Stanstead, QC 2013
Jun. 22nd, 2013 10:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lamora
Right along the 45 parallel -- halfway between the Equator and the North Pole.
I'm kind of cheating in this case, but it does take 2.5hrs to drive there -- and it was kind of a trip because my parents had only been once, very briefly. So I'm going to talk about where my mother-in-law* lives: Stanstead, QC. This is in the Eastern Townships, and the town also comprises Beebe Plain, which has the honor of being divided between Quebec and Vermont. Actually, one of the most interesting sights Canusa Street, which is literally a road that runs right along the Canadian and USA border.
Stanstead is a sleepy, quiet town with only a few thousand residents. It's also a peculiar mix of bilingualism. Nominally a French town (most tiny places in rural Quebec are predominantly French), Stanstead gives off an almost American vibe while retaining its European roots. You've got the English folk who descended from the first settlers, you've got the French folk alongside them, and then you've got the mixed families with their easy codeswitching.
S and an American high-five across the border. WORLD PEACE!
There are border checkpoints all along this dividing line, but this spot is an exception. Yes, there are cameras and border patrol that passes by regularly -- but Customs proper is one block over. There is a library here whose grounds cover both countries (there is seriously a line drawn down the floor inside; it was closed so no pics.) Yes, the library has dual-citizenship. However, the only entrance to the library is in America.
US Customs has permitted Canadians to enter the library only if they remain on the sidewalk leading up to the door. That's where I was standing to snap this photo. If you step onto the street, you get arrested. I'm not even kidding.
We went for a picnic lunch in lavender fields, visited the famed stone circle (inspired by Stonehenge), skipped stones at the lake, and got chummy around the border. It was a wonderful day, and my parents really enjoyed themselves. Stanstead is one of those little towns you wouldn't think of visiting, but there are a few really neat things to be found there.
*S's mother. I have two mother-in-laws; the other owns a restaurant close to where we live now.
