After spending Canada Day in Montreal, I drove about 6 hours west to spend the 4th of July a little closer to the border in Burlington, Ontario. I spent a few days visiting with family and headed out for a couple of day trips with my aunts.

First up was a day at Niagara-on-the-Lake, a town on Lake Ontario that directly borders the US. As we drove toward Queen Street we passed through quaint streets with houses that varied from historic and modest to modern and gigantic. As someone who has always lived near the ocean, I think I could be easily fooled by this view of the lake if I didn’t know I was about 8 hours from the coast.

I imagine the scene is very different in the winter, but on a beautiful July day Queen Street was bursting with color and character. Hanging flowers adorned the lamp posts and street signs. After making our way through numerous cafes and shops, we stopped at the Royal George Theater to take in a play, Dancing at Lughnasa.

Queen Street, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario

A bright, historic, and picturesque town, Niagara-on-the-Lake checks a lot of boxes.

This July 4th has been relatively quiet for me and I’m a tad regretful that I didn’t take advantage of the longer holiday weekend to get away for a few days. The “memories” and “on this day” notifications through multiple social media platforms rubbed salt in that wound by reminding me that I went on a road trip to Montreal, Toronto, and the Niagara Falls area over the long weekend. There are many photos to share, so I’m going to start with Montreal.

This trip will always be a special one for me as it’s the first time I truly travelled on my own outside of work. Traveling solo was something I was hesitant to do. I’m a single woman in my 30s without children. I have a great group of close friends that I spend a lot of time with, but with work schedules, differing interests, families, etc. it’s becoming increasingly difficult to organize trips and activities together. I was starting to think if I didn’t start doing some of these things on my own, I might never get to them. It was a case of FOMO and YOLO all rolled into one.

I worried about people thinking it was odd, but friends and family were supportive and encouraging. I’m so glad I went through with it. All in all, I had a great time in Montreal and have gone on to travel quite a bit on my own. I really love being able to do exactly what I want to do, on my own schedule.

Montreal is a lovely city, and bigger than I had expected. My Fitbit tracked numerous miles each of the 3 days as I wandered up and down streets through different neighborhoods. It’s a colorful city with a mix of historic and modern architecture, and pleasantly surprised by the elaborate street art found on the sides of buildings.

The city was alive with visitors as there was a trifecta of events going on in the city: It was Canada Day (July 1st), Canada 150 (the 150th anniversary of Canada), and the annual Montreal International Jazz Festival was in full-swing. You need tickets for the headliners and bigger acts, but there were stages set up in parks around the city, some with beer gardens and food trucks, that only required a quick security check to gain entrance.

Montreal is only a little over 5 hours away from Boston by car. Close enough for a quick getaway, but far enough that you can justify staying for a few days.