, which is now 1250am. We queue up to board and about 5 after midnight FAA says no more flights. I got auto booked on the 1st available flight which was 545am, but it’s already delayed until 1045am due to crew travel/rest.
Well crap, guess I’ll go get an uber and go to a hotel. So I head outside (mistake). As I’m walking out and on the Marriott app I realize that since it’s after midnight, there is no option to book a room for “Friday” any longer. Just Sat, which does me no good.
I google a couple close hotels and try to call, they all just go to a call center which is no help. I call my company’s travel team, they advise me there is nothing they can do either, and once midnight hits, they don’t have access to Friday inventory. I call a couple more hotels no luck. Went down where the hotel shuttles were talked to a couple drivers and they are all sold out.
It’s 1 am now, and I contemplate driving only to learn the rental car facility is closed for the night.
In other news, TSA closed at 11 so no way back into the main terminal. According to DFW website, they open back up at 345am.
Im now stuck in gen pop for the next 3 hours, and the seating situation at baggage claim is less than ideal. 345 comes thankfully, it was uneventful aside from super loud snoring guy.
Back airside, find a couple decently comfortable lounge chairs to rest/snooze. Get IHOP breakfast sandwich, basically anything to kill time. Head back to the club around 730, and wait to board. Mercifully, the flight home was on time and uneventful. Get to my house at around 1 just in time to watch Arsenal blow a lead and lose at home to Bournemouth.
In 20 years of business travel, this was a first. I have never thought about the midnight hotel glitch. If I run into this again, I am definitely staying airside until I have a hotel secured.
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That’s insane for essentially 40 minutes of flight time.
You know what doesn’t get cancelled because of storms at the destination? A train.
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So you spent roughly 25 hours of misery, four hours drive away. That does indeed suck. They have those “minute suites” at DFW, sort of a sleep pod you rent by the hour, but I’ve never tried one. One of the many, many sub-prime things about U.S. airports is the lack of transit hotels or sleeping options. Just another thing that keeps U.S. air travel third-world.
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My truck?
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Our company has this travel policy: no driving a personal vehicle over 200 miles each way. So if I wanted to drive (which I don’t) I’d have to go rent something. That would have been better in this instance, but I deplore the Houston to Dallas trip. Plus, planes are 100x safer than getting on the road.
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The only, literally only, good thing about that drive is the ability to stop in West and load up on kolache and other baked goods.
Sure, but the drive is going to be longer than the usual 4 hours and there’s always the chance of getting stuck behind or - worse - in a wreck on the freeway.