#221 Montreal's Summer Festivals

"Part iconoclastic Francophone outpost in otherwise anglais-speaking North America, part skyscraping internationalist city, Montreal is also a festival town par excellence, boasting several major festivals and a number of smaller events that fill the summer months."

"Just for Laughs (Juste pour Rire) Festival promotes the idea that humor can be reinvented, with artists stretching the boundries of the form. Founded in 1983, when sixteen French-speaking comedians performed for a total crowd of 5,000, the festival has grown to host approximately 2,000 artists annually, performing for a million and a half laughers at more than thirty venues along Rue St.-Denis."

I purchases a "passport" that included ticket options to pre-selected shows. I only had 2 weekends to choose from, the festival was nearly over by the time I arrived in Montreal so choices were limited, but I did find a show to attend.

Just for the Culture, is a comedy showcase formerly known as The Ethnic Show, and features a diverse line-up of comedians from a variety of cultural backgrounds. The show this year was hosted by Alonzo Bodden and featured Zarna Garg, Gianmarco Soresi, Joyelle Nicole Johnson, Judy Gold, Arthur Simeon, and Malik Elassal. It was pretty funny even if the show was at 4:30 in the afternoon - a fact that was the punchline of several jokes throughout the show. 

#192 and #193 Revisited: Vermont (Stowe and the Northeast Kingdom)

I stayed in an Airbnb in the border of New York and Vermont for the express purpose of spending at least 2 weekends in Vermont during the month I was there. I managed one day. A very, very rainy day. 

The weather was so bad that I contemplated turning around several times, but just as I’d decide it was better postponed the rain would let up a little and I would press on. But it did mean that things kept getting cut from the itinerary. In the end I only stopped at 3 of the 6 or 7 places on my list that day. Cabot Country Store, Trapp Family Resort, and St. Johnsbury. 

By the time I pulled into St. Johnsbury and made my purchase, I told the cashier that I was thinking I might get food as well, just let me check the radar and see what the storm was going to do. She looked at me and quietly said, “It’s only going to get worse; the streets are going to flood. You should head home now.” 

I took her advice and drove another 3 hours home through ever worsening weather. The next day I woke up to news that the roads I had just traveled were indeed under water, washed out, massive flooding throughout the area I was just in. I’m sad I didn’t get to do everything on my list and I’m very glad that I was safe and sound. I hope that is true for everyone in the flood zones. 

Cabot Country Store –  Pre-COVID Cabot had several farm stores open around Vermont. Now there is only the one, but they still have cheese tastings available. The day I stopped the tasting theme was their cheese paired with condiments, mostly fruit-based items like jams, preserves, compotes, etc.

The person running each station decides what to pair together and present. It was all delicious, but this garlic herb cheddar paired with Southern style rustic mustard was my absolute favorite! 

Next stop was Trapp Family Lodge, yep, the von Trapps of Sound of Music Fame. When I was last here in 2019, I had lunch and then stopped at the Kaffehaus for the most amazing pastry (almond horn) ever. 

When I got there this afternoon the almond horns were all sold out, but I asked the cashier if he happened to have any hiding in the back. He rustled up 2 (1 to eat there, and one to take home). 

No photos in St. Johnsbury, it was in and out with the sage advice from the cashier. I didn’t stop at Ben & Jerry’s, Cold Hollow Cider Mill, and Prohibition Pig, and there’s a glassblowing studio that I’ve seen a million times driving around that area that I don’t know the name of, but always think about stopping.

#24 Revisited: Pennsylvania Dutch Country

“The English are encouraged to respect the privacy of these insular, but kind people and their simple lifestyle, but that doesn’t mean you can’t take a nice, aimless meander down the area’s backcountry roads, which take you past one-room schoolhouses, neat fields cultivated by mule-driven plows, quaintly named towns like Bird-in-Hand and Paradise (and Blue Ball or Intercourse).”

My experience this time around is that they aren’t as insular as they once were. While the Amish, specifically, still like their privacy, they are more actively participating in the commerce of tourism. While I was looking up things to do, there was an option to visit The Amish Farm and House and have dinner with a local Amish family, in their home. The reviews were spectacular, and it seems the family looks at it as an opportunity to meet others and develop friendships. I wish my schedule had allowed me to participate.

“The Historic Smithton Inn, [has been] welcoming guests since 1763, when it was built as a stagecoach stop. … It’s located adjacent to the Ephrata Cloister, an historic site [,] composed of more than twenty beautifully restored buildings. It was once home to a Quaker-like monastic sect whose population reach 300 in its 1750 heyday.”

Last, but never least – I stopped by Kitchen Kettle Village. They were offering a package where you pay, like $30, and get a free gift from several stores as well as $15 toward lunch at Harvest Café. Since I was planning to go anyway, it seemed like good motivation because I really hate shopping. (I was gonna go anyway to get a soft pretzel, but that may have been the extent of it without the incentive to go into stores.) Anyway, it’s grown quite a bit since the last time I visited and I ended up spending way more than I planned, and it was during the worst of the bad air quality days from the Canadian fires, but man, it still felt like going home. And that pretzel was still delicious.