Fort Lennox - Quebec's hidden gem.

Last night my husband informed me that he wanted to go blueberry picking.  I always look forward to the tiny blueberry's from Lac St. Jean, so I was excited to go on my very first expedition to pick Canadian blueberries.  My husband told me about the farm les fraise Louis Herbert this morning.  I looked it up and realized a CAP eligible park, Fort Lennox, was about 8 minutes away, so I asked my husband to stop by the park after we picked blueberries.

I'd never heard of either place prior to this morning.

Your entry to Fort Lennox is 8 dollars a person, free for young children and free for CAP card owners.  Fort Lennox is a short ferry ride from the mainland to a tiny island that contains a Fort.

We were stuffed the gills with blueberries so we didn't eat anything there.  There's little in the way of food on the island.  If I went back I would probably pack a lunch and have a picnic.  There are picnic tables everywhere and it's very picturesque. The fort's buildings are completely intact and the island is beautiful.  The characters that run around are very entertaining, and they'll tell you about the problems one would experience while living there in the 1800s.  There's a ton of "red coat" soldiers running around, along with their wives.  One woman tried to recruit my husband to marry her 14 year old daughter, so she was allowed to continuing living inside the fort.  Apparently 14 year old women were expected to marry back then or else they were sent off the island.

This little red coat is my daughter Chloe.  Be sure to ask the actors for the kids costumes.

These are remnants found on the island.

This is the dining hall in the captain's barracks.

This is a military official's bedroom.

The water lilies were gorgeous...like out of a painting.

This little self portrait is so I can recall the beauty of this afternoon.

I think its a hidden gem, an unanticipated 5/5.

Cirque du Soliel

I turned 30 this July.  It's had a tremendous impact on me, turning 30.  My father died when he was 28 and my mother died in her early 40s.  I have lived long enough to be older than my father ever lived to be and I am roughly within a decade of my mothers death.  Which put a fire under my butt.  Now I'm not morbid or sad by any means.  However  I want to make sure that I leave my mark on the world and that I see and I do as much as possible.  I think the moment I turn 45, if I am healthy, I will be able to relax a little.  Until then I am going to be a busy little beaver.

I have been waiting a decade to see the Cirque du Soleil.  I kept putting it off.  I had made up mind that I would pay whatever to go this year in Montreal, only to realize that following a series of cuts, they are not returning to Montreal until December.  

I recieved an email update from the Cirque du Soleil notifying me of a free show in Quebec City and I informed my spouse Jocelyn that it was my birthday wish.  I wanted to go as a family to Quebec City to see the Cirque du Soliel.  As I anticipated, I loved it.  It's not apart of CAP and for that matter, there is very little free for CAP members in Quebec.  The national parks there aren't very exciting.  I mean the old port is completely worth seeing but the National Parks are largely unstaffed stone barracks. The Cirque du Soleil, is free this year for everyone, so if you are able to get out to Quebec City you should try it out.

I did take several videos but sadly blogger appears unwilling to accept my MP4s.  I have one photo.  It does not do the show justice but it will have to do.  You'll have to take my word for it.  It was everything I expected and then some.  It was not a half a show as I anticipated a free show might be, it was a real and full 45 minute Cirque du Soliel spectacle.

Quebec City

We drove from Montreal to Quebec City.  We saw mountains actually we saw two sets of mountains.  This was the better image.

We also saw dinosaurs along the way.

When we got there the weather was beautiful

And then it wasn't, but it kinda was in a stormy sort of gorgeous way.

Jocelyn and Chloe took an ice cream break

Summary of Toronto

I really enjoyed my weekend in Toronto.  I didn't get to see everything I had hoped to see while I was there because I had limited time and a limited transportation budget.  Overall my favorite museum was the Royal Ontario Museum.  I would put Casa Loma in second but it was magical and a must see.  I think the Bata Shoe Museum and the Spadina Museum tie for third place and are both totally worthwhile.  The Gardiner museum I can't say that I recommend if you are short on time, unless you are a big ceramics fan.

If I were to have a chance to go back the things I missed that I wish I could have seen are the Black Creek Pioneer Village, Evergreen Brick Works, and the Ontario Science Center.  Who knows maybe I will have a chance to return before May.  There are also a few museums that are not participating the Cultural Access Pass that I wanted to see: the Hockey Hall of Fame, the CN tower, and the Toronto Railway Museum.  I decided to not see them during this trip because I will go back one day and try to see them at that time.

Total saved in Toronto = 158.72 on museum entries with my Cultural Access Pass.  I went to every museum with my daughter.  She is 4 so she would have been free at everything but the Royal Ontario Museum and Casa Loma which were the most expensive museums. Over 90 dollars was saved at the Royal Ontario Museum because we went twice.  I definitely feel more appreciation for the city of Toronto in large part because of the beautiful things I got to see.  I want to give a big shout out to the  volunteers and staff who organize the Cultural Access Pass.

Spadina Museum

The Spadina museum and garden is a beautiful old home.

The outside gardens are open to the public while the inside I believe costs around 8 dollars a person.  Its worth the investment if you enjoy touring old homes.  The interior of the home is more interesting than Casa Loma, which is directly across the street.  This home contains all its original furnishings (art and furniture included). The Austin family lived in this home from 1866 -1980s when the family sold the property to the city of Toronto.  They decorated the home with its furniture from the 1920s, reportedly because they had the most information about the floor plans for this time period.

The inside of the home has dim lighting but it is beautiful.  The camera I am using does not take great photos in dim lighting and I did not want to flash.  So you are going to mostly have to take my word for it.  If you like art, furniture, and history you'll love this museum.  I saw my first gasalier in this home and then correctly identified one later in another tour of a historic home I will discuss later, so I am learning about something while touring Canada's culture.  I give this museum a 4/5 mostly because of the quality of collections inside the museum.

This is the gasalier which was converted to electricity because it is a firehazard but its a beautiful piece of work and easy to imagine back in the day.

The Gardiner Museum

I went to the Gardiner Museum which is a short walk from the Royal Ontario Museum.  I didn't love this museum.  Now maybe that's because I had just seen a number of museums which were better or maybe its because I am not really that knowledgeable about ceramics.  Its two floors and relatively small.

The thing that was nice about the museum, is they were great with my daughter.  She was bored so they sent her on a hunt to find the various ceramic animals through out the museum.  They even had a board member come around and help us look for the animals.  So their kindness made up for the collection which I found disappointing.

While I say this, I think I would have liked the classes.  The classes appear affordable. Furthermore I think maybe I would have had a better appreciation for this form of art if I had much of history working with it.  I would give this museum a 2/5.  If you are short on time in the city and not a lover of ceramics you can probably skip this museum.

Royal Ontario Museum

I've been to a lot of museums in my life.  I have to say the Royal Ontario Museum is the largest most awesome museum I have ever visited.  It was like six museums in one.  I actually spent two days there and I would have been happy to spend a third.  The museum just keeps on going.

It has a beautiful exhibit on China, Mesopetemia, Dinosaurs, Semi prescious stones, and Fashion. The exhibits on animals are facinating, but honestly I felt a bit morbid looking at thousands of stuffed creatures.  The art section is also like an art museum in its own right.  I think each one of these exhibits and collections could have been a museum.

If I lived in Toronto I would definitely purchase an annual pass.  I  am still blown away by its grandure.  I would not be surprised if I missed something even after spending two days there.  So I am going to post some of the highlights.  Its hard to choose images on this one.

My four year old loved this museum.  It is very kid friendly and its easy to access via metro.