A Ball To Remember

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I'm writing this final entry after the fact, clearly. We had a whirlwind weekend. Friday evening we again were out exploring Quebec and it was getting colder and colder. We also realized our hotel has three restaurants which, in comparison to the skyrocket prices around the hotel, offer better food for less money (overall). So, we made reservations for dinner in one of the hotel restaurants but we still decided to walk around some of the side streets tonight. The hotel, by the way, has steadily increased in traffic daily. Thursday evening the check-in desk was backed-up with people everywhere. Tonight, the lobby is packed full of people coming and going and then we see later on.... there's a ball in the ballroom!! They had a red carpet setup and "security" in tuxes so only those appropriate would be allowed down the red carpet and into the ballroom but it was fantastic to see the men in tuxedos and the ladies in their beautiful gowns. Younger men and ladies, too... maybe mid-30s for most?? This was possibly a corporate affair. We don't know. After watching several arrive, we would later hear the loud ballroom music throughout the lobby and if you proceeded to the basement (where we did by chance), you would see more of the ladies scurrying down the back ballroom stairs to use the bathrooms and the music was very loud and clear downstairs. Anyway, at some point in the evening it began snowing and this time, it didn't let-up much so it began to accumulate. It was neat. I tried to get pictures but it was also so cold my camera was falling asleep. By the way, the hotel has a rooftop beehive where they gather their own honey and use it in their restaurants and in the room service menu. Tonight we had warm bread and honey butter delivered to our table at the restaurant. It was delicious. The waiter was telling us the daily specials.... lamb shank with a mint sauce blah blah blah.... and pureed vegetables... and the next special... the same thing... some sort of delicious sounding meat with pureed vegetables. What the heck is up with that?! The puree of vegetables is terrible and also, I'll wait until I'm 90 to puree my vegetables. Kamie & I ate like typical Americans.... I had the grilled chicken and he had a cheeseburger. They were great. LOL

So, after a long night out of walking around the town, enjoying the snow, dinner reservations, and watching the ballroom guests with envy... we were basically packed and in bed around 10pm... and then we were both wide awake again around 1:30am. Kamie was able to return to sleep for another 45 minutes but I was not so I was in the shower before 2:30am. At 3:15am, we rolled our suitcases out of the room and met our taxi at 3:30am. The taxi to the airport is normally 30 minutes but with no traffic and a speeding taxi driver, we made it at 3:45am! Kamie said he looked at the speedometer and at one point we were going around 122 kph or around 80 mph in a 45 mph zone. We had three flights back today.... Quebec to Toronto... we ran through the airport to make it through US Customs to catch our plane with about 5 minutes to spare.... then Toronto to Detroit... where Kamie immediately wanted McDonald's which is out of character for him but he said his burger tasted "different" in Canada so I don't know. We finally landed in Saint Louis with one suitcase completely destroyed (on the outside only, everything inside was okay) and a $200 credit on Delta the next time we fly. We were home around 8:30pm Saturday night and now we are back to work and I need a staycation.

Just a quick note.... it may have taken us 10 years to realize what's important and what is best for us but we are no longer flying out of Saint Louis. We are only flying out of Springfield airport in the future. A quick drive to the airport the same day we fly seems like the smarter option. We are also probably cutting down all future trips to the 5-night mark at the most. We are going to start changing the way we travel and look for out-of-the-box type of trips and in general, travel is not a main priority for us anymore. We aren't finished traveling but we are finished with the long drives to the airport, the three flights a day, and the 10-11 day cruises... none of that even sounds like a vacation to us anymore. Live and Learn

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Photos

Typical Menu
This is a typical restaurant menu in Quebec. Yes, we ate here and our meal was the base price of $49.95 per person plus all the add-ons. They offer a $29.95 4-course meal if you eat before 5:45pm. LOL We ate closer to 9pm (they were officially closed by the time we left) and our meal was nearly $200 Canadian. It was a nice meal but it was not worth it. All of the restaurants near the Fairmont are overpriced.

Convenience store
Close to the hotel. Nice guys ran this place.