Dan and I had originally planned to travel to Europe for our October vacation, including stops in London, Paris (where our friend Gerardo Teissonnière gave a recital), and Berlin. Various factors made that trip impractical, so we decided to remain within driving distance. Our trip took us into Ontario, Quebec, and New England before we headed home.
We began
our journey on Sunday so I could complete some quick regrouting of our shower
stall on Saturday, allowing it to dry while we were away. Sunday was a quick
drive to Niagara Falls, Ontario, during which my GPS
routed us off the toll roads and onto US-20, allowing us to drive through some
attractive wine country. We also drove
through Fredonia, New York, where my maternal
grandfather and his parents are buried. I
first saw Niagara Falls from the New York side during the 1980s, and the
Canadian side was the site of my first trip with Daniel back in 2006. The Falls themselves haven’t perceptibly
changed, but the town is as touristy and vulgar as ever. As medicinal and recreational Cannabis are now
legal in Canada, the scent of marijuana
wafted into our nostrils as we walked along Clifton Hill. The crowds were denser than we expected and
we learned Sunday evening that the next day was Canadian Thanksgiving. Learning of this, we decided to change our
drive to Toronto the next day, avoiding the highway and taking the smaller
roads that wrapped around Lake Ontario.
Fortunately,
there were numerous restaurants open in Toronto that night and we settled on Si Lom Thai
where we had an enjoyable dinner. Our
one full day in Canada’s largest city was spent at the Art Gallery of Toronto, snapping pictures
at the Toronto sign, and bar-hopping in the Church and Wellesley neighborhood, which is
sadly becoming encroached by developers.
Still, we had a fun time at Woody’s
where bartender Chris poured the drinks, regaled us with stories, and even gave
Dan & me a pair of souvenir t-shirts.
Cannabis use in Toronto was even more prevalent than in Niagara Falls. One could simply not escape the smell of
reefer.
On Wednesday
we departed Toronto for the five-hour drive to Montreal. Here is where it became obvious that Canadian
highways are better maintained than their US counterparts. There wasn’t a pothole to be found on the
whole stretch of our journey. Rest areas
were in plentiful supply, and the lower speed limit (100 kilometers, or 62
miles per hour), made for a pleasant drive and better mileage. Normally I am a
bit of a lead-foot on highways, much to Dan’s consternation, but I wasn’t about
to speed as a foreigner.
Montreal is
in Quebec, which uses French as a primary language. Dan spent months learning French on the
Duolingo app, but whenever he uttered a phrase in French, whoever he was
speaking with would immediately reply in English, rendering his studies
superfluous. We spent much of Thursday
strolling through the Port, the Latin Quarter, and the Gay Village. That evening we treated ourselves to poutine
at Emilia and spent as much of our Canadian cash as we could at Bar
Le Stud.
Friday morning we packed the car and headed to Ogunquit, Maine, which I hadn’t visited since 1994. Since moving back to Ohio that year, I’ve returned to New England several times, including four visits to Provincetown. Both Ogunquit and P-town have reputations as gay-friendly destinations. But while P-town has become synonymous with parties and circuit queens, Ogunquit is far less “in your face” while still obviously being an LGBT+ destination for those seeking relaxing fun. Rainbow flags were everywhere to be seen even though the tourist season was mostly over. Halloween decorations of every kind were to be displayed outside private homes, restaurants, and hotels/B&Bs. Dan & I had some fine meals, enjoyable drinks, and walked them off on the town’s beachside Marginal Way. We also took a few hours off at the local cinema to see a dark film entitled “Don’t Worry, Darling.” By the end of that day Dan & I were mostly travelled out and ready to return to home and hearth. Be it ever so humble…
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