The next day we continued up I 81 and stopped in Lexington, VA to visit the Stonewall Jackson house, his grave and the campus of VMI. Afterwards, we stopped in Staunton, VA at a Comfort Inn. For dinner we stopped at Mrs Roe's only because the parking lot was full and a sign outside advertised its good food according to Southern Living. It was so bad, we left our plates half full. In the morning we got a call from the front desk wanting to know if we left a wake-up call. Apparently some one left a wake-up call without giving the room number. Good thing we both were up and dressed otherwise I would have been nastier than I was. From Staunton we continued our drive north on I81 to Scranton, PA where we spent a pleasant night in the RR station that is now a hotel and had a nice meal and breakfast in their dining room. Wednesday we continued north to the Canadian border and exited I81 going east to Messina and another dumpy Comfort Inn, the only choice in a very run down, dumpy town where a Big Mac is considered a gourmet meal. After an uneatable breakfast, we crossed the border into Canada and after a few hours arrived at the Gouverneur Hotel Montreal Place Dupuis in downtown Montreal, located in the heart of the vibrant Latin Quarter near Old Montreal. in Montreal. We left our car in their parking garage and explored the surrounding area by foot. In the early evening we picked up our F1 tickets and subway pass. The hotel is next to the QUAM subway stop for the University of Quebec at Montreal and is used to get to the race track on an island in the St. Lawrence River.
Students in Montreal are protesting tuition raises. Compared to US tuition costs, they only pay a very small fraction of what we pay, but nonetheless, they are upset over this. On race weekend, they were seeking to disrupt the F1 race. Why or how this would help them, no one knew. In the park in front of our hotel, TV news cameras and trucks were parked to document their protests. However, nothing occurred. The big fear was that they would close down the subways going to the track. This is the only way to get there, since roadways were closed or restricted. Imagine some 200,000 fans going to the track, or coming from it and the mayhem that would be caused; all these fans eventually have to enter and exit from one subway station located near the track. As a result, in the morning, ever subway car had 3 or 4 police; stations along the way had 25 to 100 each, more closer to the track station. Well, all this precaution must have worked, we saw no evidence at all of any student protest activity. We met a couple staying at another hotel who told us that they saw some youths running naked and were arrested. All the protesting students seemed to accomplish was increase in income of the police, whom I'm sure earned lots of overtime pay. A lot of to do about nothing.
On Friday, June 7th we went to the track for practice. The race track was originally called the Île Notre-Dame Circuit but changed names in 1982 after Quebec racing hero Ferrarri's Gilles Villeneuve died in a crash in practice at the Belgian Grand Prix, this was our first F1 race, but we went only to the race and not to the practice.It was cool and we wished we had brought jackets. I wanted to buy a Red Bull logo jacket or shirt, but the prices were really exhorbident. That night we had a nice dinner outdoors next to a music venue along St Catherine street. Saturday was the all important qualifications for grid position. My boy Vettel of Red Bull was simply marvelously quick and got pole. His rival Hamilton was second. The race on Sunday was quite exciting near the end as the race leaders Vettel and Alonso were experiencing tire degradation and were being caught up by Hamilton and others. At the end, Hamilton won and Vettel was fourth. Disappointing from my point of view.
The island was also home to the 1967 International and Universal Exposition or Expo 67, as it was commonly known, was the general exhibition, Category One World's Fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, from April 27 to October 29, 1967. It is considered to be the most successful World's Fair of the 20th century, with the most attendees to that date and 62 nations participating. It also set the single-day attendance record for a world's fair, with 569,000 visitors on its third day. We were there back then and the sphere was part of the US exhibit. It is now an aviary. If you look real hard, you may see the moon on top of the sphere. The picture was taken from where we sat at the hairpin.
On Monday, June 11 we left Montreal for CT to visit Lisa and family in Newtown. Friday night, Pam Metzger visited for the weekend while on Saturday, June 16 Marty & Family visited Newtown and we had a great time; lots of Italian pasteries compliments of Florance.
On the 18th, we left for a five day visit to Canandaigua, NY and the Finger Lakes Vineyards. We stayed at the Bella Rosa B&B on Main St. We like the location since it enables us to walk around Canandaigua and explore its shops, restaurants and attractions. The only drawback is that it is 50 or more miles from most of the vineyards we are interested in. We visited the following vineyards: Castle Girsch in Watkins Glen, Bully Hill and Dr. Konstin Frank in Hamondsport, and Wagner vineyard and brewery in Lodi. We also had a nice boat ride on Seneca Lake, departing and returning from Watkins Glen. While there we saw the sailboat "True Love" which was featured in the 1956 musical "High Society" starring Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly. It was a real treat for me to see the boat; the movie and the scenes on the boat, including the lead song "True Love" is one of my favorites. A yar boat and movie; My, she was yar...It means, uh...easy to handle, quick to the helm, fast, right. Everything a boat should be, until she develops dry rot.
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| Seneca Lake Boat Ride |
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| True Love |
