MacGougan at Large
Notes on a Trip to Québec City - 7
The Drive
From central Connecticut where I live to Québec City is a seven-hour drive not counting stops. We did it in about eight hours each way, stopping both times for an unhurried lunch at the same spot - the Buttery in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. It’s a funky, little restaurant that serves really good sandwiches and salads.
St. Johnsbury is one of those small towns that looks like it was really prosperous a hundred years ago then went through some lean times and is currently making its way back up - thanks to its good bones, human-scale architecture, and walkability.
Nothing against the Province of Québec, but the prettiest part of the drive is Vermont, where the highway is uncrowded and winds through beautiful mountains.
The border crossing between Vermont and Québec had only one lane open for passenger cars, but there was still only a short wait. At that point, what had been U.S. Interstate 91 becomes Canadian Highway 55. Think of it as adjusting the highway number from Fahrenheit to Celsius.
On our way back, we made a twenty-minute side trip to see Montmorency Falls. It’s an impressive natural wonder, but I was glad to be there in the off-season. The site is covered with viewing points and aerial trams. I suspect I’d find it all pretty distracting during the busy season.
Passing back through Vermont, we saw our first fallen snow of the season.
All in all, it was a fairly long, but not difficult, drive. It was a lot less stressful than whatever these Vermont highway workers were doing up on this cliff.
