Hart Family Vacation 2024 (Day 6 - Malone, NY, Montreal & Ottawa)

First stop for Day 6 was the Almanzo Wilder boyhood home in Malone, NY. We got an early start since this stop was 2 hours away. 

Upon arrival at the Wilder home, Matt commented on the lack of cars in the parking area. I didn't think much of it since it was mid-week, most schools were still in session and we were there soon after it opened for the day. We got out and started to walk towards the Visitor's Center when a man approached us from one of the outbuildings and told us that the farm was closed on Wednesdays. Okay then! I had looked up the hours early on in our planning for the trip, evidently the days they are open changes as the seasons change. We are thankful that the maintenance guy gave us permission to walk around the property to see the buildings and read the plaques. It all worked out in the end.

From the Wilder Homestead, we headed into Malone and found a letterbox and grabbed lunch. Next stop - Canada!

After getting through border patrol, we drove northeast into Montreal. We switched our speedometer over to km/h. So thankful to be able to switch it!

All of Quebec Province is French speaking, so we were a bit overloaded with all of the French signage, trying to make sure we were going to the correct exits, locations, etc. Very thankful for the GPS that included Canada maps as our phones were essentially obsolete soon after crossing the border. 

Thankful for universal signage too - even with different written languages. 

We didn't have any real plans for Montreal, other than drive through the city to see it. The old buildings were impressive and stunning! 

While looking through Google images online, I found that the big cities all had city name signs for photo ops. I did some quick searches and found addresses for them in the Canadian cities we would be visiting. In Montreal, it was really hot (almost 90°) and we didn't necessarily want to find a parking garage just to run up and snap a picture or two. Matt was able to find a place to pull over, drop us off and wait for us. 

The old, right next to the new! Crazy!! Check the 2nd picture - the new was literally built into the old.

Leaving Quebec, we hit a large amount of traffic. Construction and rush hour - it was awful! We finally broke free from the Montreal traffic and headed towards Ottawa, all told we lost close to 2 hours of our day, sitting in bumper to bumper traffic. 

Between Montreal & Ottawa, we found the Quebec province sign and stopped to take a picture.

Ottawa, Ontario - the Capital of Canada. We were able to find a parking spot in the parliament parking lot (thanks to the later hour of the day). This was a huge blessing!

We spent a few hours in the city, walking around Parliament Hill, Rideau Canal & Locks and taking pictures at the Ottawa sign. With the sun setting and the breeze of the evening, we really enjoyed our time in Ottawa. What a beautiful city!

Leaving Ottawa behind, we headed to Kanata, where our hotel was located. We were all hungry/thirsty and tired. We tried to eat at a sit down diner in town (most food places were already closed for the night). Unfortunately, the diner was closed too. We drove across the parking lot and placed an order at Pizza Hut (thankful that they were still open!). While Maddie & I stayed and waited for the pizza to be done, Matt, Kaitee & Will drove to a gas station across the street to fill up and grab drinks for dinner. It worked out well. Once checked into our hotel, we enjoyed our dinner, showered and got ready for bed. Day 6 comes to a close!

Favorites from Day 6

Matt - Finding Maude letterbox in Malone NY (she is a boxer friend from Iowa), Ottawa

Becki - Ottawa

Kaitee - Ottawa

Will - Montreal

Maddie - Dinner (Pizza Hut)