Hello, hello! I hope you are off to a great Monday morning. So far, so good over here- I went for a run with my brother and today I am planning to completely organize my closet, which is a complete mess. Before I get to that, I want to finish up these vacation posts which I have really been dragging out. As I said last week, we went on a 7 day family road trip which started in Boston, then continue to the White Mountains of New Hampshire and a quick stop in Mount Washington.
Visiting Montreal, Canada
After our morning in the white mountains, we continued driving north and made our way to Montreal, Canada. We booked our hotel the night before and booked a DoubleTree hotel that ended up being right in the middle of a huge comedy festival that was happening! We had no idea and got super lucky! Montreal is actually famous for their festivals- from jazz, to comedy, to film, and more- and they have over 40 festivals a year.
Our first night was just for walking around and to get a feel for the city. We had poutine (which we all liked, but agreed that we didn’t love it) and we walked around the port which was great. There were SO many people- we couldn’t believe it- just hoards and hoards of people!
The next day, my parents and I did a walking tour of Montreal, which I designed by following the Big Travel Nut blog itinerary- it was great and included everything, so we definitely recommend it! My only suggestion would be to bring along a guide book so that you can read a bit about what you are seeing.
We started the day with strong coffees…
And then started a walking tour. We were going to start with Mount Royal, but decided that climbing over 350 steps first thing in the morning may deplete our energy stores. Instead, we visited the Latin Quarter, various pedestrian streets, and eventually had lunch on Rue Saint Denis, a great street full of various restaurants.
Along the way we visited the famous Schwartz’s Deli, which had a huge line for both the restaurant and the take-out side. We didn’t get a sandwich since we were there so early in the morning, but now we have a reason to go back 😉
In the afternoon, we were ready for a little break so after lunch, we headed towards the port and then got a maple ice cream from Les Délices de l’Erable, which specializes in maple products.
We finished our tour in front of the Notre Dame Basilica where we sat at the fountain and rested for a bit.
That evening, we packed up some beers and then headed to the terrace of our hotel. We grabbed some seats overlooking the comedy fest and lucked out since we were able to see a prank show that had us absolutely cracking up. Sitting there was definitely the highlight of my trip! That evening, we went out for some yummy Chinese food… I wish I remembered the name of the place!
The next morning was the start of our last full day of our road trip and since I’m all for getting some exercise before sitting the car, I got up early and went for a long walk – which also had another motive: to buy Montreal-style bagels!
I wanted to try Montreal bagels and although I know there are many famous places, the only place that was on my walking route was La Fabrique de Bagels. There are multiple locations in Montreal and I definitely had my doubts about how good they would be, but we ended up loving these chewy bagels, although they are sort of sweet.
Visiting Lake George
Bagels and espresso fueled our ride to Lake George where we spent the evening kayaking (for like, 15 mins), walking through the little town, and then grilling up some burgers to enjoy by the lake.
The next morning we packed up the car and made the long drive home… we were all thrilled to sleep in our own beds! And (at least for me), I felt very grateful to have had the chance to spend a week with the best people in the world.