The Road to Touchdown Atlantic: Grand Manan and Moncton Edition

Today was a very interesting day. It started in the small island town of Grand Manan. The hope was to take a whale-watching tour, but because of inclement weather, the trip was canceled.

While we were not able to get on a boat, Kevin Glenn would not be stopped. While the rest of us were eating breakfast, Kevin Glenn found himself a boat.

I wonder what he was thinking while he was on that boat.

After the boat tour was canceled, we took a trip around the island. We found some awesome stuff. Some views that look right out of those "Visit New Brunswick" ads. Even Kevin Glenn was awed by the view.

Unbeknownst to me, Grand Manan is well known for its Hole-in-the-Wall attraction. It is literally a gigantic hole in a rock formation on the edge of the island. I didn't know this existed, nor did I know that it was known to others. Kevin Glenn was impressed by it as well.

That ended our Grand Manan adventure, and we boarded the ferry to head to the final destination: Moncton.

All roads lead to Moncton for this weekend, and we arrived around 7:30PM local time. We settled in and went to grab some pizza from Greco's. The pizza was recommended to me, and I thought it was pretty darn good. Kevin Glenn didn't get a chance to eat any pizza; he was too tired following such a busy day.

Finally, after leaving Hamilton Wednesday morning, we arrived, safe and sound, in Moncton. Tomorrow is finally game time. As much as I have enjoyed our stops in Quebec City and Grand Manan, I came on this trip to watch some football.

But the trip doesn't end after the game does. There is still a day in Charlottetown and the stops on the way back from Moncton. So there will still be more travel stories over the next few days. Kevin Glenn's journey through Canada is far from over.

The Road to Touchdown Atlantic: Maine and New Brunswick Edition

Today was a travel day, which means sites were at a minimum. There were two border crossings and only one stop on what was almost 10 hours of travel.

The day started by leaving Quebec City where, as was typical of any car drive there, we took a wrong turn. I kid you not when I say that every single time we drove anywhere in Quebec City we took at least one wrong turn.

After leaving Quebec City, it was off on the long road to Maine. This was the first time I had crossed the border since the summer of 2001, so an over-10-year break from leaving Canada ended earlier today. Kevin Glenn has crossed the border many times, so unlike me, he was happy to do so.

In Maine we made our one and only pit stop of the day. I went into a gas station store to buy myself a pop (or should I say soda?) and when the women asked me how I was doing, I stared at her for a good two seconds like she had just asked me the question in Korean. That New England accent threw me for a loop. I rebounded to say that I was doing great, and asked her how she was doing. She responded by saying, "Be betta in about an 'ouwa." I guess I know when she got off work.

Maine is dull. Sorry, but it is. Or at least the parts of it I saw. It was a bunch of trees and not much else. I fell asleep for a good portion of it, but what I saw was pretty boring.

We finally got out of Maine and back on Canadian soil, entering in New Brunswick. The trip then took a very fun and fortunate turn, as we made the 5:30 Grand Manan ferry with about 15 minutes to spare. So instead of waiting around for the 7:00 ferry, in the middle of nowhere, we got to get on the boat and get across sooner than expected.

The boat ride was an hour and a half, and Kevin Glenn decided to do a little wandering. I guess the people that own the ferry company knew that Kevin Glenn and the rest of us were coming, as the ship was decked out in some familiar colours. Kevin Glenn was obviously pleased.

We landed onshore in Grand Manan and headed out to dinner. Kevin Glenn was very tired, so he stayed behind. Tomorrow is hopefully going to involve some whale watching, but if not, we will leave Grand Manan and make the final trek to Moncton, where we can try and take part in some of the festivities there. If whale watching is a go, it will be a late arrival in Moncton – sometime around 10:30PM local time – so it will likely be bed and then getting ready for the main event of the trip: the game on Sunday.

The Road to Touchdown Atlantic: Quebec City Edition

The first site-seeing day of the great adventure to Moncton was in the provincial capital of Quebec. I am a huge history nerd, so taking in the sites of Quebec City was something I have wanted to do for a while. I traveled there when I was younger, but it never really sunk in how impressive the city is.

The first stop of the day was the National Assembly. What an impressive building with some great statues of prominent Quebeckers surrounding it. I am, and always will be, more interested and awed by the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa, but the National Assembly is spectacular. It has that awe factor that is lacking from the only other provincial legislature I have seen: Queen's Park in Toronto. Kevin Glenn seemed pretty impressed too.

While looking around the National Assembly, I was sporting one of my Tiger-Cat t-shirts, and as I made my way to the Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine statue, an elderly lady was sitting down, enjoying the nice day. She spotted me and gave me a "Yea Hamilton!" To which I replied with my classic, "Yeah!" and a thumbs up. Finding a Hamilton fan in Quebec City: check!

After that it was off to the Plains of Abraham. One of my favourite historical tales is the Battle of the Plains of Abraham. I'm not a big war historian, but that battle between the French and the English captures my imagination like you wouldn't believe. While walking around the area Kevin Glenn spotted a cannon, and I think the metaphor of cannons and arm strength was too much for the Tiger-Cats' pivot to pass up.

Next was a lunch stop at a nice little restaurant called Le Pain Béni. Very delicious food, and I would recommend it to anyone who was planning a trip to Quebec City. The restaurant is across the street from the Chateau Frontenac. The food was reasonably priced. While we were eating, Kevin Glenn wandered off, and found himself a friend. I never knew that he enjoyed accordion music so much.

After lunch, we took a walk around the Château Frontenac. It is a beautiful building. I would say it's one of the most impressive buildings in the city, and it is, but that would be doing a disservice to the other great buildings there are in Quebec City. Still, to see the Chateau is a must for any visitor to Quebec City. Kevin Glenn was sufficiently impressed as well.

Concluding the trip was a walk around old Quebec and to Le Marché du Vieux-Port. Old Quebec was one of the few things I remembered from my previous trip, and it stayed relatively the same. It is a wonderful little walking district, and the history is there for everyone to behold. Sadly, Kevin Glenn was rather tuckered out, so he slept while the rest of us enjoyed our walk and crème glacée.

That ended the day in Quebec City as the rain started to pour and all of us, Kevin Glenn included, had seen what we set out to see. It was a fun stop on the road to Moncton, one I am glad was made. Tomorrow is a travel day, as we leave very early from Quebec City and head to Grand Manan, New Brunswick, where on Saturday, weather permitting, we will go whale watching. Kevin Glenn will be with us as we hopefully see some whales.

The Road to Touchdown Atlantic

Many might not know why I started this blog. If you go back to the first post, I never actually state the purpose or goals I had. Normally, as I've seen from other bloggers, your first post is a kind of manifesto, a reason for what you are doing and what you hope to accomplish. I never did that.

I am about to now.

As much as I love the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, the reason I started writing this was actually not to cover the Ti-Cats as in-depth as I have over the last two years. I started writing because back in January 2010, myself and two friends hatched a plan to travel with the team throughout the 2011 season. We were going to hit up every game in every city. For reasons I won't go into, those plans fell through.

Now you know, and this is a story I don't think I have shared with anyone else. No one knew why I started this blog. In fact, after the cross-country trip I was going to stop writing altogether. The trip was a gift to myself for graduating university, and I thought that once I had to enter the quote-unquote real world, I wouldn't have time to maintain this blog. Now I hope to keep doing this indefinitely. I enjoy writing, and I hope you enjoy reading what I write.

Anyway, with the big trip canceled, we decided to go to a game in a different venue every season until we have seen the Tiger-Cats play in every stadium in the country. A more modest and doable proposal.

Last season, we did a pre-run of sorts by going to Montreal. It was amazing, and I wrote about it back in July 2010. That dealt solely with the football aspect of the trip, i.e. the game itself and the atmosphere surrounding Percival Molson Stadium at McGill University.

I'm going to do things a little differently this time around. Since this is a much more elaborate trip, I am going to detail what is happening and what I'm doing. I'm sure the people who come here strictly for football news and opinion are not going to care, but I know there are people out there interested in this side of the story.

The trip started yesterday morning by driving from Hamilton to Quebec City. I have been to Quebec City twice before and enjoyed it immensely both times. The plan is to stay in Quebec City today (Thursday) and take in some of the sites, since my co-travelers have not been to Quebec's capital. I am not entirely sure what sites we will be seeing, but I have no doubt it will be fun.

Then on Friday, we leave Quebec City and head to Grand Manan Island, New Brunswick. Where the hell is Grand Manan, you ask? No idea. We are going there because of a whale-watching tour were are taking on Saturday. I have never seen a whale, outside of Marineland, so this is a bit of a treat for me.

From there, it's off to Moncton to enjoy the game. That, no doubt, will be fun. I have never been to the east coast – you can count on one hand the number of places I have visited as an adult – and I have always wanted to see that part of Canada.

From there, it is a jaunt to Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, to see the site of the Charlottetown Conference (so be prepared for this site to turn into History Nerdskee Wee Wee on Monday) and probably some other stuff in PEI.

After that, it is the long trek home. That is the one part of this grand sojourn that has not been planned. It is very likely to be a two-day journey back to Hamilton.

But for the Tiger-Cat fans out there, a little Black & Gold flair will be added to the proceedings. Remember those Kevin Glenn bobbleheads they gave out to 5,000 fans at the game last week? He came with. So there will be pictures of Glenn taken at various Canadian tourist spots.

Glenn's first stop: The Big Apple in Colborne, Ontario.

Today, it's off to see some of the great historic sites in Quebec City. I wonder where Glenn will find himself today?