New England Road Trip

On Tuesday, we powered through the 540 Kilometres that separate Ogunquit, ME from Montebello, QU. Upon arriving to the summer wonderland that is Chateau Montebello we found ourselves, quite unexpectedly, depleted of joie de vie. After 11 days of adventure we needed a break.

Montebello primer: 100 year old wilderness retreat at the base of the Laurentians in Quebec. Chateau Montebello is kind of like fancy summer camp. Operated by Fairmont, there are luxury elements - robes, Le Labo and fine dining. At the same time, the worlds largest log cabin is musty and a bit fatigué.

Finish your breakfast buffet and you can: play badminton, tennis, squash, golf, mini-putt, volleyball, basketball, floor hockey, soccer, side by side, ATV, Pontoon, jet ski, bicycle, hiking, lawn games, board games, hunting, fishing, kayak, canoe, stand-up paddle board, guided nature session, art class, helicopter tour, mountain bike, walk to the village, walk around the lake,
picnic at the beach, play at the playground, do the scavenger hunt or the remote controlled vehicle course? And of course there is a gym, spa and 4 eateries.

With mild enthusiasm, we biked the grounds - Eleanor started in a chariot (on brand) but later mounted a bike with training wheels. Malcolm enjoyed a tennis clinic. Laundry, swimming, board games and early bedtimes rounded out the listless days.

(Creepy ancestry history next 4 paragraphs)

The creepy lowlight was my search for ancestral gravesites. At the turn of the 20th century, 3 generations of my ancestors lived down the road from where I am. 200 years ago, my great-great-great grandmother Margaret Hawkins left her home in Montreal to establish a homestead with Scottish Highlander Samuel Campbell who immigrated with a group of loosely related Highlanders. Many of Margaret and Samual’s children and grandchildren are buried together in the Calumet cemetery which we visited yesterday. I have been before but had not seen Samual and Margaret and I wanted to find them. Everyone helped me look until Eleanor had to go to the bathroom and we were all tired of the mosquitos. We found a gas station and got blue slushies instead of searching for tombstones. Then last night I discovered the existence of Scotch Road.

A dilapidated North-South road that starts not too far from the Calumet cemetery and leads into the Laurentians. Scotch road is said to be the oldest North-South artery in Quebec and derives its name from the Scottish Highlander settlers, including my ancestor Samual Campbell. The land the Highlanders were granted at the base of the Laurentians was undesirable for agricultural purposes: heavily forested, secluded and the shallow soil meant families did not, or rather could not, put down roots. Most of the offspring and then all of the offspring left - including my great grandfather Malcolm Campbell who migrated to Montreal. Malcolm and my great grandmother Florence lived in Montreal, but they are buried in Calumet with Malcolm’s extended family.

Traces of Scotch road civilization, which included a school, church, post office and adjacent railway are all but vanished. Secondary growth forest covers what is left, including the Scotch Road Cemetery!!!

Today, I took the kids and tried to find the Scotch Road Cemetery. I failed. A 300 metre hike off of Old Scotch road was too much - the woods, kids, bugs and no trespassing signs were deterrents. I did speak to someone who confirmed Samual Campbell and Margaret Hawkins ARE buried in the woods where the former church stood and there is a tombstone to visit. Margaret and Samual are Malcolm and Eleanor’s great-great-great-great grandparents and maybe when the leaves fall and the bugs die we can take a hike together to the cemetery. Maybe Samual’s son William and grandson Malcolm were part of developing Chateau Montebello - after all, they were local civil engineers.

(Creepy part finished)

It is midnight now. The kids are asleep and neither Mel nor I fully woke up today. We have a manageable 5.25 hours of driving to get home tomorrow which we will break up with dinner in Kingston with Jeff and Mike. Shout out to Nana for caring for Lucy this whole time, including a 2 day extension with little notice. Merci Nana!

Au revoir tout le monde et fais bon voyage.Read more