The Best 10 Days Ever (DIII 5-7)
Ten day Wedding Trip: (1.) White Hart Inn, Salisbury CT, (2) Montreal Canada and the Windsor Hotel, (3) Ste. Marguerite, Canada and the Alpine Inn, (4) Ottawa, Canada, and the Chateau Laurier, (5) Montebello and the Seigniory Club, and (6) Lake Placid NY, and the Lake Placid Club. The entire trip was underwritten and arranged by Aunt Eugenia and Uncle Hubert Morfey as a wedding present to us.
Note: Complete photo documentation of events relative to this Retrospective are included in attached Chronology in the appendices.
1
Salisbury Connecticut
White Hart Inn
For the first night, the White Hart Inn was an ideal choice, though some of the older guests probably didn’t think so. We burst through the front door,
(Residual confetti and all), at about 9:00PM in the middle of the evening bridge playing group. I am sure they all forgot their bids. We had one thing in common, we both were trying to secure our tricks. An hour or so later in our room, a sharp rap came on the door. I was half way out of the window when Joyce reminded me everything was now “legal”. We opened the door to a sheepishly grinning Inn-keeper holding out an ice bucket with a cold bottle of Champaign sent by “uncle” Harry Strong” an old classmate of my Dad. In any case, at that point it represented the pure essence of the most exquisite ambrosia, and “uncle” Harry saved the day.
After a late breakfast in the dining room, we gathered all our gear (we still had not consolidated our stuff and we had all kinds of bags) and headed for night 2 at the Windsor Hotel in Montreal.
2.
Montreal Canada
The Hotel Windsor
The Windsor was indeed a plush accommodation, and it wasn’t hard to get used to. The dining room was formal and elegant. We were served a fantastic dinner. The names of what we ate I could hardly pronounce, let alone remember. What I do remember is the waiter (with white towel over his arm) strongly suggested their frozen parfait, and to finish things off, a nice cordial. Joyce and my familiarity with cordials was about zero, though we had both heard of brandy and cognac. He suggested courvoisier (pronounced: Cor-vaas-c-a’). a nice after dinner cordial (whatever that meant). Well, the first sip was like a hot poker to both of us and not at all appealing. Looking carefully around to make sure no one was watching, we carefully dumped the courvoisier into our empty parfait glass.
The next morning was pretty inactive as we sort of recovered from the past few days. After a light lunch and with an afternoon free, we climbed many wooden stairs up Mount Royal (the city’s namesake) where we were greeted with an absolutely stunning view of the city and the St. Lawrence River that passed through it. It was a beautiful late April day with puffy clouds, and we just sat in the long grass and:” chilled out”. It had been a long couple of days. That night we ate at Café’ Martin, a restaurant that seemed to be in someone’s home. Well that is what it looked like, but the meal was outstanding and we wouldn’t have missed it for anything. So now, on to Ste. Marguerite, and the Alpine Inn (DIII-5).
3.
Ste. Marguerite Canada
The Alpine Inn
The Alpine Inn was a delightful stop on our trip. Although it was raining the day we arrived, considering the circumstances it took a good part of a day to realize it. When we finally made it down for a meal, there was one other couple in the dining room. We introduced and it turns out they were married on the very same day as we were, but in Toronto Can. Mac and Ann Pike were from Toronto and his dad was a leader in the Canadian Parliament. We had a great couple of days with them in spite of the rain. Of course we vowed to stay in touch, but also predictable, that never happened. From here, the Capital, Ottawa and the Chateau Laurier was our destination,
4.
Ottawa Canada
Château Laurier
Ottawa’s main attractions were the Parliament and Government buildings, all of which were of Gothic architecture. From an historical perspective, this stop was a fabulous one and one in which we would have liked to spend more time. Too bad cameras of the time could not do it justice (so I sneaked in a few from the Internet). We had a great couple of days amongst the pomp and circumstance. The Chateau lived up to its name. It is a huge structure containing over 660,000 sq. feet with over 450 rooms. The corridors were almost as wide as a street in St. Augustine, FL. The dining room was grand and we had several meals there. The hotel was perfectly located at the base of “Parliament Hill ” and convenient for us gawking tourists. Ottawa was a beautiful city in its own right being located on the banks of the Ottawa River, close to its confluence with the St. Lawrence River. Joyce and I took lots of pictures with our little Brownie black and white (with some color) camera, but most have not fared well over the years. We have included a couple that have. Two other pictures capture the flavor of the architecture and their physical location on the hill. (DIII-6)
5.
Montebello Canada
Seigneury Club
The Seigneury Club, built by the Canadian National Railway, to which Joyce’s Uncle Charlie was a member, so we were allowed in. This fabulous club consisted of six wings arranged radially and all met at a central great room with a large chimney at the center supporting seven fireplaces corresponding to the seven wings. It was quite breath-taking. The grounds of the club were fabulous, and they even supported their own fire department. In other utility demands, the club was just about self-sufficient. It was a beautiful location right on the Ottawa River. The interior took no back seat to the grounds. It was a sight to behold. The sleeping quarters were cozy and comfortable, but the main common room was no less than spectacular. This is where all six wings met at the perimeter of this room. Notice each story had a balcony that extended completely around the common area. The second story balcony included several shops and boutiques. In the center was a massive chimney, with six fireplaces. Each faced one of the six wings of the chateau. We were very fortunate to have the right connection this time. We really hated to leave, but my Navy leave was short, and we needed to get on to our last stop in Lake Placid back in the States.
6.
The Lake Placid NY
The Lake Placid Club and the North Pole
Later famous as a Winter Olympics venue, Lake Placid and the famous club carrying that name has been an icon of the central Adirondacks since I can remember. The early part of every summer from my junior year at Choate to my junior year at Middlebury was spent fishing, camping, hiking and yes, even working in the Adirondack Mountains of New York. It still remains as some of my most enjoyable memories of that period in my life. So the Lake Placid Club was a logical last stop on this fabulous trip and an opportunity to show off some of this treasure to Joyce. The changes brought about by the Olympics has forever transformed the area so today I don’t believe I would recognize anything, let alone know how to get where I thought I was going.
The first of May was off season for Lake Placid activities in 1953. The Inn was pretty quiet, and we saw very few guests. Now I know that newlyweds seldom have trouble finding something to do, but this was a little much, and we really wanted to do something this last day out. Whiteface Mountain and Santa’s Workshop and “North Pole” seemed like a good choice. It was especially good since it snowed several inches the night before (in May?). It does happen in the Adirondacks from time to time, and it provided the perfect backdrop for our visit. It turned out that the North Pole is a fully functioning village open all year. While still pretty primitive in 1953, it has expanded and now includes all the rides and activities that typically transforms such sites into a “must” destination. With Whiteface Mountain squarely in our rearview mirror, we bid adieu to an unforgettable wedding trip (DIII-7).