I am sitting in front of an open window, enjoying the cool fall morning air. I love fall. September was filled with summer-like days, and as I look down to the bottom right-hand corner of my laptop screen, right under the time is the date 2024-10-03. It's already three days into October and the weather is still so mild and beautiful. Lorraine (my sister, best friend, and publisher) and I went for a walk on the newly paved bike path, which is a part of the 200km Petit Train du Nord, which runs through Mont Tremblant. One of my favorite trails to walk is beside Lac Mercier and it is now paved. Usually, at this time of year, you would be surrounded by trees whose leaves have turned to display their fall colors, but they are still mostly green this year. Mont Tremblant is a ski/golf tourist destination and is very popular in the fall to see the colors. I have lived there for 30 years and recall being in awe of how beautiful the fall colors were. The only problem with tourists coming to see the colors is that there is no guarantee of when the colors will be on display. There is an estimate, but this year we have passed that estimate. I thought of the people sitting on the tour buses that I knew were hoping to experience this amazing transformation of nature. When we had our restaurant for 24 years, we welcomed many customers who came from around the world to see the fall colors. We would get many visitors from Japan and had a menu printed in Japanese so that they could easily select the items from our menu. There was one young couple who came in mid-afternoon after the lunch rush and before the busy supper. This quiet time in the afternoon gave me an opportunity to chat a little with them. They shared that they had booked their trip a year in advance to come and see the Canadian Fall and colors. It was a year when the trees held on to their green leaves a little longer than usual and there were just a few trees with the tops of their trees showing a tinge of red. It's hard for people to imagine when you explain that all the leaves will turn and how magnificent it is to see them. The young couple were leaving the next day and said they wished they could have seen at least one tree. I excitedly shared with them that there was one tree that I knew of that always turned ahead of the others. I drew a little map for them on the napkin and explained to go down 1km, turn right at the light, drive another km or so, past the liquor store on your right and on the corner of the main street, and the 323 stands a beautiful maple tree that is full of red leaves. Lorraine and I had driven by the day before. We often take the 323 when driving to Brockville; it's a shortcut that passes through Ottawa and avoids driving through Montreal and the city traffic. I often think of that young couple from Japan when I pass that tree.

Usually during this time of the year there would be a lot more color. This photo was taken last week, September 26th. I will take more photos as the trees reach their peak now.

This is September 25th 2023 and there is a lot more color on the same path. I was trying to look for the photo of the red tree that turned early and before I knew it I had just spent half an hour looking at beautiful fall photos. I especially like seeing photos of my mom and dad pop up. They were such wonderful loving people.

We live in a beautiful area, and it is especially beautiful during the fall.

September 29 2022, taken from the same path.

Our parents came often to visit us in Tremblant and they especially loved the Canadian Fall as mom referred to it. Dad always had a camera with him. He would have loved the technology of being able to take a photo with your phone. I came across these photos when I was looking if I had a picture of the red tree that always turns red first.

Lorraine and I have put a lot of km on the pretty red car, and a week ago, when Lorraine was having the oil changed, she sent me a text message that started with, "Brace yourself!" We needed new back breaks (already?) and some other thing, which I don't recall because I was still trying to digest $1,000 of work on our new, pretty red car. She reminded me that we had 86,000 km, and that is part of the maintenance. It's true, we drive a lot. We love a road trip and have enjoyed traveling to book signings, meet and greets and talks this past month. Last time I wrote to you we were in Rockport at the Andress Boat Works. We had perfect weather again and enjoyed chatting with everyone that stopped by. Wendy is a great hostess, and we enjoyed getting caught up. The 1000 Island tour boat leaves from Rockport and it was fun watching the people walk across to join the tour boat. I imagined how much fun it would be for them to sail between the islands and hoped they would have a chance to see a freighter during their tour.

It was the third year in a row that we had perfect weather for our book signing, meet and greet in Rockport and the Andress Boat Works hosted by Wendy.

Friday the 27th we were on our way to Eisenhower Lock to a book signing, meet and greet and talk. We left very early from Tremblant and took a route that I had chosen to take us from Tremblant, across the bridge in Cornwall. Then, turn right when you cross into the US to get to Massena. I suggested the route to Lorraine because it was much faster than the route we had originally planned. I am laughing as I am sharing this with you because it was a little more than I expected. I should have entered some specifics into the GPS like Avoid gravel roads, Avoid hairpin turns, Avoid narrow blind spots. Lorraine is an excellent driver and shaved off 10 minutes of the projected time it would take for the trip. When we finally returned to pavement and a straighter road, I shared with her that I had never been car sick before but got a feeling of what it might be like to wish I was on a straighter paved path. We left early enough to have time to stop at the Massena post office to mail some books and calendars. As we came into the post office, we were greeted by the postal worker who recognized us and said "It's the ship chefs" She asked if we had any extra books with us, she wanted to purchase one. She called out to her co-worker explaining who we were, and he also said he would take one. Overhearing a conversation, we had about the book and working on a ship while they were entering and printing labels for our stack of mailers, a woman who was in line chimed in and said that sounds interesting; I'll have a cookbook and a children's book. The next lady that came in said, "Hey, I know you." We laughed, and I signed everyone's books. It was a fun, impromptu gathering at the post office.

We had a great visit at the Massena Post Office. Everyone is so friendly.

We made our way to the Eisenhower Lock and parked on the opposite side of the lock and visitor center to eat the lunch Lorraine had packed for us. She made a ham salad that I scooped up with grain-free tortillas. Lorraine ate hers with plantain chips. It was so delicious. She put lots of pickles in, just like my mom made it. We saw a ship coming up in the distance and thought how nice that the people coming to the book signing, meet and greet and talk would see a ship. I was excited too because I had been passing by the last couple of years watching the new Observation Visitors Center being built. It looked so close to the ship and I was looking forward to seeing it from the inside. The Visitors Center is beautiful and the view of the ships is what I had imagined. So close, I could pass a tray of cookies over from the ship to the onlookers. We were at the Eisenhower Lock at the same time that PBS was filming the New Visitor Center. They asked if we would like to comment with a few words about the new Visitor Center. I laughed inside, thinking, could I comment in just a few words? It's so beautiful and offers such a close-up view of the ships. The producer asked where I was from, and when I mentioned Tremblant and that we had a restaurant there for 24 years, he looked at me and said he didn't realize "Catherine, the Ship to Shore Chef" was "Catherine from Creperie Catherine." He went on to say he had eaten at our place many times. We had a nice conversation, such a small world. We exchanged business cards and I will share the episode with you when it is complete in a few months. We were delighted to see three ships pass through the lock during our time at the visitor center. We saw familiar faces and met new ones. It was funny when someone was visiting the center and had no idea we would be there. I brought my laptop along and had photos to accompany my talk. Before I started the slide show with stories we all agreed that I would stop when the next ship came. We all got up and went out to watch as the ship made it's way through. There is so much information at the visitor center with interactive stations. We sat down to continue when the ship passed and ended with a question period

The Mckeil was the first ship to come through giving me an idea of how really close the ships are to the viewing balcony.

They have a big room where they can have presentations. I enjoy doing a talk with a slide show. It is fun and having the pictures along with the stories.

We took a break from the talk to go out and watch the second ship go through.

It was a fun afternoon and as we were signing books at the end of the afternoon minutes before the visitor center closed we saw another ship approach. It was the Spruceglen. I asked if they would mind waiting a few extra minutes while I went out to say hello. It was fun to see a familiar crew member spotting the ship. He recognized me right away and asked if I would come back. I said I would love to. I had messaged the Captain who was there when I sailed onboard last to ask him to come out and wave, but he wrote back that he was at home. It was nice to see a familiar ship, and as I looked at the outside of the ship, my mind walked through the interior, thinking about the nice new stove they had installed last winter. It was a fun-filled afternoon.

I went out to speak to the mate spotting the ship. He recognized me right away and asked when I was coming back. I would love to go back to the Spruceglen.

The messroom and galley portholes are on the red section starting above the letters SPRUCEGLEN

It is always fun to see friends return to say hello and have their books signed.

On the way back from Massena we stopped to deliver a book, unfortunately no one was home so Lorraine left it inside the door.

It was a busy and very fun day as we made our way across the St Lawrence River and back to Canada.

We stayed with our friends at the Happy Haven, east of Brockville. We enjoyed a leisurely morning sipping coffee on the front porch, waiting to spot a passing ship. Lorraine and I made a quick stop before We would leave together for our Saturday afternoon book signing in Cape Vincent. We wanted to stop in at our public school reunion. We didn’t have a lot of time but wanted to say hello. It’s been 49 years and I laughed when one of my teachers said they would have recognized me without my name tag. The said “You haven’t changed at all.” I thought that was funny because the last time they saw me I was 14, but it’s true, I still had the long dark hair and glasses. We got a few photos and then returned to pick up our friends to make the trip over to Cape Vincent. It was the Octoberfest weekend in the park, and we thought our friends would enjoy the live music located right across from our book signing at Belle Epoque gift shop. It was another beautiful day and we had a great turnout. We happily signed books and calendars. One woman said she was happy to finish her Christmas shopping in one spot, buying multiple calendars to gift. I like the idea of gifting a calendar because you can use it all year. I had one person come and ask if I would write happy birthday on the square of the date of their birthday. I loved that idea, and when I signed calendars after that, I asked when their birthday was and did the same for them.

I felt so lucky that we could still sit outside for coffee the last weekend of September.

We went to Lyn Public School. It is located in the small country village of Lyn. There were cows next door to the school and just down the road is Burnbrae Chicken Farms. The Location where the chicken farm started. I always think of Lyn when I see the egg cartons in the grocery store marked Burnbrae Farms. I went to school with their children. I love the story of how their egg business started. They are a sixth generation family owned and operated company and one of Canadas leading egg farmers.

Both Lorraine and I were so happy that we stopped in. The memories came flooding back when we walked in through the gym. We look forward to the next school reunion. Our grade eight teacher, Mr Weatherilt

There was a great turnout at the Cape Vincent Belle Epoque Gift shop book signing. We always enjoy catching up with Susan, the store owner. It was a fun filled afternoon with live Octoberfest music across the street.

We were gifted a beautiful wooden freighter, which Lorraine realized right away it could hold our business cards in between the model ship's hatches. We will take a picture at the next book signing to share with you.

We returned to the Happy Haven, stopping at Rockport to deliver more books to Andress Boat Works. While we were there, a customer came in and was surprised to see us. They quickly called home, mentioned to the person on the other end of the line that we were there, and asked if they would like him to bring home a signed book. We happily agreed. He said we made someone very happy because they missed us the week before. We had planned to make a seafood chowder and already had all the ingredients. Our hosts were surprised that, as promised, I could make the chowder so quickly. It was delicious. The last few days have been about resting and relaxation.

I used the fish chowder recipe from the first cookbook. We added Lobster, Scallops, Shrimp and Crab. It was delicious.

Our next book signing and meet and greet will be in our hometown, Brockville, at the Riverwest Co on October 5th from 1 pm to 4 pm. They have books and calendars in stock. They make great Christmas gifts, and I will happily sign them. We look forward to seeing you there. I received a lot of inquiries if I will sail again this fall. I hope to sail in November and December. I will keep you posted. Have a great day, and enjoy these beautiful fall days.