Hard to believe it’s been 5 years since we’ve been to the East Coast of Canada, especially after travelling twice in 2 years (2012 for a Cape Breton wedding and 2014 to visit my newly transplanted brother).

Weekend roadtrip discovery! (2012)

Family vacation in the home of Confederation (2014).

After a family trip to the West Coast in 2016 and a 15-year delayed honeymoon to Cuba earlier in 2019, I figured it was time to get back to my roots.

My Langille dynasty traces back to the early years of Canadian history when David Langille landed on the Nort’ Shore of Novy Scotie on the tall ship Sally in 1752. Now, I know there is a taboo history of settling and colonizing, especially by confused social media warriors who seem to deny their own existence by demonizing other people’s historical beginnings, but… there are no records to show the Langille’s were the unsavoury-type.

Monument in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia (photos: Jessica Veinot)

Monument in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia (photos: Jessica Veinot)

Anywho, my brother and his family moved to the beautiful island of Prince Edward Island in 2014 and my parents moved out there upon retirement just a few months ago in 2019, so what better reason to go?

Maybe some job and househunting while we visit? My wife disagrees. 🤔

Anyway, the story begins on a brisk July 14th morning at 6am, much to the chagrin of my sleep-deprived family (just recently back from a week at the cottage). Me, I was just a’rarin’ to go and get the travelling circus on the road.

Sadly this was the first photo I took of the trip. Pocket selfie getting into the car?

So, away we were!

After a stop at the local Tim Horton’s (the first of many visits, but believe me, I hate this company, if it just weren’t so convenient), we headed to the highway.

The important reason for travelling at this time of the morning is to gain as much ground as possible and more importantly to avoid the despicable and inevitable Toronto traffic. 18000 individual, alternative routes into this city, but everyone chooses to use the dreaded 401. When travelling into the Greater Toronto Area (GTA – not Grand Theft Auto), always tack on 1-2 hours of added travel time for construction, rubber neckers and straight up congestion. This holds true for Montréal and Vancouver from past experiences.

Thankfully Toronto doesn’t wake up early (probably due to barhopping all night) and the roads were clear sailing.

ONroute rest stop in Port Hope

After a relatively uneventful drive we landed for a stop at the ONroute (serviced rest stops along the 401 corridor featuring restaurants, picnic areas, washroom facilities and fuel) in Morrisburg, where we had to make the children occupants relive a moment from the 2014 trip.

We enjoyed a picnic on a nicely set-up picnic area, which had an absurd amount of handicap seated picnic tables. I’m all about accessibility, but every picnic table had 3 seats and a space for a wheelchair. Not sure there are that many travellers in wheelchairs at any given time. I’m sure the gravel road leading to the picnic area is more of an obstruction than the possibility of 20 wheelchairs landing at the same time. But hey, whatevs. Wheelchair-power!

Anyway, we had a special guest named Hermy, the one-legged shit hawk.

He was a polite fellow who was rewarded with some treats for his patience.

After the lunch break and some gas, we were on the road to La Belle Province.

As Morrisburg was just a hop away from the border, we quickly made a stop at the info booth for some quick photos.

This photo could make an epic album cover. 😂

Now we had to navigate the beautiful Quebec landscape on the way to our first stopover in Sherbrooke, a city south of Montreal.

Of note, I associate most towns across this country with hockey teams. So we were on our way to the former home of the Sherbrooke Canadiens of the AHL (1984-1990 farm team of the infamous Les Habitants).

Upon arrival to the very pretty and cultural town of Sherbrooke, we decided to stop at le Tigre-Géant (Giant Tiger, but en français), to uphold our tradition. We have now visited our 30th different Giant Tiger from Calgary, Alberta to Summerside, PEI! Sad, I know. (Don’t ask about how many Walmarts we’ve visited…)

After grabbing some goodies (including a Quebec provincial flag for $1.75!), we headed to my friends house for supper, a fire and some sleep!

Now my friend and I go a few years back as comic book traders, art appreciaters and old school punk rockers. He is a vocal and active in the Facebook comic book community, and he speaks better English than me, even though he is a francophone. That being said, we’ve never actually met, yet he welcomed me with open arms and an open door. His family was super friendly and cheerful, and despite the language barrier, we managed to understand and enjoy our time together!

Me and my friend, the Deadfool!

One of a few ankle biters on the property.

From the lovely gardens.

After scoring some fine craft beer from Sherbrookes’s craftiest brewers, Si-Boire (which I learned is also an expletive in Quebec), we were treated to a fine taco and burrito dinner with some delicious extra spicy homemade salsa.

A short walk to the park, some winning games of “pouche” (I won most of them with my strategy of not scoring, and waiting for my opponent to eliminate themselves), a campfire and then bed and the day was over.

Tune in for my next day’s post and please take a moment to help our journey along:

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