Visit Quebec From Maine: What to See!
Before we headed from Maine to Quebec, we had one last week in Maine and a huge family event. It was the Austin Family Reunion and Suzannah’s parents were hosting it. Nearly 70 family members came from all over the country to celebrate family, catch up, and enjoy some amazing Maine cuisine. From a blueberry pancake breakfast and water activities on the lake to a lobster bake and an auction at The Senator; it was great.
Last Week in Maine
Lobster Bake
The lobster bake was an awesome and delicious experience. Maine Shore Lobster Bakes drove up from Freeport to cater this event at Suzannah’s parents’ house. It’s a family-owned and operated business with over 60 years of experience and has done lobster bakes for the White House and the Kennedys. They brought everything; lobster, mussels, steak, potatoes, corn-on-the-cob, and more. It was so fresh there were baby crabs crawling around in the shipping container the lobster came in!
The staff wrapped the lobster and other goodies in seaweed and foil and cooked it over a fire, the way Native Americans used to do it. The meal smelled great while it was cooking and tasted even better. After enjoying the delicious meal, we packed up and headed to the Senator Inn for our family auction.
Senator Inn
The Senator Inn & Spa, in Augusta, hosted our family auction and some of our relatives stayed in the rooms blocked for the reunion. Located in Maine’s capital, it is convenient to many attractions in the area and only a short drive to my folks’ house in Monmouth. The event room was completely decorated with lovely table cloths and dinnerware and the different courses for the meal were scrumptious. In addition to being a hotel, the Senator Inn has a variety of things to do; a pool with exercise classes, a day spa, weddings, banquets, restaurants, and more. Sunday brunch has always been my favorite part!
Goodbye…For Now.
After the family reunion before we headed from Maine to Quebec, it was time to say goodbye to Matt. It is always hard to see him go but we know that it’s so much easier to keep in touch nowadays and we’ll see him again for Christmas break. We decided to spend the day in Freeport and Cape Elizabeth to do some shopping and see some sights before settling in for the night at the hotel near the Portland Jetport. We love to go to L.L. Bean and the outlet stores in Freeport because we usually find a hot deal on something nice. And we found quite a few! We had a nice lunch at the Jameson Tavern (“The Birthplace of Maine”) and then headed to the Portland Head Light to see the most photographed lighthouse in America.
Most Photographed Lighthouse
The Portland Head Light is in Cape Elizabeth and is the oldest lighthouse in Maine. It is also known as the most photographed in America and you might recognize its red roof when you see it. It sits on Casco Bay and Portland Harbor and its shore has waves crashing over the quartzite and grey phyllite rocks. Quite a pretty sight! The lighthouse has a small museum, gift shop and is adjacent to Fort Williams Park. You should definitely stop by for a photo and visit if you’re in the area. Once we had our lighthouse photos, we went to the hotel and the next morning said goodbye to Matt. Matt headed back to Florida but will join us for more adventures in the future.
Portland Head Lighthouse 
What happened??
Two days later, we were packed and ready to start our trip up from Maine to Quebec, or so we thought. The morning started out fine. We had everything loaded into the trailer and the truck. We said our goodbyes to Grandma and Grandpa and backed the truck up to the trailer. Then we realized, we may not be leaving today. Our truck and trailer use the Husky Weight Distribution Hitch and we couldn’t find the wrench for it. It’s not your average, everyday wrench. It’s specifically made for the hitch and it may have been left on the bumper and fallen off on one of the back roads leading to my folk’s house.
My parents, Chris and I split up into 3 different vehicles and took off down all the possible roads to look for the wrench. It’s about 2 feet long but it’s dark silver and not shiny. There was no way we would be able to see it. Chris decided to head to the nearest RV parts store to see if they could help. Scott’s Recreation in Manchester, Maine saved our you know whats. They looked around and found the exact wrench in the back and sold it to us. Their customer service is outstanding. We were extremely grateful. Sure, we ended up leaving 2-hours late but that’s better than not leaving at all. Here we come, Canada!
Canada, or bust!
As we drove up from Maine to Quebec and the Canadian border, we saw quaint towns and beautiful views and then drove on the worst road of the trip! Worst road for all of Hop 1, so far. You can find out about that road here. When we finally made it to the border station, we learned some valuable lessons:
Hinton Hints: Border Crossing
10 Hinton Hints to make crossing the Canadian border from Maine to Quebec or any country border easier:
1. Roll down your windows.
2. Have your passports ready.
3. Turn off your engine.
4. Know where you are from…seriously they ask this.
5. Know where you are going. Again, really? Maybe some people don’t know.
6. Don’t bring anything good to leave in Canada.
7. Be honest about your scotch but don’t share it.
8. Don’t bring weapons, just your charm.
9. Sign your passport.
10. Be polite. Politeness goes a long way and is just plain good manners.
Camping Transit
We had reservations at the Camping Transit, an RV park located in Levis, Quebec, a few hours from the border. Camping Transit is only a short ride to the ferry that takes you into Old Quebec. The campground staff was very nice and they spoke English which is helpful in a foreign country. The front office offers a shuttle schedule to get you to and from the ferry. For $44 per night, we had full hook-ups and the shuttle. There’s a pool, a playground, and a place to wash your RV as well. What a great price!
Tour of Old Quebec
The Quebec-Levis Ferry departs to and from Old Quebec every 20 minutes and is less than $3 per person. The short ride across the St. Lawrence River has an amazing view of Old Quebec and the famous Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac, a historic 5-Star hotel built in 1893. As soon as we arrived at the pier, we headed to the Hop-On, Hop-Off tour bus stop.
We had purchased tickets online the night before for just shy of $100 for the three of us. We like Hop-On, Hop-Off bus tours, and the mix of tourism and transportation. We’ve used them in cities around the world and find that you can learn about the area and history of the sights while you ride. The tour takes 2 hours to make the full trip and then we decided where to get off. Old Quebec is beautiful with its charming buildings, amazing artwork and murals, and restaurants and cafes.
Montmorency Falls
Montmorency Falls is a short drive outside of Quebec City and open year-round. It is 272 feet high and has a variety of ways to experience it. There are 487 stairs to the bottom of the falls where you can see them up close and feel the water misting on you. There is a cable car that takes you to the top of the falls. At the top, you can walk across the 300-foot high suspension bridge overlooking the terrifyingly high falls. If you are fearful of heights, you can take the footpath from the upper parking lot to the suspension bridge and look from a distance. There is also a 984-foot zipline across the falls! We ended our day with a trip to the Aquarium of Quebec.
Aquarium of Quebec
The last stop on our Quebec City tour was the Aquarium of Quebec. It is on the smaller side but has some very cool sea life including polar bears!! At $20 per adult and $10 per child and with over 10,000 creatures, it was a cool place to go…especially when it’s 95 degrees with extra humidity! The stingray touch pool had some very interactive stingrays that almost came out of the water to see you. And the starfish pool had quite a few varieties of starfish to touch. There were seals, walruses, and jellyfish, too. If you want a nice indoor activity, the Aquarium of Quebec is for you.
The aquarium marked the end of our time in Quebec City. Our trip from Maine to Quebec was an interesting one but it was time to go. The next day we were headed out on a 1500 mile journey across Canada and down into Minnesota to visit friends. We planned to spend 5 days doing this so we needed our rest. It had been a long few days but we were excited to continue Hop 1! Next stop, Ontario.
