Take the family to a minor league baseball game this year. It’s cheaper than the big league experience and there are ballparks all over the USA, so it’s an easy add-on to a road trip vacation. Find out how one TravelingDad feeds his baseball obsession all season long.

I’ve been a fan of Major League Baseball for as long as I can remember. Growing up in New York, I was a New York Yankees fan. Despite this, my very first professional baseball game was a New York Mets game. They played the Cubs. It was in 1984. Why a Mets game, you may ask? Well, Shea Stadium in Queens was a lot closer to my Long Island hometown than Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. There was also the fact that the South Bronx wasn’t exactly what you would call a garden spot in my youth.

Read More: How to Save Money at the Ballpark

My dad did eventually get me to Yankee Stadium, though. I’d never seen greener grass. I loved the whole experience of seeing the big leagues in person. The field, the baseball players, the crowd, the food…all of it. I still do. The only problem is that I live 30 miles from the nearest professional baseball team. Then, if I get up there for a game, it’s probably going to be a $200+ day for my family and me to be able to eat some grub and sit in seats that don’t require supplemental oxygen.

So, what’s a baseball fan like me to do?  I’ve got three words for you: Minor League Baseball.

AA Baseball: Up Close and Personal

I’ve been a fan of Minor League Baseball (MILB) almost as long as the big leagues. It’s got a different feel to it – one that harkens back to the earlier times of baseball, when it was the most important thing in a boy’s life.

My first game was seeing the Oneonta Yankees at Damaschke Field in Oneonta, New York. My experience at that game is actually a great example of what makes MILB a more personal experience. During that game, there was a foul ball hit down the left field line. It came to rest under a wood support for the fence that surrounded the field. So, I left the bleachers and ran down to try to find it, but I couldn’t. It was at this point that the left fielder started verbally directing me to where I could find the ball to make sure I got my trophy! So cool, right?

Even at double-a and triple-a (AAA) games, I have had similar experiences! I mean, what MLB team is going to ask me, a fan but certainly not a celebrity, to throw out the first pitch before a game? I’ll tell you what Minor League Baseball team did: the Harrisburg Senators! On a recent trip to the Harrisburg/Hershey, PA area with a few of my TravelingDad brethren, I actually got to realize a lifelong dream! I threw out the first pitch at a professional baseball game! They announced my name over the public address! I was live on video on their scoreboard! I got to throw it to one of the catchers for the Senators! And best of all, I didn’t screw up!! It went straight down the middle! That catcher could end up playing for the Fresno Grizzlies next, and the Nationals after that!

Minor League Baseball = Major League Fun

Something that MLB seems to have co-opted from MILB are the entertaining activities they do between innings to keep fans excited and entertained. The running of the Presidents at Washington Nationals home games or the Famous Racing Sausages at Milwaukee Brewers home games can trace their history back to the minors.

Fans at MILB games can frequently get involved in these contests like some of our Traveling Dads did in Harrisburg. My buddies participated in balloon pop relays and fired T-shirt cannons; entertaining to me for sure, and hopefully the rest of the crowd as well.

Another great aspect of the minor league teams is the incredible originality of their team names. Here are some examples: the Albuquerque Isotopes, the El Paso Chihuahuas, the Erie Seawolves, the Lehigh Valley Ironpigs, the Pensacola Blue Wahoos and the Richmond Flying Squirrels. Being a collector of baseball jerseys, those seem like ones I’d like to have in the closet. A lot more interesting than the San Francisco Giants or the Atlanta Braves, right?

Also, it can be a lot easier to snag an autograph from the players at a Durham Bulls or Pawtucket Red Sox game than it would be at a Houston Astros or Texas Rangers game. You should hold onto those, too, because you never know if that player will blast his way into the majors!

AAA Value at the Minor Leagues

As I mentioned at the beginning, bringing your family to see Major League Baseball can be cost prohibitive. It’s hard to justify hundreds of dollars to see something in person that you can watch at home on television for free and in air conditioning.

This is where Minor League Baseball really shines.  After I finished throwing out the first pitch for the Harrisburg Senators, I got to sit in some GREAT seats behind home plate that included unlimited food for $35. Sitting in the same seats in some MLB parks could cost ten times that!  Moreover, I will honestly say that the quality of play from these minor leaguers definitely makes the reduced cost an incredible bargain.

Even top prospects are expected to make their way up through the system before they get to play for the Blue Jays, the Dodgers or the Phillies. That means you may see tomorrow’s big stars way back before they got there. And for less money!

The stadiums themselves are also great facilities. Don’t get me wrong. They’re not all like Camden Yards in Baltimore where the Orioles play, but the food is good and the grass is just as green!

I’ve been a New York Yankees fan all my life and that is the team I most often want to see playing (and hopefully, winning). But I’m also a baseball fan who just loves going to the ballpark. But that’s not always possible, either because of economics or geography. That’s why I love minor league teams.

I’m thinking I need to combine these two things into a trip to Tampa. Not only do I have a close friend living there, but it’s home to the Yankees spring training and the Tampa area has many minor league teams.  Minor League baseball is an experience that is just as fun yet more accessible for regular trips to see our National Pastime the way it is meant to be experience: in person.

Nothing says holidays like a theme park! Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey is all dressed up for the holidays. Yes, it will be cold. But is that enough to make a hearty family stay home? Travel along as this TravelingDad and his family marvel at the lights, the rides, the tiny crowds and the breathtaking Skyway ride over it all at Six Flags Holiday in the Park.

The writer was hosted.

Only 10 minutes have passed since we pulled into the Daffy Duck section of the parking lot at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey. We’ll spend the next 4 ½ hours sizing up the festive attractions of Six Flags Holiday in the Park.

As we walk to the park entrance my daughter Maya, 19, asks, “Did you know two of the Sister Wives divorced Cody?” She asks this question of her sister Libby, 22, and brother Felix, 15.

I know that Maya is hungry, because she follows her non sequitur with other hyper-enthusiastic comments having to do with food. She is not hangry. Maya is the equivalent of whatever hangry is for a happy person. She wants funnel cake, Chinese food, hot chocolate, and other delicacies, all of which, not coincidentally, you can get here at Six Flags Great Adventure.

Food will come later, though, because of the cardinal theme park rule: Thrill rides first, food second. And in keeping with Eisenberg Six Flags Tradition, our first ride will be Superman.

Is It Worth Braving the Cold for Six Flags Holiday in the Park?

As we walk to Superman, I ask out loud, “Is it worth braving the cold for this so far?” But only my wife Toby hears me as our three children power walk 20 feet ahead of us. They tend to do this whenever they’re together. This dynamic differs from when I visited Six Flags Great Adventure in June and it was just me and my two girls. We stuck together and had some nice father-daughter laughs.

But this dynamic is just fine. Toby and I will have several chances throughout the day to chat with our children out of earshot. Plus, we have long been fond of the actual sight of our kids walking ahead of us, together in the distance, without us.

As we watch this trio in front of us, I have a thought I imagine many other mortal parents have: Please let these kids stay friends after we’re gone.

My far less deep thoughts have to do with my question, which Toby is kind enough to answer. Yes, she says, it is worth braving the cold today because there are so few people here. The park has only been open for half an hour – on this Saturday and other selected winter days the park is open from 1 to 9pm. And over the next few hours here, we will seldom have to wait in line.

And at least for now, it is not cold. It is crisp. We have all dressed sensibly in layers, with hats and gloves at the ready if we want them. And we will want them.

Six Flags Holiday in the Park: Taking It In

Six Flags Holiday in the Park is available on select dates November 13 through January 2. The park gets a heavy overlay of holiday lights. It adorns many of its existing attractions with more light displays and garland and other festive décor. And the park deposits oversized holiday ornaments here and there, making for fun photo opportunities.

During Six Flags Holiday in the Park, Six Flags Great Adventure also gives different regions of the park seasonal names. And as you might expect, most of these regions have non-seasonal names the rest of the year.

So during the holiday season, Superman, ordinarily identified by its Boardwalk location, is in the Deck the Halls region. And the location during non-seasonal times known as the Lakefront is during the holidays home to Polar Point, Poinsettia Peak and the North Pole. You get the idea.

The Six Flags Holiday in the Park version of the park map identifies all the seasonal regions of this winter wonderland.

Along with the park’s existing roller coasters, eateries and shops, the park map also identifies seasonal attractions and holiday events. So when we arrive at Deck the Halls, where Superman is, we have the opportunity for a meet and greet with the Winter Wizard, which we decline. We can also take in a merry magic show. Decline.

We are that Superman focused.

We’ll avail ourselves later of some of the Six Flags Holiday in the Park seasonal entertainment. For now we’re enjoying our brisk walk in the crispy air that has an undercurrent of wood smoke from fire pits situated throughout the park.

“That smell reminds me of the sweet incense they burned in the clay ovens when mom and I were in New Mexico. That was before your time,” I say wistfully.

“It smells like the laser cutter at school,” Maya says, less wistfully.

Superman: Ultimate Flight

When we get to Superman, Maya wheels around to underscore the aforementioned benefit of visiting Six Flags Great Adventure on a crisp November day: “There’s NO line.”

And indeed, the only issue prior to boarding is that this is Felix’s first time on the ride and he’s a little freaked out. But he’d rather suck it up than disappoint either of his sisters.

We wait to board the ride – the three kids queued up for one row, us parents in the row next to theirs. “Make sure you’re each buckled in,” Toby says to them. I feel like this is a very mom thing to say. Similarly, Toby’s diligence about their safety extends to her passing her bottle of hand sanitizer to everyone after we touch anything.

Covid Protocols at Six Flags Great Adventure

Toby’s modest little bottle of hand sanitizer, like a miraculous Chanukah candle from ancient times, lasted all of us the full 4½ hours of our day at Six Flags. But had it run out, Six Flags is also diligent about having hand sanitizer stations throughout the park. The mask mandate today is the same as it was when we visited in June. As noted on the Six Flags website: “Face coverings are not mandatory during your visit but are recommended for unvaccinated individuals.”

And, as during our previous visit, most park-goers were maskless indoors and out, though a percentage, including my crew, remained masked indoors and when we encountered pockets of congestion outdoors.

In short, between my family’s personal precautions and the park’s wide-open, uncrowded spaces, we felt safe.

Ain’t We Got Indoor Fun: “Frost,” The Live Performance

You probably won’t be astonished to learn that it got colder as the day went on. And believe it not, at the very moment the air turned from brisk to frosty, we found ourselves in the festively dubbed Holiday Heroes region of the park, standing before a theater showing a Six Flags Holiday in the Park special attraction, “Frost.”

It’s nice and warm in the theater, just as the festively-dressed door attendants promised.  And we’re pleased that there were many empty rows to pick from.

The 25-minute show is packed, the announcer says, with “astounding feats of acrobatic artistry.”

The acrobatic artists in “Frost” included this dude:

And don’t let the goofy green hats fool you. These two are serious about being limber.

Holiday Craze Mirror Maze

Our next stop was the Holiday Craze Mirror Maze ($6 per person, $5 for members and passholders), which sounds like a seasonally-themed episode of “Succession” but is in actuality a Holiday in the Park indoor attraction nestled within the park’s North Pole region.

If you like the idea of an experience with darling animated displays of Santa Claus that somewhat randomly includes a mini dance party led by a live elf, this is your maze. The experience is so kid friendly that we were happy to let a 2-year old girl and her family walk ahead of us and lead us through.

My wife appreciated that all maze participants were required to wear disposable rubber gloves. And I appreciated that Snowflake and Plum gamely took time away from their maze-guarding duties to appear in this photo.

Meanwhile, at the Hall of Justice

As the mercury dipped further we availed ourselves of two indoor thrill rides, Justice League: Battle for Metropolis and Skull Mountain, which according to the Six Flags Holiday in the Park map, may be found respectively in the Holiday Heroes and Poinsettia Peak regions of the park.

The thrill level Six Flags assigns to Justice League is moderate, and that’s accurate: Equipped with 3D glasses and a laser blaster, you shoot at targets presented by immersive videos.

What I found more memorable than the ride was the Hall of Justice itself, both the exterior:

And the interior.

Halls of justice everywhere should display these banners, in my opinion.

I rode Skull Mountain for the first time in June. It still feels like “being strapped to a park bench while being propelled along a track.” The dude next to me – I always get to sit with the stranger if there’s an uneven number in our group – elevated my enjoyment of the ride by turning back to his friends and yelling “Keep your eyes shut no matter what. No matter WHAT,” advice that’s largely unnecessary because it’s quite dark inside this rickety mountain.

Our Meal at Six Flags Holiday in the Park

Beyond the existing dining spots in the park, the region seasonally named Merry Marketplace has a dining tent. You can avail yourself of Holiday Spirits — spiked hot chocolate or wine for $10.99 or seasonal beer ($11.99) or the Holiday Feast meal. We partook of the latter. For $17.99, this includes your choice of turkey, ham or lamb. You also get several sides. And, of course, because what would the festive season be without it, you get a pickle on a stick.

The mashed potatoes were a highlight of this plate. We appreciated that you could actually taste the red potatoes and get just the right amount of their texture. My daughters said it reminded them of the turkey and fixings served up by their colleges. This isn’t as backhanded a compliment as it sounds, as the festive meals at school were a cut above the usual fare.

If I look through the lens of, this is a theme park with theme park prices and add the additional lens of, it’s cold, we’re hungry, and our plates are loaded, this is a solid meal for 18 bucks.

Later on we skip that classic seasonal treat, s’mores. Though it was tempting to linger over one of the fire pits to roast some. We opt instead for funnel cake. It’s as enjoyable as ever, especially when it’s still warm, especially when you’re at an outdoor café table in November.

What Made Six Flags Holiday in the Park All Worth It

Both during our June visit and today, the only attraction with a significant line was the cable car ride, Skyway. You board this ride in the Lakefront area, aka Poinsettia Peak.

As we waited on the cable car line – which maybe lasted all of 15 minutes –  I pondered that throughout the day we had passed from region to region, seeing the park’s attractions festooned with seasonal flair and trees adorned with holiday lights. And it was nice. “Festive without being too gaudy,” as Toby put it.

But as we head skyward in our cable car for the 8-minute round trip ride, I realize something.  Throughout the day, I literally wasn’t seeing the forest for the trees. At ground level, we could certainly appreciate the different parts of the park and its many decorations and tree lights.

But when it gets dark and you’re 104 feet off the ground, the Holiday in the Park lights look quite different.

Because from up here, you CAN see the forest for the trees. You can see it all. Toby is a Jersey girl and grew up visiting this park. She noted that other times of year if you ride Skyway at night, it’s nice to see the lights of the thrill rides. But you don’t see these dazzling lights.

Would we visit Six Flags Holiday in the Park again? Yes, especially if we again arrive in early afternoon to take advantage of the relative warmth and light crowds. Especially if we bring warmer coats. And we would definitely stay until sundown and do Skyway again.

After Skyway, I loitered in the cold while my family scoured one of the shops. I was transfixed by a Christmas tree seemingly doing a mini light show just for me.

As the twinkling lights cycled from one color to the next I became aware of Sarah Evans on the sound system, who at that moment happened to be singing that “nothing is better than all of us together at Christmas.”

Even when it isn’t Christmas or the park isn’t Holiday in the Park, I take her point.

Six Flags Holiday in the Park: Other Ways, Other Locations

Does exploring a theme park on foot in the cold not pack appeal? Then you can have the Six Flags Holiday in the Park Drive-Thru Experience from the comfort of your vehicle at Six Flags Great Adventure and in other chilly places like Chicago’s Six Flags Great America.

Does exploring a thrill park in the the cold pack zero appeal by foot or car? The warmer climes of Six Flags Magic Mountain in Los Angeles and Six Flags Over Texas in Dallas also offer Holiday in the Park. Visit sixflags.com to see which ones offer the annual holiday experience.

The Jersey Devil Coaster is the tallest, fastest, and longest single rail coaster on the planet. It’s open now at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey. Ride along with this TravelingDad and his daughters as they test the ride. And learn why you should wait to order that funnel cake sundae and just how tough it can be to impress a teen.

The writer and his daughters were given free admission to the park to test the Jersey Devil Coaster.

“They have a funnel cake sundae here,” my daughter, Maya, 18, says as we pass the Six Flags Funnel Cake Factory.

“We should probably wait on that,” I say.

Not because it’s 10:45 a.m. That’s actually the perfect time to have warm funnel cake blanketed with powdered sugar and luscious vanilla ice cream.

We’re waiting because Maya, her big sister Libby, 21, and I have an appointment to ride the new Jersey Devil Coaster at Six Flags Great Adventure. TravelingDad is among the media invited to preview the ride on this hot but not unbearable 9th of June.

Warming Up on Other Roller Coasters

With a few hours to kill before trying out the Jersey Devil Coaster, we warm up with some other roller coasters. First, a turn on Batman: The Ride. I’m okay afterwards, though I’m pretty sure I’m tasting food from two days ago.

We also knock off Skull Mountain and Runaway Mine Train, which feel like variations on being strapped to a park bench while being propelled along a track, although the latter bench has a cushion that softens the blow a bit as you’re thrown from side to side.

Also on our agenda is Superman: Ultimate Flight, but we just call it “Supaman” in my family. It is far and away, or perhaps up, up, and away, our favorite.

And then Libby takes a breather while Maya and I ride Bizarro. I keep my eyes closed the whole time and there’s an icy cold film of sweat on my forehead as we leave the ride.

“Dad, you’re white,” Maya says, and she’s not wrong. Bizarro has literally thrown me for a loop. Maya has long loved this ride and is fine with it.

Pandemic Protocols at Six Flags Great Adventure

As the three of us wander the park, the crowds are happily thin. Perhaps because it’s a Thursday morning.

But also, as of this writing, the world is still in the midst of a pandemic, battling a deadly coronavirus. Though you almost wouldn’t know it because of the many smiling faces, nearly all maskless.

For much of our visit, except for when we go into shops and eateries, we are maskless, too. According to the current safety protocols posted on the Six Flags website, “Face coverings are not mandatory during your visit but are recommended for unvaccinated individuals.”

There are plenty of hand sanitizer stations on hand as well as “SixSafe” Covid-19 reminders, including the almost quaint “wear your mask.”

If you told me on June 9, 2020 that a year later I’d be wandering around Great Adventure with my kids, I wouldn’t have believed you.

Say What You Need to Say

The park sound system is working tirelessly and loudly to pump that pre-summer fun energy into the atmosphere. The playlist is eclectic. When we stumbled off Bizarro earlier, the first sounds I heard as my head cleared were Brad Paisley explaining that “you lost your job and you need a drink, you look around and start to think,” and well, that’s the perfect song for this moment.

I still have my job, but sure need a drink. But that will have to wait until after the Jersey Devil Coaster.

Presently over the loudspeakers, John Mayer is relentlessly urging us all to “say what you need to say,” over and over, at which point Maya says to Libby irritability, “Is this the WHOLE song?” as if it’s Libby’s fault the lyrics of the song are ruthlessly repetitive and the park is playing it.

Maya’s outburst reminds me how much I miss spending time with these girls who enjoy being sisters. They do have a baby brother, Felix, who is home with mom. Which leads me to ask my daughters:

“When was the last time the three of us hung out without your brother?”

“I don’t know, but it was probably 2005,” Libby says, which was before he was born and is a bit of an exaggeration, but not much of one.

All About the Jersey Devil Coaster

I pull out the Jersey Devil Coaster press release handed to me by Six Flags PR when we arrived. I learn, among other things, that:

• The ride has a 48-inch height requirement. Let’s be clear about that.
• You sit single file — aka inline style, aka one rider per row — with your legs hanging down on either side of the track. Watch the video below for a better idea of what this looks like.
• The Jersey Devil Coaster, which can go up to 58 mph on 3,000 feet of track, will be the fastest and longest single-rail coaster on the planet. I mention this to Maya. She says those superlatives are all well and good, but points out that there are not that many single-rail roller coasters in the world. She’s not snotty about it, but as a theme park enthusiast and architecture student she knows her stuff. Older teens keep it real, Six Flags.
• The longest single-rail roller coaster is also the world’s tallest such coaster at 13 stories, will be the park’s 13th roller coaster, and has its opening date to the public on June 13, 2021. If you’re a triskaidekaphobe you’ve already stopped reading, but the usage of 13 is a hat tip to the enduring New Jersey myth of the Jersey Devil who haunts the Pine Barrens, a million creepy forested acres that meets the northern edge of Jackson Township, where Six Flags Great Adventure & Safari are based.
• The Jersey Devil, according to one version of the myth, was reportedly the child of the Devil and Pine Barrens resident Jane Leeds, aka Mother Leeds. Ms. Leeds did not immediately respond to requests for comment for this article.

Signage outside the ride suggests the Jersey Devil is “a two-legged creature with a horse or goat-like head and large, bat-like wings,” so you could likely pick him out of a line-up. Here’s an artist’s rendering in the form of the statue in front of the roller coaster.

While the rest of the Jersey Devil Coaster is demonically themed, the design stops way short of horror, as this cute sign above the ride entrance underscores.

And a devil’s face adorns the front of each of the four 12-passenger coaster trains, technically bringing the number of riders in each train to, you guessed it, 13.

We check in for the ride. A Great Adventure PR person, Stacy, who kindly took the photo above, asks: “TravelingDad plus two?”

Yes, that sums it up.

Our Ride on the Jersey Devil Coaster

Here’s how the ride went, literally from my perspective.

Jersey Devil Coaster: Our Review

We agreed that the first moments of the ride were the best.

“The anticipation as you move slowly up that first hill – and the fact that it’s loud – makes it scarier, and builds the intensity,” Libby said.

And once you crest that first hill, the subsequent first drop – as you could perhaps tell from my face in the video – is truly thrilling. Maya agreed. It’s an 87-degree drop. And to be in the front car of a roller coaster looking into the abyss of a near right angle? Well, that’s an experience you carry with you for a while.

Libby enjoyed the first drop but liked the zero-g roll more — “It felt like I was floating.” And I heard a few roller coaster enthusiasts murmuring approvingly about the roll later on once we were off the ride.

A Middle-Aged Scream Machine

Maya and Libby agree that the drops of the Jersey Devil Coaster are similar to the Incredicoaster in Disneyland. The feeling on the inversions, they suggest, were similar to those on Bizarro.

As with Bizarro, Batman, and several other of its thrill rides, Great Adventure gives Jersey Devil a “Maximum” thrill rating for its intense elements.

And this is accurate, given the Devil’s first drop following its climb up a 130-foot lift hill. There are three “dramatic inversions,” according to Six Flags. These include a “180-degree stall, raven dive, and zero-gravity roll.”

Though amidst all my screaming — which was not fake, I am a middle-aged scream machine — the only part I remember for sure was the first drop. To recall the rest, I just watch the video over and over, and you should, too.

For Maya, it was hard to articulate precisely what was off for her about the ride, but I gathered she would have preferred slightly different pacing. She liked various elements, but they were almost flying by too fast for her to enjoy them.

Jersey Devil Coaster: The Bottom Line

We enjoyed the Jersey Devil Coaster’s opening moves and selected moments throughout. It truly is a thrill to help break in a brand-new roller coaster. But we prefer the overall experience on some of the park’s other thrill rides.

To put it another way, while parents are supposed to love all their children equally, at Six Flags Great Adventure you are not required to love all the roller coasters equally.

We have the opportunity to ride the Jersey Devil Coaster again, but after three hours of thrill rides we quit while our brains are still intact and turn our attention to filling our stomachs.

What to Eat at Six Flags Great Adventure

Once done with the rides, we knew exactly what we wanted to eat.

Pork Roll

Pork Roll is about as New Jersey as it gets. This sandwich had three thoughtfully grilled slices comingled with two heavenly squares of American Cheese. And food snobs, cover your ears: God Bless American Cheese.

Not to be reductive, but it’s a ham and cheese sandwich. But it’s the ham and cheese sandwich I needed after many months of having no pork roll at all.

Funnel Cake

And at last, the quintessential amusement park food, funnel cake.

We knew this is how the day would end and if you read the opening line of this article, so did you. Libby opted for a plain funnel cake and Maya and I shared the sundae version. The funnel cake itself was pretty good, but the ice cream was exceptional.

We ran around Six Flags Great Adventure all afternoon. But my favorite part of the day was when we sat on a narrow wooden fence, quietly watching riders crest the crazy bell-curved track of Kingda Ka. It was almost Zen-like.

We didn’t ride Kingda Ka, Nitro, El Toro or every other last roller coaster in the place. We didn’t have the fortitude. But maybe next time.

And there will be a next time, because my 14-year-old son was at school while we were here. And I’ll likely tire of him saying, “My sisters spent the day riding roller coasters at Six Flags Great Adventure and all I got was this freakishly long package of multi-colored cotton candy.”

How to Get to Six Flags Great Adventure

You can drive here and park, which is the case with nearly every amusement park in the galaxy.

If you depart from New York, a cost-effective way to get here is by New Jersey Transit Bus. That’s what we did. On the morning we went, the bus ride cost each of us $38 round-trip. It took about ninety minutes each way, between Port Authority Bus Terminal in NYC and Six Flags in Jackson Township, New Jersey. NJ Transit also offers fare packages that include the bus and park admission.

Disclaimer: Six Flags Great Adventure covered our park admission as part of the Jersey Devil Coaster media preview. And as I hope is evident, my honest opinions are my own. I paid for transportation and the food described herein.

For an incredibly culturally mixed experience, start a trip in Saguenay-Lac Saint-Jean region of Québec, Canada. In many visits to Montréal and Ville de Québec (Québec City), the urban mixed English-French experience and the historic cities are flavors of Europe in North America.

The region is a recreationalist’s dream. Lac-Saint-Jean is over 1,000km2 (387mi2) and drains into the Saguenay River. The river drops 90m (300ft) as it moves southeast into Baie des Ha! Ha! and becomes the Fjord-du-Saguenay, the Saguenay Fjord. The fjord is one of the rare intracontinental fjords and runs for 105km (65mi). Its deepest point is 270m (900ft). Instead of emptying into an ocean, the fjord connects with the Fleuve Saint-Laurent, the St. Lawrence Seaway. The fjord is perfect for inland sea kayaking.

A side note about Québécoise websites: most of the sites are in French, but in the top bar, click the “EN” or “English” menu command for an English version. Avoid using the “translate this page” option. Some sites are only in French, and the browser translator will be needed. These are noted as “(French)” right after the link.

Heading three hours north of Ville de Québec climbs into the enchanted world of the Reserve Faunique des Laurentides (Forest Reserve of the Laurentides). The nearly 7,900km (3,500mi2) on an excellent divided highway weaving around lakes, rivers and lands in the heart of the Canadian boreal forest, the “great north woods.” The region is a year-round wonderland. Visiting in the heart of the subarctic winter means being well-prepared to be warm. It was easy to see why Saguenay-Lac Saint-Jean is a fantastic place to visit anytime during the year.

The region is known for its wild blueberries, jams and blueberry products. Even the bicycle route around the lake is the Blueberry Bike Route. There is much more than the delicious berry to Saguenay-Lac Saint-Jean. This is the land of outdoor activities. From the United States, a visit to Québec province will be much richer if it includes the cultural and recreation experience of winter in Saguenay-Lac Saint-Jean.

Économusée Bilodeau, Normandin

Frozen in its soon-to-be-museum exhibit pose, the clean white fur and benign expression made me look for the Coca-Cola bottle in its paw. The long dark claws were a real reminder that this polar bear wasn’t interested in carrying the kids; he was planning to hunt me for lunch. Luckily, although the polar bear was less than ten feet from where I was standing, it was a “taxidermy.”

“Our taxidermy division poses animals for museums, universities and very rich people,” said Samuel Bilodeau, grandson of the founder of Bilodeau Canada, a global purveyor of fur and leather clothing, Québec’s original industry. “We design and make our own clothing and boots, have taxidermy artists and create robotic animals for television and movies. ‘A Night In The Museum’ was one of the films using our animals.”

Bilodeau gently speaks fluent English and moves us through his family’s économusée in the quaint village of Normandin in the Saguenay-Lac Saint-Jean region of Québec, Canada. We’re about three hours north of Ville de Québec (Québec City). Normandin has about 3,100 people, and Bilodeau employs several hundred as the village’s largest employer.

Économusée

Économusée is a global network of museums, most often contained within a business. The tours allow touting its traditional Québécoise industrial roots. There are 28 in Québec, eight in Saguenay-Lac Saint-Jean, more than any other region or city in the province.

“There would be no Québec without fur. It’s what brought the French to the area in the first place. Almost all historical trade in Québec started with the fur trappers, traders and tanners,” Bilodeau adds. “We are a certified sustainable company, and we use every portion of the pelts we receive. No waste.”

Watching artisans craft the famous the Mounties’ iconic fur hat

He picks up a fur hat, one of the hundreds the company is making for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, he says, “These hats get a lot of rough use, they have to be warm, comfortable and last for years. Only natural fur can do that.”

We watch as his team uses every scrap of a pelt to make the hat. Even the loose fur combed out of the hat is sent to Le Chevrier du Nord, who add the fur into the skeins of mohair they market. It’s also a museum, Économusée de la Lainerie, in Saint-Fulgence.

The last stop in the économusée is in the taxidermy shop where a monstrous jawbone from a beluga whale spans more than the length of the three worktables.

“This whale washed ashore in Massachusetts,” explains Bilodeau. “We’re doing the work on the jawbone, and other specialists are working on the rest of the body. The whole whale is longer than a house.”

And longer than the taxidermy studio, he added.

Économusées may have hours that vary with seasons, so checking the individual webpages is worthwhile when planning a trip. Wild blueberry jam and the chocolatier are next on my list.

Zoo Sauvage – The Zoo Without Walls, Saint-Felicien

“Well, this one is quite a ham,” laughs Cindy Lavoie, a guide for Zoo Sauvage, an open range wildlife conservation center in the Saguenay-Lac Saint-Jean region of Québec. It’s just a couple of us riding in a bus on a snow-packed road for an exclusive tour.

Routine visitors, even in winter, tour Zoo Sauvage in open trains in the summer, closed up and heated in the winter. The heat was a good thing, as an unexpected cold front dropped temperatures to extreme lows. It was -23C (-9F) the morning of our winter excursion. Even so, the train was packed with visitors heading out for their tour.

As we entered the controlled area, wildlife roams freely on hundreds of acres open ranges, a massive bull elk walked up to the bus and posed. Cindy stops the bus and cameras click. We head a little further along in the large mammal range where elk, bison and moose share the woods and grasslands.

Zoo Sauvage incorporates Québécoise history with the preserved original ranch log cabin and historically reconstructed logging camps of the “great north woods,” after all, and this is the real Boreal Forest we’re visiting. The historic ranch cabin and other buildings within the zoo preserve are available for group use. We step out of the bus onto the platform in the logger’s dining hall to shoot some photos.

No Taking Selfies with Moose or Wolf

Heading back to the bus, we’re stopped dead in our tracks. An old bison is slowly walking up the road right by the door of the bus. The massive bull stops gazes at the bus, an intruder upon his range. We’re feeling the cold, and Cindy stops us short of the bus.

Eventually, it felt like forever, the old guy moves on and we rush into the bus. The animals are used to people in their territories, yet they are still wild. Visitors are not allowed to try to shoot selfies with a moose or arctic wolf.

He trod at a leisurely pace in front of the bus until meeting up with other members of the herd at a feeding trough. In the winter, zoo personnel ensures that all the animals have plenty to eat. Zoo Sauvage’s Accueil, the visitor center, has as café to provide the same for visitors.

Every boreal continent at the zoo

The preserve is separate ranges representing the boreal forest’s circling the globe. The ecosystem sits below the arctic circle on every continent. Tundra, Mongolia, Asia, North American mountains and the mixed forest are all represented with preserved wildlife.

From the Accueil, there is a 4.5km pedestrian walk leading to some of the continental representations, including a salmon river, Rivière au Saumon. Mammals, birds and other boreal denizens are in this area. There is also a children’s zoo at the top of the mixed forest.

In the bitter cold, our exposure on the pedestrian walk was limited to the polar bear habitat. We didn’t see the cub, but the mother was near the path and headed away as we approached, but still was quite close. There’s quite a difference between seeing polar bear taxidermy and the real thing. The claws are long, and she can really move.

Zoo Sauvage is open all year, although there are reduced numbers of train rides in winter. Refer to its website.

Visiting a First Nation: Société d’Histoire et d’Archéologie de Mashteuiatsh Musée, Mashteuiatsh

On the point of the western shore Lac-Saint-Jean, where the Rivière Ashuapmushuan enters the lake, sits the newly remodeled museum of a Québécoise First Nation, the Mashteuiatsh. In February, the lake is a frozen expanse of snow-covered ice.

The Society of History and Archeology of the Mashteuiatsh Musée Amerindien de Mashteuiatsh (French) is more than exhibits; it’s a living representation of the Mashteuiatsh. In Spring 2020, the renovations will be complete. The story of the First Nation will be presented in photographs and personal histories and memories.

Rapha­ël Langevin, a tourism technician for the museum, is showing current and future exhibits. At a blank wall, she paints a picture with pride for the coming exhibition. She says, “We’re collecting photos from every member of the community to put into frames on this wall. We want to show that this is a long-lived culture.”

Make a Mashteuiatsh Craft

The museum is a combination of static, changing and interactive exhibits. It also provides children with an opportunity to learn to make traditional Mashteuiatsh crafts and art. Part of its beauty is its collection of evolving artifacts used by the community members. Snowshoes, canoes, baskets and dolls are a few of the antiquities displayed in the exhibit halls.

The new exhibit hall provides space for interaction with community members. The layout has visitors circling the story of the Nation.

Museum hours vary by season; museum guides are multilingual.

Living on Ice: Village Sur Glace, Roberval

It takes getting used to the idea of driving on ice. Dropping off the land in the Jardin des Ursulines in the lakeside town of Roberval and pulling up to Village Sur Glace (French), the Ice Village is a drive-of-faith. Looking at the collection of portable buildings surrounding the village, along with a group of parked cars and trucks, brought a double-take to this desert-dwelling writer.

“We’ve got an Olympic size ice rink here on the ice,” explained Alexandra Gosselin, the director-general for Village Sur Glace. She pointed to a wide oval track where plowing the lake snow clears the ice for skating. It wasn’t too busy, being a workday. “This place is filled with people on the weekend. There’s a lot to do.”

The center of the oval has an outdoor playground, and a cluster of children climb and slide, playing in the snow. The village is essentially a recreation vehicle park on ice. It’s hard to fathom ice thick enough to hold all the trailers and vehicles.

In Québec: Where There’s Ice, There’s Hockey

“There’s an area of hockey over there,” Alexandre said as we walked in the snow between the skate track and the village homes. We go into one of the recreation vehicles. “These are set up for families, corporate retreats, parties, and some are rigged for overnight accommodations.”

Walking to the edge of the village, she points out Isle aux Coulevres. It’s about 4km (2.5mi) from the ice village to the island. A group of people on Nordic skis head across the ice towards the wooded island. She says, “That trail is used by snowshoers, skiers and snowmobilers. We also have fat (tire) bikes.”

Back in the welcome shack, Alexandre talks about the equipment available to use at the site. There is a stack of child strollers designed like mini-Zambonis. Another trailer is for ski and skate rental. There are also food vendors for those who don’t want to cook. Planned activities fill the calendar throughout the season.

Village Sur Glace operates from January through March each winter.

Parc National des Monts-Valin, Saint-Fulgence

Across the boreal forest, Québec has publicly accessible lakes, rivers, preserves and stunning national parks. Parc National des Monts-Valin, nestled into the mountains above the Saguenay Fjord, is one destination.

With peaks towering nearly 1,000m (3,300ft) above the fjord, the park has distinct seasonal activities.

Québécoise live for winter sports. In the national park, there are trails for snowshoeing, cross-country skiing and backcountry winter hiking. Although it’s not common in the lower 48 U.S. states, fat (tire) cycling is prevalent in Saguenay. Park trails cover more than 75km (46mi). There are winter cabin and hut accommodations available throughout the park. Snowmobile routes circumnavigate the park through valleys and over mountains providing for nearly 400km (250mi) of groomed, marked trails.

Monts-Valin, when the snow is gone, adds water sports—canoeing, kayaking, fishing, hiking, backpacking and camping, and mountain biking. Trails range from 2.5km (1.5mi) to 22km (13mi), and longer distances are possible with interconnecting loop trails.

Contact Nature, La Baie

If ecotourism were to have a model organization, it would be Contact Nature in La Baie; the most eastern of the three municipalities comprise the city of Saguenay. The others are Chicoutimi and Saguenay. In the car with Director-General Marc-André Galbrand, we head towards the ZEC Mars-Moulin (French) southwest of La Baie.

The zone d’exploitation contrôlée, a forest controlled harvest zone, adjoins the area of the Rivière au Mars managed by Contact Nature. We’re stopping at Centre Plein Air Bec-Scie. The lodge sits to the side of the road with a packed parking lot of vehicles on one side and snowmobiles on the other.

It’s winter and the air temperature is around -25C (-13F). We grab lunch at the café, then Marc-André shows off the facilities. Priced for families, most equipment rental for children is at no charge or significantly reduced cost. There are free lockers to gear up for activities.

Winter includes Nordic skiing, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, fat (tire) bike riding and dogsledding. That’s where we’re heading. It’s going to be an abbreviated run due to time limitations, but this experience is different than the trails at Descent Malbaie in Charlevoix. Instead of dogs pulling the sleds on forest roads, at Contact Nature, the run is on a narrow track deep into the Boreal Forest.

Not Even a Barking Dog in the Forest

The heavy snow and thick woods make the trip soothingly quiet. The dogs are all excited about the run. When we stop to rest, they hop around, bark, roll in the snow and are anxious to start going again. We’re moving along on the return loop when Julien slows the dogs to a stop letting them rest briefly at the top of a rise.

“It’s hard; it’s hard if you don’t like it,” he says in thickly French-accented English, meaning, “it’s hard not to like it,” as we look into a thick grove of birch trees on one side of the trail, and an opening in the copse of trees looking onto the Rivière à Mars. “I just wanted to show you my office.”

In summer, Contact Nature manages fishing, canoeing, kayaking, hiking, backpacking, and tent or mini-cabin camping. The backcountry trails are great for mountain biking.

Contact Nature is open all year with winter and Summer-Fall activities.

Pêche Blanche, Villages d’Anse-à-Benjamin et Anse-à-Philippe, Le Baie

“Visiteurs étrangers? Nous fêterons!” says Hélene, as the group of us crowd into the tiny, but very warm, fishing cabin owned by the first lady and her husband, Marc, the “mayor” of Village d’Anse-à-Benjamin, an ice fishing village sitting on Baie des Ha! Ha! of the shore of La Baie. The baie is the geologic beginning of the Saguenay Fjord.

Our group includes Marc-André from Contact Nature, the organization managing the ice fishing village, and five friends from France who are visiting Saguenay and staying a couple of nights at the ice fishing village. Hélène carefully pours a big dollop of erable (maple syrup) into a small plastic shot glass and then floats a hefty shot of ice-cold vodka on top. Marc passes the shot glasses all around, “You let the vodka sit on your tongue until the syrup runs in”to your mouth,” he says.

“À santé!” we all shout.

Fishing “shacks” boast bunk beds and a chemical toilet. At the front doors is a bucket with several freshly caught frozen sea bass. In the constant below 0C (32F) temperature, there’s no need to keep the fish in the freezer. After all, this village is sitting on around 90cm (3ft) of solid ice.

“We have engineers check the ice thickness, and that controls how we distribute the fishing shacks and assign parking spaces,” explains Marc-André. “The Saguenay police patrol the village and will ticket anyone who parks in unmarked spaces.”

A Village Collage

The fishing village has hundreds of fishing shacks in different sizes, shapes and colors. Some are on rails, some on wheels, all are towable. As Marc-André talks, a snowmobile passes towing a small fishing shack down the street. It may be on the ice, but the village has plowed roads, traffic control signs, street names and addresses.

The water is so deep under the village that it has both fresh and saltwater zones with a wide variety of fish. Fish weighing upwards of 25kg to 30kg (55 to 65 pounds) and more were caught through the holes in the ice.

The Contact Nature fishing villages are open from mid-December to mid-March. The rest of the year, the fishing is from boats on open water.

Musée du Fjord, La Baie

Back on snow-covered land along the south shore of the bay stands the Musée du Fjord, the Museum of the Fjord. This family-oriented museum includes an aquarium simulating the 275m (900ft) depth of the only navigable fjord in North America.

With its salt and freshwater zones, the fjord is home to many saltwater dwelling fish, such as sea bass and unique-in-the-world six-point starfish. The floor-to-ceiling aquarium has species native to the waterway, including trout, salmon, redfish, halibut, turbot and cod. The exhibit has more than 650 specimens.

Across from the aquarium is the “petting pond” where kids can touch fish and ocean dwellers in a shallow, interactive exhibit space. The museum offers a video about the fjord, permanent and changing exhibits.

Musée du Fjord is open all year.

Getting to Saguenay-Lac Saint Jean

The region is served from Montréal at Saguenay-Bagotville Aéroport by Air Canada, Sunwing, PAL and Pascan airlines. The Québec government has service from Québec City. Saguenay-Lac Saint-Jean is also accessible by car from Québec City. It’s a beautiful drive. In addition to the four airlines serving Saguenay, Québec City Jean-Lesage International Aéroport is served by American, United and WestJet.

It’s about a three-hour drive using Québec Route 185, Route Antonio-Talbot. In winter, rent an all-wheel or four-wheel drive vehicle. The road from the provincial capital is a divided, limited-access highway. It’s an easy and beautiful drive, most of the way through Réserve Faunique des Laurentides.

Celebrating Winter in Saguenay-Lac Saint-Jean

While the winter is beautiful in Québec, it does require some planning and layering to stay warm. During the four days in Saguenay-Lac Saint-Jean, an unexpected cold front dropped the temperature between -20C (-4F) to -42C (-40F) range with the wind whipping across the lake and down from the arctic. When planning an active day, avoid cotton and plan to layer up.

Layers of clothing that transpire perspiration and block the wind are perfect. I wore Knocker men’s polyester long underwear every day, an REI Co-Op Stacked shirt with a sweater. Sometimes I wore a breathable fabric sweatshirt. With my ski parka, a Buff multi-functional headwear over my neck and ears, wool cap and ski gloves, I was never cold. I also wore a glove liner to give my finger the flexibility to use my Canon EOS 80D camera.

Celebrating Summer in Saguenay-Lac Saint-Jean

Exploring the Boreal forest in the winter provides unique life experiences for the family, there’s more in the summer. This is the land of the wild blueberry. When the snows melt and flowers bloom, seasonal économusées are open featuring local craft foods and all things blueberry. Even the beautiful bike trail around-Lac-Saint-Jean is called the Veloroute des Bleuets, the bike route of blueberries.

Temperatures are moderate and there is a little less humidity than experiences along le Fleuve Saint-Laurent. Saguenay-Lac Saint-Jean is splashed with hundreds of lakes in the forests. The Saguenay Fjord is an adventure in canoe or kayak.

Visiting the Beautiful Lac-Saint-Jean in Quebec with Kids

Quebec’s Saguenay-Lac Saint-Jean Region

5 Fun Things to do in Charlevoix, Quebec

Winter in Quebec City and Montreal with Kids

The group has the Austrian luges on the ground. Several have already plopped down on the sled. Others are still looking askance at the traditional wooden sleds with a little apprehension showing on their faces, including me.

We’re about to start a 7.5km (4.7-mile) sled run that drops nearly 700 meters (2,300 feet) down the face of Le Massif near Petite-Rivière-Saint-François in the Charlevoix region.  Located in North America, about two hours east of Ville de Québec (Quebec City), Québec, it’s one of five family activities that celebrate the Canadian winter in Charlevoix region.

The trip to Charlevoix started with the globally famous Quebec Winter Carnival in Quebec City several days earlier. The Canadians call it “Carnaval.” More on that later.

Disclosure: The writer was hosted for this trip.

Le Massif de Charlevoix: Well below zero and well above just plain fun

A brisk wind from the Canadian Fleuve Saint-Laurent chills the -30 Celsius (-22F) temperature at the summit. Just stepping off the snowcat that ferried our group to the summit, wool hats pulled low, my Buff headgear is snugly covering my ears and neck. I pull the lower portion up so it’s over the nose to create a balaclava. Gloves sealed tight. Nerves steeled. It’s time to go. We’re at a ski resort, but we’re going to sled.

“Yee haw!!”

With the swoosh of our toboggans’ Teflon-coated wooden rails on hard-packed snow, we’re racing on sleds down the slopes. For the brave sledders, the luge can hit speeds as fast as 40km/h (25 mph). I drop my foot into the snow to slow and a spray of white powder covers my face. Canada is on the metric system, so this winter, we’re trying to use “meters.”

“Remember, put your entire foot down flat into the snow,” shouts Maude Barrette Desjardins, marketing director for Le Massif de Charlevoix, and our tour guide for the roughly one hour run down the side of the mountain. “These traditional wooden Austrian luges were made for us. The sled run is a unique family outdoor activity.”

It’s not the high-tech carbon fiber skeleton used in the Olympics; the Austrian luge has a woven seat. The remainder of the toboggan is wood. A Teflon strip is added to the rails. The luge is controlled by dropping a left or right foot into the snow to turn left or right, or lean the opposite way, right or left to turn left or right. Remember, feet are the opposite of leans. This is a cross-country run in a winter wonderland.

There’s a surprise at the bottom of the run

Le Massif is a multiple-use year-round Canadian outdoor experience filled with a variety of winter activities. It has a ski run, a luge, cross-country and snowshoeing trails, snowmobiling and lodging.  The only thing missing is snow tubing.  A major expansion is underway by owner Daniel Gauthier, the founder of Cirque du Soleil.

Once at the bottom, we headed for the line waiting for gondola’s back to the summit where we will feel winter in the wind chill.

“Follow me,” said Maude. “We have a surprise for you.”

Thinking the surprise was to be avoiding the line, we were quite surprised to find ourselves watching the gondola tenders place two red checkered cloth-covered tables in the car and load up the table with chocolate fondue, cheese, fruit and marshmallows.

There wasn’t a bite left once we got to the top 20 minutes later.

The Flavor Route in Charlevoix

We slip into Famille Migneron de Charlevoix, a fromagerie – cheese maker – between the villages of Saint-Urbain and Baie Saint-Paul, where Québec routes 138 and 381 meet between the two towns. This is the true land of the Quebecois.

Robert was working the counter and brought out several of the local Canadian cheeses crafted at the fromagerie. Cut into bite-sized cubes; he shared the various cheeses we could see stacked in the climate-controlled cheese cave. We sampled three of the white, tangy cheeses. Le Migneron, Le Ciel (Heaven) de Charlevoix and Le Tomme d’Elles. Then he brought out Le Secret de Maurice, a creamy, spreadable cheese that compares quite favorably with French brie.

“We don’t usually share this at the tasting counter,” he says, cutting away the top of the thick rind to reveal the creamy, spreadable white cheese inside. Taking small spoons and dipping them one-after-the-other into the cheese, Robert says, “Here, try this. You’ll love it.”

La Route des Saveurs (The Flavor Trail) is a region-wide loop connecting passionate producers of food and beverage across the area. Along the Flavor Trail, some artisan producers are closed or have reduced hours in winter. However, that shouldn’t discourage the beautiful scenic drive. Charlevoix region is a place to savor locally produced, created and crafted foods and wines.

The villages of Baie-Saint-Paul and La-Malbaie anchor the trip and make great places for spending the night. Many of the producers have shops on site between the two villages. Travel eastbound on Québec 362, Route de Fleuve, hugging the shore of the Saint Lawrence Seaway, and return westbound on Québec Route 138 through the mountains.

Stop at the Jetté des Capelans on Québec Route 262 at Saint-Irénée-les-Bains and walk out to the picnic area in the Fleuve de Saint Laurent. In winter, you can hear the song of the ice flows in the seaway.

Snow Cat Shuttle, Fatbikes, Nordic Skis, Snowshoes in Parc-National-Des-Haute-Gorges-de-la-Rivière-Malbaie

“This is a lot harder than it looks,” said Linda Cabasin, one of our group of writers, as she pushed her fatbike, a fat-tired bicycle, through the thickening snow. “You really have to get rolling to keep upright.”

Heidi Gollub, another writer in the group, was moving slowly on the snow-packed trail. The two were trailing Jessica Napier, whose tires threw snow into the air as she passed us at quite a clip. “This is fun,” she yelled as she flew by.

In the distance, a cluster of three fatbike riders was rolling smoothly over the trail heading upriver towards the frozen Russeau waterfall. Their laughter echoed off the adjoining sides of the deep gorge holding the Le Draveur Visitors Centre in Parc-National-Des-Haute-Gorges-de-la-Rivière-Malbaie. The park is quite the destination for a get-away winter or summer.

Sights around Parc-National-des-Haute-Gorges-de-la-Rivière-Malbaie

A snowcat shuttle takes visitors to La Chute-du-Russeau-Blanc, an ice-encrusted waterfall with flows under the ice, places for ice climbing and scenic trails deep into the forest. Shuttle reservations are required. The snowcat loops twice daily. At the end of the ride is a stunning landscape, the froze waterfall, and he very committed winter sports enthusiast can ice climb.

Starting at the visitor center, there are trails for cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and the fatbike rides. The park clears a portion of snow off the ice on Rivière Malbaie for the Canadian national sport, hockey. If a game is not underway, the area is used for ice skating.

Just under an hour northwest of Village La Malbaie, Le Draveur Visitors Centre sits in a deeply carved gorge on Rivière Malbaie. A thick coating of ice clears the way for ice skating, hockey, backcountry skiing, Nordic skiing and fatbike riding. It’s a day-use park during the winter, but the shuttle, the bikes and just walking around can keep a family busy for most of a day.

Dogsledding

“You stand on the brake with both feet and say ‘doucement, doucement,’ to make the dogs stop,” the gravelly voice of André Heller explains as he demonstrates bringing six eager dogs to a halt as our quick lesson in dogsledding. Heller spoke English with a thick Quebecois (Québécoise in french) french accent. We were getting ready to send five teams dogsledding into the wilderness. He looks like central casting’s prototype for the role of a consummate outdoorsman in the woods.

His “office” is the great outdoors, and we stand in the snow overlooking a small lake with its cluster of ice fishing huts.

Heller’s Descent Malbaie takes riders on half and full-day expeditions into the forest about 45 minutes northwest of La Malbaie. Getting set up, the dogs are playful, anxious and noisy. Once they go to work, they are quiet, so the only sound is the swoosh of the dogsled on the trail and the “bon chiens” (good dogs) and commands from Heller.

“À gee! À gee!” Heller says more firmly. That’s the command for a dog team to make a right turn.

“Are you okay?” he asks, in English, after the dogs make the sharp right and the sled nearly tips. “This is a new trail for the dogs, and they don’t quite have it learned.”

Hard to get Québec dogs to understand English commands

The team behind us with Heidi and Jessica aren’t so lucky, their sled slashes in the steep side of the track and falls, tossing Jessica into the snow and leaving Heidi hanging on to keep the dogs from continuing to run. Their laughter lets all know they are okay, and she can’t remember the french commands. She’s shouting, “Stop! Stop!” but the dogs are not bilingual.

Heller says to our team and the other, “Doucement! Doucement!” while standing on our brake. He sets an anchor in the snow and ties a rope around a tree to keep the dogs from running off with me in the sled and goes back to help the other two American writers.

The team of dogs can hit speeds into the 30 to 40 km/h (18 to 25 mph) on this trail. Heller takes riders deep into the snow-covered forest. If you’re riding, you’ll be bundled up in a heavy blanket watching the dogs pull the sled down the trail.

For our half-day ride, we covered nearly 20 km (12.5 miles) on a forest road, a backcountry trail and a segment of Le Traversée de Charlevoix, a 56.8 mile (91.5km) regional hiking trail. Descent Malbaie also offers a full day ride.

Un promenade dans Baie-Saint-Paul

Après déjeuner—a few days in Charlevoix and it’s easy to start picking up french words—after breakfast, we walk from Hôtel St. Germain to the center of Baie-Saint-Paul, a charming Charlevoix village where Rivière du Gouffre meets Le Fleuve de Saint Laurent in Baie Saint-Paul. See, in one paragraph, 16 french words have become part of the vocabulary.  Loosely translated, it’s where the Gouffre River meets the St. Lawrence River in Baie Saint-Paul.

“There was a convent here for many years,” explains Camille Tremblay, our guide from Tourisme Charlevoix. “The city has preserved it and converted into artists studios and public uses.”

The brick building hugs the sidewalk for almost an entire city block on Rue Ambrose-Fafard (Québec Route 362). A block further up the street is the modern Musée d’Arte Contemporain du Baie-Saint-Paul. The museum has not yet opened, so all we can do is look in the windows.

The Art of Quebec

Still craving a chance to see the work of local artists, we’re satiated visiting galleries and craft stores along within the historic buildings and shops that make up the main street, Rue-Saint-Jean-Baptiste, a block further towards the river.

We stopped in Gallerie D’Arte Iris and talked with Stephan, the gallery owner. Featuring work from local artists, as well as an international selection, his gallery has a broad selection of price points from the casual tourist looking for quality souvenirs arts and crafts to the serious collector.

We wander past a microbrewery, restaurants, and a long sequence of galleries. Baie-Saint-Paul is a working town, and the quaint visitor-oriented shops and galleries are set side-by-side with the main street businesses important to any active village.

Celebrating Winter in Quebec

What’s exciting about a winter vacation in Quebec, and winter runs into late April and early May, are the variety of experiential travel opportunities awaiting a family. Quebec City, la Ville de Quebec, is an attraction of its own. The only walled city in North America, the old city (Vieux Quebec) goes bonkers for Carnaval each February. The winter celebrations run from mid-December through mid-April.

Old Quebec spins out from the Fairmont Château Frontenac. This iconic hotel towers over the old city. There are many auberges or inns, and about 45 minutes north of Quebec is the only ice hotel in North America, the Hôtel de Glace. Located in Valcartier, Hôtel de Glace and its hand-carved ice bar is a unique experience surrounded by an indoor water park, snow tubing and a chance to skate. Throughout the city, highly detailed ice sculptures stand in front of stores and restaurants.

In Quebec City, one of the big attractions is the ice canoe race. Teams from all over the province compete in hand-built, 250-pound (114kg) flat-bottom boats that are a cross between a canoe and a rowing scull. The skill and stamina required to paddle against the Saint Lawrence Seaway current and push the canoes across ice flows is clearly evident watching the race.

Carnaval itself used to take place on the Plains of Abraham, but it now is spread throughout the city. The international snow sculpture contest is no longer part of the event, but there is much to see and do along the cobblestone streets of Old Quebec. Even in winter, this is an experiential getaway the family can enjoy.

Getting to the Charlevoix Region

Major airlines serve Lester B. Pearson International Airport (YYZ) in Toronto and Montréal-Trudeau International Airport (YUL). Connecting flights land in Ville de Québec Jean Lesage International Airport (YBQ). There are international flights to Québec from Newark-Liberty International Airport (EWR), and seasonally from Chicago-O’Hare (ORD) and Philadelphia International Airport (PHL), Miami International (MIA) and also direct flights to cities in Mexico.

Charlevoix is about two hours east of Québec City. There is seasonal train service to the region. Beginning in 2021, the train will run year-round. Québec Route 138 is not an expressway or freeway along its full length. The highway paralleling the St. Lawrence River is a divided road in many areas and as easy to drive as a major U.S. highway, even when just one lane in each direction.

Dressing Appropriately for Winter Wonderland of Québec

While the winter is beautiful in Québec, it does require some planning and layering to stay warm. Winter temperatures in Charlevoix range  from -5C to -20C (23F to -4F). A highly unusual cold spell with wind off the water dropped temperatures while we were there to the -20C (-4F) to -42C (-40F) range with the windchill. We were never cold, and the temperatures didn’t stop our outdoor activities. That includes heading outside on a -30C night in a robe and bathing suit to soak in the St. Germain Hotel’s Nordic Spa hot tub. When planning an active day, avoid cotton and plan to layer up. Watch the Quebecois around you to see layering in action.

Layers of clothing that transpire perspiration and block the wind are perfect. I wore Knocker men’s polyester long underwear every day, an REI Co-Op Stacked shirt with a sweater. Sometimes I wore a breathable fabric sweatshirt. With my ski parka, a Buff multi-functional headwear over my neck and ears, wool cap and ski gloves, I was never cold. I also wore a glove liner to give my finger the dexterity to use my Canon EOS 80D camera.

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