The same rain was threatening on the morning of Mercredi, but we hoped it would hold off long enough for us to go on a boat tour. The Louis Jolliet was the same boat we’d seen from Dufferin Terrace, and we were really excited to go on it. I put on a tshirt, left the hotel, and went back inside to change to a hoodie. It was a lot colder than the previous day. We picked up coffee and rode the funicular down to the river.

We bought tickets ($80CA) for the 11:30 cruise and boarded. A very friendly guy dressed as Louis Jolliet greeted us, and we climbed up to the top deck to hang out while we waited to depart. It was gorgeous outside, and the boat, which had a capacity of 1,000, wasn’t very full at all.

The view of Quebec City from the river is spectacular. The Chateau Frontenac towers over everything.

We got underway, and Louis Jolliet started narrating, going back and forth between French and English with impressive skill. We passed the industrial part of the city in the old harbor, and then the huge shipbuilding plant on the south side of the St Lawrence.

(Fun fact: at this point it’s just the St Lawrence River; the seaway portion goes from near Montreal to the Great Lakes.)

The boat took us up as far as Montmorency Falls, which my parents happened to coincidentally be visiting via car. The falls are 1.5 times the height of Niagara, though it’s hard to tell that from the boat.

We passed under this bridge, did a loop, and headed back, passing Ile de Orleans. At that point it was getting really overcast again, and the blue skies were gone.

Louis Jolliet did a trivia contest where someone won a glass of local maple syrup whiskey called Coureur des Bois (‘runner of the woods’), and encouraged us all to go try it. So we did.

We took our drinks out to the pimp seats on the deck. The boat was obviously used for a lot of weddings.

The view coming back into Quebec City wasn’t quite as nice with the sky, but still. Pretty impressive.

We passed the dock and went to see the Plains of Abraham and the Citadel. The river got rapidly more industrial in that direction. Then we turned around and headed back.

As the boat pulled up to the dock, the rain started. We were really glad we’d taken the morning trip, because we’d been pretty lucky with the weather. We got off and walked into the Basse-Ville in search of lunch.

We walked around looking at menus, and as expected, being vegetarian was a challenge. We finally decided on a place called Côtes-à-Côtes Resto Grill. I was a little nervous about it being overly-touristy since it was right there on the river, but the menu was actually really good.

The rain had stopped again, so we asked for a table on the patio. There was another couple sitting out there, and we both had tables under large umbrellas in case it rained again. We ordered local beers (Le Cheval Blanc) and a cheve rillette with eggplant caviar and enjoyed the scenery. Oh, and the building dated from 1683. Crazy.

Right as our entrees arrived, it started raining again. For a while we were protected, and then the rain started increasing. We moved indoors and finished our meal.

We took the funicular back up the hill and went to go do more wandering in Vieux Quebec.

(I love the strange typeface on that building. It’s on the plaza facing Chateau Frontenac.)

Matt had a restaurant in mind in St Roch (what we thought of as the hipster part of Quebec), so we headed that direction. It was raining pretty steadily, which was kind of annoying for our wandering, mostly for photo-taking purposes.) We stopped into a few shops along the way to pick up souvenirs. The humidity was ridiculous, so we appreciated the air conditioning when we stopped.

We climbed down the hill from the Haute-Ville and saw the Gare du Palais near the river. We’re both huge train station nerds, so we had to go inside. (Plus they had nice bathrooms.) It was a good break from the rain, too.

From there we walked into St Roche Faubourg, and found La Korrigane. It was a quiet little place in what became a busy part of town, since it was nearing post-work hours and next to a busy bus stop. We sat there and watched Quebec City do its thing. In the meantime, the weather went from raining to clear and sunny. And HOT.

After a couple beers, we decided to head back up toward Vieux Quebec. We had fancy dinner plans and wanted to clean up a bit before we went over there.

We knew we’d come a very long way and that it had all been downhill, so we were ready for the fact that we’d be climbing. But holy crap, the hills in the heat and full sun – it was ridiculous. We got to a huge spiraling set of stairs and had to decide if it was better to keep climbing hills for blocks on end (on the ‘highway’ that had brought us into town) or take the stairs. We opted for the stairs, and took a recovery break at the top.

We wanted to pick up some liquor-based souvenirs to take home with us, so we looked up a liquor store nearby and went over there. It was called SAQ, and we liked that we ended up with a reusable liquor store back that said SAQ all over it. It’s Matt’s preferred mode of booze-transportation to this day.

The views were much improved from the rainy afternoon. We passed through the plaza with the Palais Montcalm and through the city gate.

Matt stopped into a nearby sports shop to by a Quebec Remparts tshirt. He’d watched enough local hockey to be a fan. (And their logo is awesome.)

We made it back to our hotel and had to shower, we were so sweaty. We hung out in the air conditioning and had a beer and an espresso from the lobby machine. (I loved that machine.) Then we changed and headed back down one of the many hills to dinner at Chez Boulay around 8pm. On the way there we ended up behind a group of young men we instantly realized were hockey players – plus Matt recognized one of them from TV – and were way too excited about it. One of the players asked the younger kids tagging along if they wanted to go get gelato, so they instantly became my favorite team. We later learned that they were the Oshawa Generals, who went on to win the Coupe Memorial.

At Chez Boulay, we were seated right away at the bar, and ordered fancy cocktails. Mine arrived with a gooseberry.

Our meal was as incredible as expected, and the service was very good. I had a beet salad, and gnocchi with local cheese. Matt had Arctic char carpacchio with cattail and milkweed pods, and bison cheek (which was the cheek of the day. Really). I liked that while the restaurant had really high-end food, it wasn’t overly pretentious, nor were the people there. It was a mix of locals and tourists.

After dinner, we decided to go back to the Hotel Chateau Frontenac to have a drink in the other recommended bar there. I stopped into the gift shop and overpaid like crazy for souvenirs (they were worth it), and then we headed to Bistro Le Sam. Its entrance is right next to the main hotel bar, but it’s very open and modern, not at all like the old-guy hunting lodge next door. Our bartender greeted us and gave us menus, and we noticed that most of the signature drinks from next door were on there, in addition to others.

We got talking to him about the local gin called Ungava, because its distinct feature is that it’s bright yellow. He had us sample that and another local gin, and then offered to mix drinks with them. Matt ended up with a Negroni, quite possible his favorite cocktail on earth after the Manhattan, and that led to a very long discussion about how Quebec bartenders had participated in Negroni week. Jean-Felix, our bartender, said he’d taken notes on all the variations and wanted to make them.

So it was time for mini-Negroni week at the Fairmont Hotel Chateau Frontenac. (Here’s Jean-Felix’s post he said he’d write with the cocktail details afterwards.) We met some celebrating locals and talked to them for a bit, and then it was time to go. We really wanted to hang out there all night, but we had a long drive to America ahead of us.

Saturday morning, we had BIG PLANS involving brunch on a boat. We took the train down to Chelsea, and walked the mile or so to the piers. (Why doesn’t the subway go any nearer? It’s kind of strange.)

We checked in for our boat cruise with Classic Harbor Lines, where we were sailing on the Yacht Manhattan. Apparently you can only take small boats on a circumnavigation of Manhattan, because some of the bridges are so low.

We grabbed some brunch and our complimentary champagne and headed out onto the deck. We were leaving Chelsea Piers, and heading south on the Hudson River.

We sailed past the Battery, and on toward Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.

That line around the Statue of Liberty doesn’t look that fun! Having been to Liberty Island before, I was very happy just passing on our boat.

We turned around past the Statue of Liberty and headed up the other side of Manhattan on the East River. The sun came out in time to light up the Brooklyn Bridge.

This photo is called “The Gang Goes to New York.” I love it. (That’s Wendy, Matt – my husband, of course, Amelia – Wendy’s wife, and Jumi.)

We passed under the series of famous bridges on the East River, enjoying further brunch and some Brooklyn Brewery beers along the way. The weather was perfect.

Near the north end of Manhattan, the river starts to narrow quite a bit. We took the west channel on the East River, and then followed the Harlem River further north. It started to look like there was actual wilderness on the island of Manhattan, which was surprising.

I really liked this little boathouse, and apparently that’s the Cloister in the distance.

Bally is a worthy seaman.

Those Columbia kids are showoffs.

We reached the confluence (or the division?) of the Harlem and Hudson Rivers under the Spuyton-Duyvil Bridge. (Best name ever?) There was a tiny rotating train bridge just past it. The Hudson River is huge at this point… it almost looks like a lake.

Any day Matt’s on a boat is his favorite day. We try to do that as often as possible.

The boat headed back down the Hudson and docked back at Chelsea Piers. The tour was about 3 hours in total, and I would surely recommend it. We considered just stowing away so we could go again.

Instead we had to disembark, so we walked over toward the north end of the High Line. Did I mention that the weather was perfect?

I think my favorite part of the High Line was that it was enclosed in so much greenery. You had hardly any sense of being in a huge city. Or above it.

I was a little surprised that there weren’t many businesses with entrances right off the High Line. Living in Minneapolis, I’m used to all the stores and restaurants that open onto the skyway. From what I could tell, you had to go back down to street level to get into businesses

There were viewing platforms in a few spots. The idea of sitting and watching traffic seems pretty entertaining. (How much does that street look like Chicago?)

The end of the High Line (for now – it’s being extended) is at Chelsea Market. We’d passed it on the way to the boat, and I knew I had to go back there. A few of us stopped to get popsicles on the High Line, and then we headed down to street level.

Chelsea Market was amazing. We stopped into an Italian market, an Asian market, got excellent coffee at a coffeeshop, bought bitters and a bunch of treats at another shop, and gawked at produce you cannot get in the Midwest (fresh dates?!?). I wanted to shop there much longer, but everyone else seemed to have moved on. I met them outside, and we headed to the subway.

We rode to Soho, and emerged into ridiculous midday traffic. We stopped into a Japanese market, and I ended up buying art from a guy selling caricatures of art dealers made with fabric and paint on the street. Then we headed to Purl Soho, the super-famous yarn store that Jumi had reminded me was there. I spent too much money there, but at least I didn’t have to have things shipped back home like she did!

While waiting for her to finish up, Matt and I went across the street to the Kate Spade store. Shockingly, I did not emerge with a purse.

It was then time for a snack and a beverage, so Matt led us to Miss Lily’s, a Jamaican restaurant/record store/radio station/juice bar on Houston. We walked in, and it was like being in Jamaica, only indoors. (One of the owners also runs the Rockhouse in Negril, which is incredible.)

We grabbed seats at the bar, and ordered rum punch. They didn’t have a full liquor license, so it was made with sake, but it tasted exactly like rum punch. A couple of us got meals, and I got an order of festival. (Fun fact: festival is named festival because the guy who invented it thought it was really nice, and wanted to name it after something else nice. Like a festival! No, I’m serious.) Matt and I were beyond thrilled with the whole place.

The rest of our crew decided to head back to the hotel for a siesta, so we made plans to meet up there before the show. Matt and I stayed at Miss Lily’s for another drink, and then crossed the street over to Pegu Club, timing it so we arrived just as it opened. We had a schedule to keep, after all.

We were the first ones there, in the bar that’s up a flight of stairs and so calming that it was very easy to forget the bustle outside. We grabbed seats at the bar and ordered cocktails from the very formal bartender. He became friendlier after another round, and we got some advice from him on the places where bartenders like to hang out in Manhattan. If only we had time to visit all of them!

Then it was time to head out for the show. We hurried to the subway and rode back to Times Square. We walked to the hotel and changed our grungy clothes for fancy ones, then headed down to the mezzanine to meet with the rest of the group, since they were enjoying mezzanine happy hour. From there we only had to walk two doors down to the Belasco Theatre. It was time for Hedwig and the Angry Inch!!

There was a huge crowd pushing into the lobby. We went upstairs, and got in the bar line to get drinks. Two cocktails (in plastic sippy cups) and a bottle of water? $30!

We got to our seats in the second row of the center balcony (thanks, American Express presale!), and the lights went down shortly thereafter. And then Neil Patrick Harris was onstage as Hedwig, and it was AMAZING. Even better than I’d hoped for. I knew all the words, and I wanted it to go on forever. (There was another show that night. I could’ve stayed.)

I think I left the show glowing. Oh, and I picked up the best souvenir ever: the Hedwig makeup towel!

We stopped back at the hotel quickly, and decided to meet back up again across the street at a place that had intrigued us since the first moment we saw it (i.e. the moment we left the hotel the first night): Jimmy’s Corner. First, because it looked super-shady and potentially divey, and second, because it was in the middle of the block and not on the corner at all.

Jimmy’s Corner did not disappoint. It’s a very narrow room, with a long bar and a small elevated room in the back. The bar was full, so I led Matt and Jumi toward the back. I got to the stairs and looked up to find a whole pack of bros sitting back there, so I elected to grab a spot along the wall instead. Nobody needs to be dealing with Times Square bros sober, after all.

We made friends with the people sitting at the bar in front of us, who were doing Fireball shots. One of the guys explained that the owner was Jimmy Glen, a storied boxing trainer. There were pictures of him with basically every famous boxer all over the bar, and also one of Michael Jackson making fists like he could possibly punch someone. That explained the ‘Corner’ part of the name, too.

(That’s one of our pals being really excited to photobomb.)

Here’s blurry Michael Jackson:

The drinks were Wisconsin-strong, and the place was raucous and entertaining. Wendy and Amelia arrived, and when a man came up to chat up Jumi and I (he mis-heard her name as Julie and she didn’t correct him) way too enthusiastically, we decided it was time to move on.

We headed west through Times Square (ugh) and down a few more blocks to Marseille for dinner. Since it was 10:15, a table for five wasn’t a problem. Their food was pretty good, though not spectacular. We ate, had a couple cocktails, and then it was time to move on. Wendy and Amelia headed home for the night, and Jumi and Matt and I walked further west to a recommended beer bar nearby called the Pony. (Which meant Ginuwine was stuck in my head for hours.)

The beer selection was indeed really good, but the crowd was bro-ey. That’s pretty unsurprising for beer bars, though. We had to stand for a while, and then got seats at the bar when some people headed out. We had a couple rounds there, and then it was 1am and time to head back and sleep.

Wednesday morning, we got up not entirely ready to face the day. Matt’s parents were already out wandering around, since they’d gotten in much earlier than us the previous night. We picked up coffee from a crabby Russian girl at a place on Duval Street, and then walked down to Mallory Square to meet them for an early lunch at El Meson de Pepe. Despite it not being vegetarian-friendly at all (what Cuban place is?), I still like it a lot, and was happy with my plantain-nacho-and-capirinha brunch.

After eating, we went to see more of Mallory Square, and hang out with the chickens.

There was a big ship in port, so the shops in the area were fairly busy. We wandered around them for a while, and then headed farther down Duval to see some more shops. As we passed La Concha (which is now a Crowne Plaza, apparently?), I remembered something I’d read on a travel forum about a rooftop bar and overlook. We decided to go in and check it out.

The bar wasn’t open til 4, but the patio was still unlocked, and there were a few people out there at a table. The view was excellent.

Facing Mallory Square:

Duval Street:

The hallways of the hotel are lined with historic photos of Key West and its many celebrity visitors, too. It’s definitely worth checking out!

Since it had been at least an hour since we’d had a cocktail, we stopped in to Willie T’s. I was very excited to be back there, because we’d been there with a group of five on our first visit, but it was closed for remodeling when Matt and I were there for our pre-honeymoon. We grabbed a little table near the tiny stage, and got a round of mojitos.

I tried to find the dollar bill we’d posted on the wall earlier, too, but I couldn’t remember exactly where it was (not surprisingly). There was a guy named Zach playing the guitar and making terrible jokes on stage (including a song about rhyming with Olive, which I’ll probably never forget).

Once we were done there, we walked back to the hotel. My father-in-law wanted to nap, and Matt and I wanted to go for a swim. We got a couple mojitos at the bar and got in the pool. I wouldn’t really call what we did ‘swimming’, though… mostly we floated around with pool noodles for an hour and occasionally had a sip of our drinks. It was awesome. Judy joined us for a while, sitting on the edge of the pool with her feet in the water. (Someday I’ll convince her to actually come in!)

After a shower and preparing a room drink, we all headed back down towards Sloppy Joe’s, stopping to see the Mile Zero marker along the way.

We had drinks and a couple of appetizers at Sloppy Joe’s (including very delicious cheese arepas), then headed in the direction of the wharf. We had reservations on the Jolly II Rover, which I’d booked because we wanted to take them on the Schooner Western Union, but it was being remodeled. This schooner came highly recommended, though, so it seemed like a good replacement. Plus it has red sails!

It’s a smaller boat than the Western Union, so the crowd was smaller, too. Also, it’s BYOB, which means it’s cheaper. We brought a bottle of Filipino rum and some mixers, and they supplied ice, water, and plastic cups. I liked that arrangement a lot.

Captain Rio (really!) was at the helm, and the ship’s owner also happened to be aboard. We headed out about 6pm, and sailed past Mallory Square, which was filling up for the sunset celebration as it does every night.

It was the absolute perfect night to be out sailing. There wasn’t very much wind close to sunset, but there was enough that we could maneuver into a good position without having to use the engine. While we were waiting for sunset, the crew circled around talking to everyone, and we heard a lot of fascinating stories about their jobs and sailing experience. The captain told us all about his spearfishing adventures in the Tortugas, and the ship’s owner talked about why he decided to buy it. We were so envious.

Sunset was fantastic, too. They explained to everyone about the green flash, and one guy on board SWORE he saw it. There was kind of a white flash, but definitely not a green one. (He was probably drinking Filipino rum, too.)

Post-sunset, we sailed back toward the wharf, much closer to Mallory Square this time. Once we got to one of the narrow streets lined with condos and hotels, they fired the ship’s cannon down the street just to make it echo like crazy. It was fantastic.

We docked around 8pm, and headed back down toward the main part of town for dinner. We’d decided on Kelly’s, since Matt and I liked it so much the first time around. The place was not very crowded at all, and we had a nice table out on their giant patio. The vegetarian offerings weren’t that great, but Matt loved his fried chicken and the house beers were good. The in-laws seemed pleased as well.

After dinner, we walked a block or so to the Green Parrot, one of the other oldtimey bars in Key West. It was apparently also one of the few crowded places, which was kind of shocking. We found a small table along a rail and quickly discovered why it was so busy: they have open ukelele jams on Wednesday. There was a group up on stage leading the crowd, and a whole bunch of people with ukeleles down below following along. They were even selling ukeleles, should you wish to just pick one up and jump in. I loved it.

I had never realized that their ceiling was a giant parachute, either:

Matt’s parents headed out after a drink, and Matt and I decided to stick around a bit longer. It started to clear out after the ukelele jam, so we grabbed spots at the bar and hung out. Round about 12:30, we decided it was time to head back so we wouldn’t feel quite so unpleasant the next morning.