The Destinators

BGU/Philly – KOP

This post is about the blues jam we’ve been talking about ever since we left home in June. People ask us all the time where we’re headed, and on this trip the answer has always been ‘Philadelphia.’ That answer raises a few eyebrows. From our home in Vermont we went first to Maine, then continued east into New Brunswick and spent the rest of the summer touring eastern Canada, right into the fall. Two weeks ago, we turned to the south from Montreal, aimed for the City of (Blues)-Brotherly Love, and at this point the Epic BGU/PHL Blues Jam of 2026 is history.

Chester Springs, PA: College Buds, Part 2

Our current excursion began almost 4 months ago with my 50th Bates College reunion. When I wrote about that, I mentioned that I enjoyed hanging out with a small cohort of classmates with whom I’d spent a lot of time hanging out while we were students 50 to 54 years earlier. One of those classmates is my friend Martha.

Wyndmoor, PA: College Buds, Part 1

At the start of our 3rd year at St Anselm College, my roommates Nancy and Joan and I moved off-campus to an apartment in renovated textile mill housing in downtown Manchester, NH, overlooking the Merrimac River. Soon after we got settled, someone moved into the apartment across the hall from us and we began to hear a piano being played inside. We introduced ourselves to our new neighbor Evan, who had just graduated from college and moved to NH for his first job. Soon we all became fast friends.

When my roommates and I graduated, we all went our separate ways. Evan and I have stayed in touch, so I knew he had become a psychiatrist and lived near Philadelphia with his family, however we’d not seen each other for about 25 years when I stopped by while on a business trip to Philadelphia. We got together for the third time in 46 years, just a few days before the start of Doug’s blues jam.

40 years ago…

We got married in the living room with a delightful fireplace at the Gregory House Inn in Averill Park, NY. We and our guests (all 14 of us) then enjoyed a fine dinner in one of the inn’s private dining rooms. Our families stayed at the inn. We went back to our house in Troy, rejoining our guests in the morning for brunch at the Gregory House before heading out on a week-long, fall bicycle tour of New England on the tandem bicycle we’d given ourselves as a wedding present. My parents drove our car to their home in NH, and when we arrived at the end of the week, they hosted an outdoor party for more friends and family, then we drove back to Troy. It was exactly the simple wedding we had hoped for.

The best flat tire ever!!!

The plan, once we crossed the border back into the US, was to stop in Plattsburgh to reprovision (can’t carry any fresh food across the border from Canada) and then head straight to Matamoras, PA. There is a campground there that we’ve been to a few times on our way back home. It would be very convenient to take a few days there to just hang and practice.

Well, we got ourselves across the border (no problems there!), replenished the pantry and fridge in Plattsburgh, took care of a few other tasks, and spent the night at a rest area just south of the city. As we got ready to roll in the morning, the TPMS alarm started beeping – one of the tires was low. We pumped it up. The leak was slow, so we could keep moving, however a few hours into the drive we could see it was losing enough air that we should stop for the night and get it fixed in the morning. And we’re so glad we did!!!

Knowlton/Lac Brome, QC

Louise Penny is a Canadian author. She has written over 20 novels (s0 far…) in the Inspector Gamache series, which are set in Quebec and feature the fictitious town of Three Pines. Each story weaves through more twists and turns than a pass in the French Alps. In addition to Inspector Gamache, there’s a small cast of characters common across the books that become like old friends to the regular reader.

I am an unabashedly proud member of the Louise Penny fan club. If you love a good mystery and haven’t read any of her crime-fiction novels, pick one up and read it. You’ll be glad you did.

Tingwick, QC

I’ve heard about Tingwick, Quebec almost my entire life. It was where my dad’s family was from in Quebec. Imagine being a little kid and the fun of saying the word: Tingwick. Say it out loud! Although there was no family left in the town, my dad wanted to visit when I was quite young, 5 or 6. All I remember from the trip was my dad taking me to the barn and fields. He said I could touch the cows, but never touch a bull – they could be dangerous. When I asked him how I could tell the difference, he paused and said something like: ask your mother.

Montréal

We’ve been to Montréal before – it’s only a little more than a 2-1/2 hour drive from our house – though it has only once made it into the blog. We already knew it’s not a great place to be driving around in an RV (it’s not really all that easy in a car!). We also found out that the city would be hosting the 2026 UCI Road World Championship bike races during the time we were looking to be there – this was certain to complicate getting around in the city. However, Montréal is great for pedestrians (as well as bikes), the city has world-class public transportation, and, probably most helpful for us, it is home to a large and thriving community of Uber drivers. There is also a very reasonably priced RV park at the marina in Longeueil, right across the river from Vieux-Montréal, and it had quite a few open sites (after Labor Day…). Reviews of the park mentioned a water taxi from the marina – romantic and convenient to be sure, but, alas, no longer running. Fortunately, it was an easy Uber ride across the Jacques-Cartier bridge to anywhere we wished to go.

Rivière-Beaudette, PQ, deux

La dernière fois qu’on a visité ma cousine Louise et à son mari Daniel, c’était en 2018, et on voulait absolument à les voir pendant notre séjour au Québec. Comme je l’ai mentionné dans un précédent article, la mère de Louise et la mienne étaient sœurs – nos deux familles vivaient pas loin l’une de l’autre (avec la frontière internationale entre nous) et nous nous rendions visite régulièrement. D’âges assez proches, nous, les cousins, avons appris à bien nous connaître durant notre jeunesse.

English version follows, or click here.

Prévost, QC

Doug et moi comptons de plus en plus d’amis sur les forums grâce à nos programmes respectifs de cours de musique en ligne : Blues Guitar Unleashed et Musora (anciennement Drumeo et Pianote). C’est toujours un plaisir de pouvoir rencontrer quelqu’un en personne lorsque nous sommes dans le voisinage. Sylvie a mentionné un jour qu’elle habitait près de Mont-Tremblant. À retenir !

English translation follows or click here…