Traveling With Family as a Gift
Og Mandino once said “The greatest legacy we can leave our children is happy memories.” What better way to make memories than to take them on travel adventures. Karen and I decided when our oldest granddaughter, Emma, graduated high school last year, the best graduation gift we could give her was an adventurous trip. We asked her where she would like to go. She said she wanted to go somewhere that French is spoken. Emma had four years of French during middle and high school. We decided Eastern Canada would be ideal.
Donnie Condit, Emma Bax and Karen Condit
Karen, Emma, and I arrived in Toronto on July 13th. We spent the day getting familiar with the area around our hotel. We were within walking distance of the CN Tower, Ripley's Aquarium, and the Toronto Blue Jays baseball stadium. We had booked our tour through The Joy of Travel, and Joy was great the whole time. Joy booked us on a Globus tour of historic cities of Eastern Canada, and there were 38 of us on the tour. The tour started evening of the 14th in Toronto for two nights. Saturday the 15th, we had a nice tour of Toronto during the morning, and it ended with a great lunch in the CN Tower’s revolving restaurant which is over 1800 feet tall. Spectacular views! While having lunch, I asked Emma if she would want to go to the Blue Jays game that afternoon. To my surprise, she said yes, and we had a fun time at the game. We had to leave a little early to attend Mass. It was a very interesting Mass as it was in Portuguese!
On Sunday, we boarded our nice coach and headed to Niagara Falls. Our tour guide was James Saunders, and he was excellent. He knew all the fun facts and historical facts wherever we were. Globus had purchased tickets for us to take a ferry ride in and around the Falls. The views were spectacular, and Emma really enjoyed it. We also toured a winery while in the Niagara area that was very informative. That evening, we had a special treat. We had dinner in the top floor of a hotel that overlooked the Falls. Again, the views were really neat. An interesting point about the restaurant we ate in- during the mornings, it is an IHOP! The meal was excellent. The choices were prime rib, chicken, or salmon.
We then headed for a long ride to Ottawa for our two-night stay. We had stops about every hour or two. One stop was at an area called Thousand Islands, and yes that area is supposedly where the salad dressing was started! We had a boat ride around one of the lakes. It was amazing to see the houses on the very small islands. We were then off to Ottawa, the national capital of Canada. We walked from our hotel to look at the National Capital, and it was very impressive. The light show that night was spectacular. The next day, we toured the stables and grounds where the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are headquartered. The horses and trainers we saw were incredible.
Our next stop would be Quebec City where we would spend two nights. This city has a vast assortment of historical landmarks. The old city area is very interesting. Another highlight of Quebec City was visiting a sugar shack. A sugar shack is where maple syrup is served. The owner of the sugar shack explained the intricacies of running a maple sugar operation. After the tour, we were treated to a huge unbelievable breakfast. After Quebec City, our tour took us to Montreal. While in Montreal, we toured Notre-Dame Basilica. It was in this church that the funeral for Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau was held in 2000. Former President Jimmy Carter attended and was seated in the same box that Cuban dictator Fidel Castro was sitting.
We spent one night in Montreal. We then rented a car and traveled back to Quebec City. Our hotel was in heart of the Old City of Quebec City. Karen and I had been to Quebec City previously and had the good luck of having an excellent local tour guide, Neil Schomaker. We hired Neil again to show us some highlights of the rural area of Quebec City. We drive about one and a half hour northeast of Quebec City to Sainte Anne’s Canyon. This canyon is beyond description. Our tour guide took us on a walk through the canyon area. From there, we went to Saint Anne’s Basilica. This church is beautiful and very large. Our tour guide then took us to Montmorency Falls. Montmorency Falls is actually taller than Niagara Falls, but isn’t as wide. It is also beautiful.
We found that the time we got to spend with our granddaughter was priceless. Even though there were only two other youths in the group, it was interesting observing the interactions of our granddaughter and the other tourists. Some of these were from as far away as India. We had several of the other tourists tell us how delightful Emma is. These are the memories that we will cherish.
After a very nice couple of days in Quebec City, we headed back to Montreal for our flight home. Karen and I hope that Emma had a memorable trip and will have many stories to tell her children. I feel as if she had a nice time. When asked her thoughts this was her reply- “My favorite part of the trip was visiting Quebec City and its nearby areas like Sainte Anne’s Canyon and the town of Beaufort because of their beautiful sights both urban and natural. However, I most liked spending time with my grandparents, and it’s an unforgettable experience.” Karen and I are looking forward to more remarkable memories we will be making when we take Emma’s twin brothers on a 12 day cruise in summer 2025 for their graduation from high school. We will be sailing from Iceland to New York City. We would like to thank The Joy of Travel.