While Mommy and Daddy took some quick weekend trips to Las Vegas (December 2017) and New Orleans (April 2018), the next vacation we took as a family wasn’t until August 2018, when we wanted to take a quick trip before Alara started Kindergarten! It had been a busy spring/summer with Alara’s 5th “pony” birthday party, dance recitals, and regular beach visits. Summer of 2018 was coming to an end and Alara kept asking to go camping but we also wanted a “foreign” city experience, so we came up with Quebec City. We’ve never been before and after exploring AirBnB we found an interesting cabin rental nearby.
The drive from Boston to Quebec City is about 6 hours, driving through NH, some of VT and crossing well into the Canadian border, so passports are of course required. After crossing into the Canadian Quebec border, we saw the most unique, beautiful farmlands with everything written in French.
Our cabin was on the way to Quebec City, just outside the city, in Saint Leon-de-Standon. Our AirBnb hosts were excellent, very welcoming and even brought us some firewood and helped us get our fire started. (Can you tell we aren’t quite read to rough it out?) Our cabin also had a great view of a small pond.
After getting settled in and unpacked, we decided to head into the city to explore a little bit. This was the epic moment where we told the kids we were going “Downtown… 3 point basket” (remember the 90’s basketball video game?) and it was a hit. The weather wasn’t great, so we went to a mall that still had a Toys R Us so the kids could experience that amazing store (R.I.P. Toys R Us in the U.S.). Alara also wanted “noodles” so we grabbed some shrimp pad thai from the food court.
It started getting late so we head back to the cabin for S’more fun!
On day 2 the weather was perfect for some Old City exploration. Old Quebec is absolutely beautiful… particularly the Rue de Petit-Champlain area: the architecture, landscape, cobble stone streets, Umbrella Alley, the cafes and shops. We took the Quebec City ferry for a trip across the Saint Lawrence River, which offers great views of the City. The kids were excited to just be on a boat.
Near the ferry area is Place des Canoteirs, which is a riverfront square area and the kids loved the water features.
As beautiful as Quebec City was, it was difficult to explore with two young children unimpressed and uninterested with architecture and cafes. We decided to switch it up for our last full day in the area and spend the day on the beach. Best. Decision. Ever. The kids could not get enough of the beach and nearby splashpad and playground. We had to top it off with an ice cream cone!
Overall, this was a great trip to conclude our summer and spend some time together before Alara started Kindergarten. On to the next adventure!
Alara & Adam Travels 