Cigar Weekly

February 19th, 2009

by Neil Noffsinger

 

My wife and I came to the conclusion many years ago that one of our favorite places to ride is in Canada, our neighbor to the North. Never having explored the Eastern Provinces of Quebec and New Brunswick, we thought the far reaches of Quebec’s Gaspé Peninsula seemed to be a fine summer destination. Coupled with the promise of cool weather, lighthouses and fresh seafood, a plan began to take shape. Our objective was also to see each of the five Great Lakes while enjoying some fantastic scenery and great roads.

 

We stuck to the back roads as much as possible. The first planned stop on our itinerary was a unique little shop I had seen featured on a TV show about small town Texas eateries. We made our way to Whitehouse, Texas for breakfast at Mamaw’s Fried Pies, sampled their breakfast version with eggs, sausage and cheese, and then got down with the good stuff - peach, pecan, apricot (hot and fresh from the oven), apple, cherry and chocolate. We were in fried pie heaven!

 

We continued on secondary roads through East Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas, and then crossed the Mississippi River to our evening destination of Greenville, Mississippi to take in dinner at Doe’s Eat Place. When we rode up on the Harleys, the staff let us park on the sidewalk right by the door, as they are fond of riders. The food and hospitality were great, and on the ride back to our hotel, we rode over the levee and stopped for pictures along the Mississippi River, which was swollen and nearly running over its banks.

 

The next day, we headed north on the Great River Road, which traverses the Delta through a multitude of small farms alongside the river. The skies were threatening. Despite putting on and shedding our rain gear several times, however, we only got a few minutes of rain the entire day. We did see some flooding while continuing to ride north, still staying on secondary roads up through Arkansas, into Missouri and then Illinois, where we stopped for the night.

 

The next morning, under cloudy skies, we rode into Indiana and then crossed into Michigan, where we picked up the Lake Michigan Circle Tour Route. We had ridden the Lake Superior Circle Route a few years ago, from Duluth, MN around Lake Superior to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and this was the corresponding route around Lake Michigan.

 

By this time, we were far enough north that the weather had decidedly changed. It was leather weather, and the mornings were brisk and great for riding. Gail was bundled up in her sweatshirt and heavy riding gear, and it was June 30th! We crossed Michigan, heading to the 'Sunrise Side' of the state for our first views of Lake Huron, our second Great Lake on this tour. Highway 23 is awesome. We visited the lighthouses at Sturgeon Point and Presque Isle (both the new lighthouse and the old one, which is reportedly haunted) as well as the light at Tawas Point. Each of these lighthouses is unique in its own way, and each one has a great history. Reports of shipwrecks, storms and harrowing rescues fill the narratives of these structures, and each seems to have a life of its own in local yore.

 

Early the next morning, we crossed the 'Mighty Mac', the famous Mackinac Bridge across the Straits of Mackinac. This is the world’s third largest suspension bridge, spanning nearly 5 miles, with the roadway 200 feet above the water. It reportedly can sway as much as 34 feet side to side, and is often closed due to wind or other adverse weather conditions. We viewed the sun rising up over the lake as we crossed, and it was amazing. We arrived in St. Ignace, on the north side of the bridge, in time to take some pictures and to board the passenger ferry for the ride over to Mackinac Island. This was really unique, as motorized vehicles are not permitted on the island. Yep – the taxis, hotel shuttles, tour companies, delivery services, etc. all use horse drawn carriages and wagons. No Harley 'rumble' on this island! We strolled along the streets, enjoyed a great cup of coffee and took a guided tour of the island. By early afternoon, we were on our way to Sault Ste Marie, MI, where we spent the night after a nice dinner cruise complete with fireworks. The cruise took us from Lake Huron to Lake Superior for the third of the Great lakes.

 

The next morning, we crossed into Ontario, Canada with no delays at the border, and then rode Trans Canada Route 17 alongside the northeastern shore of Lake Huron and down the Ottawa River valley. Even though a light rain was falling, this proved a very nice route. We traveled past numerous small towns, eventually arriving in the national capital of Ottawa, our home for the next few nights. 

 

A guided tour of the Canadian Parliament buildings included visits to the House of Commons, the Senate and the Parliamentary Library. We also took a self-guided walking tour of the grounds, and viewed the many statues and great vistas of the city. We saw the Changing of the Guard at the National War Memorial (where the Canadian Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is located), and also visited a portion of the city known as Byward Market. This is an area of locally-owned shops, flower and vegetable stands, chocolate shops and wonderful restaurants.

 

 

We departed Ottawa and headed for Quebec City, our headquarters for the next three days. Taking secondary roads along the St. Lawrence River provided us with a very nice morning’s ride. Our trip was planned to coincide with the celebration of the 400^th anniversary of the founding of Quebec City. This was a major blow-out, and there were virtually round-the-clock festivities, with programs, special events and concerts, which kept us busy for our entire stay. As we visited the historic downtown area of Old Quebec, we definitely received second-looks as our Harleys rolled through the streets.

 

 

We explored the surrounding area on the Harleys with a side trip to Isle de’Orlean, which was fantastic. There is a 75 kilometer loop around the island through five separate small villages. The road passes quaint farms, which are absolutely pristine, and there are mountains on the interior of the island, falling to the shores of the St. Lawrence. If you can picture a pastoral scene of the French countryside with farms and villages, this is it. We had lunch at a roadside café along the shore, then stopped at a chocolaterie for ice cream and fresh made chocolate goodies. It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon, and there were a ton of bikes on the road - all brands from cruisers to sport bikes. Everyone seemed to be having a grand time. Dinner that night back at our hotel was simple - cheese, bread, wine from the local market and chocolate from the shop on the island. This was capped off with a nice Rocky Patel Edge Maduro, which completed a nearly perfect day!

 

 

The next morning, we departed the city for the most remote areas of this little trek. We crossed over the St. Lawrence, and headed north on Hwy 132 for an amazingly beautiful ride alongside the water. The scenery was incredible, and there were several nice stops along the way. We visited the Quebec Maritime Museum in L’Islet, the lighthouse at Point Au-Père, as well as numerous small villages along the way.

 

There were also a lot of bikes along this scenic route, and many of them were loaded with tents and camping gear. Seems these Canadians are a hardy lot. We met riders from Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Manitoba, Michigan and Florida.

 

Route 132 borders the shoreline of the St Lawrence, which is technically a river. I say 'technically' because the river flows over 800 miles and is, at its widest point, over 45 miles wide. Needless to say, it has the appearance of an ocean, with the opposite shore completely out of sight.

 

 

In Gaspé, we had lodging reservations at a motel adjacent to the tallest lighthouse in Canada, the Cap-des-Rosiers Lighthouse. After checking in, we toured the site, took a ton of pictures and relaxed beside the Bay of Gaspé. For dinner, we feasted on lobster caught fresh that day at a small restaurant frequented by the locals and recommended to us by the owner of our motel, who was also a Harley rider! I was able to enjoy a cigar that evening with a spectacular view of the bay and the lighthouse.

 

We rode out early the next morning and stopped for pictures at Percé Rock, a very unusual geological formation that extends out into the water and has long held special meaning for the original Indian settlers. We completed our circumnavigation of the peninsula, bid farewell to Highway 132, which we had ridden for the past several days, and entered New Brunswick at Campbellton.

 

Gail was excited, as she had now added two more names to the list of Canadian provinces in which she had ridden during this trip. Before our travels were completed, she would add new states to her list as well (but more about that later). We rode Hwy 17 south through New Brunswick, and saw 'Watch for Moose' signs about every mile or so. We crossed back into the U.S. at Van Buren, Maine, and were welcomed with the hardest rainfall we had seen in over two weeks.

 

We headed out of Maine the next morning, and after doughnuts and coffee, rode Scenic Route 2 through New Hampshire and Vermont. The next stop on our itinerary was the Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream factory in Waterbury, VT. We took a tour of the facility, where they make 300,000 pints of great ice cream each day, enjoyed multiple samples at the end of the tour, and then had another few scoops just to hold us for the next part of the ride. This is a very popular destination, and we met several riders from all over the country.

 

We took back roads alongside Lake Champlain, crossed over into New York, and stopped for the night in the Adirondacks, south of Lake George, at a small cabin in Chestertown. These folks are also accustomed to riders, as the Americade Rally is held each year in Lake George. This is a rather remote area, with the evening darkness enabling great views of the sky. Once again, an evening cigar around the campfire proved a great finish to a busy day.

 

The following day, we dodged raindrops and made our way into Niagara Falls, NY. The first 100 miles were on Highway 8, the Adirondack Scenic Byway, with a lot of twists and turns through the mountains. And then we rode the final 200 miles on the New York State Thruway into the Buffalo area. We had timed our three day stay in Niagara Falls to coincide with the New York State HOG Rally, which was being held at the Seneca Niagara Casino. It was a fun HOG Rally, and folks were excited as it promised to set an attendance record for the annual event. We chatted with some of the locals who were very surprised that we were attending the rally on the way home from our destination in Gaspe!

 

While in Niagara, we took several guided tours, cruised to the falls on the famous Maid of the Mist, enjoyed the evening fireworks from the Canadian side, took the tour behind the falls, which was pretty awesome, did the Cave of the Winds tour, stood on the 'Hurricane Deck' under the Bridal Veil Falls on the American side and simply had a great time. From our hotel, we only had a 5 minute walk to the Falls and a 10 minute walk across the pedestrian bridge to Canada, so everything was very convenient. We went to the top of the Skylon Tower Observation Deck, and from 775 feet got a great view of Lake Ontario, our 4^th of the five Great Lakes.

 

 

We left Niagara Falls under bright sunny skies, and started to head south along the Seaway Trail, a nice secondary road. We were treated to a fine view of Lake Erie, and we chalked up the 5^th and final Great Lake. We cut the corner of Pennsylvania, entered Ohio and stopped for a visit at the American Motorcycle Association Hall of Fame and Museum in Pickerington. They had a nice display of historic bikes and a special exhibit of bikes owned by celebrities called 'Motostars', including one owned by Willie G. Davidson.

 

After entering Kentucky the next morning, we took back roads towards Louisville and then picked up Route 31, which is a really fine motorcycling road. It winds its way through farmland and back woods, and we took it to our destination of Cave City, KY, where we had lodging reservations for the night at the Wigwam Village. This is one of only three sets of the original roadside wigwams still in operation, from back in the 30s. (We saw the other two, one in Arizona and one in California, when we rode Route 66 on a National HOG Tour back in 2001.)

 

After checking in and unloading the bikes, we headed over to Mammoth Cave National Park for a tour of the famous cave and some additional sightseeing. This is the longest cave in the world, and we had a great Park Ranger guide who provided a lot of interesting information on the tour. By this time in the trip, the pattern had been established of enjoying a cigar outside the motel to end the evening. I had my 15-count Cigar Caddy packed full when we left Texas, and I was now down to just a few remaining sticks, which indirectly signaled that we were approaching the end of the ride.

 

 

We left the Wigwam the following morning, and decided to stick to the major highways, making our way directly home. We rode down through Tennessee, cut the corner of Mississippi, and then went through Arkansas and into the Lone Star State. We were home early enough in the afternoon to partially unpack and to take a few moments to reflect on a truly fantastic riding experience.

 

We had experienced wonderful weather and ridden great roads, met some super people, and had really been able to immerse ourselves (at least partially) in the cultures of old Quebec City and the remote regions of the Gaspé Peninsula.

 

I mentioned earlier that Gail added a few more states and provinces to her total, and she has now ridden in 43 states and 5 of the Canadian Provinces. During this trip, we logged 6214 miles, passing through 13 states and 3 Canadian provinces along the way. After a quick service, fluid change and a little soap and water, we are again ready for the next journey. The only thing I may need to do before the next long ride is to invest in a larger Cigar Caddy!

 

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