The Montreal Trip Part Eight

So it’s been at least a year since I told y’all any part of the Montreal story, so…  Here it is again.  Yes, I have an installment planned for next weekend as well.  So there’s that…

So Last Time (Part Seven):  Where they serve dog in Canada (with rice!), why museums are so expensive, and Molson is Coors, y’all!

This Time!…  The extremely odd place we finally find rice, football (but not soccer), and “you all close st what time?”

So we took the long trek back to hotel from the Molson brewery.  And it was long!  It was cold and by this point it had started to snow lightly.  The air was fluffy and all sorts of things like that.  Shawn complained bitterly the entire time.  Blair and I weren’t happy either.

But eventually, we were almost back to our hotel.  And, wouldn’t you believe it, we happened upon a grocery store.  There was a grocery store at the corner of the building our hotel was in.  “You think they have rice?”  Brent asked.  Does a grocery store have rice, Brent?  No idea.

In we went.  Sure enough, they had rice.  Kind of a weird place to find rice, right?  Why on earth would a grocery store have rice?  I have no idea.  So, Brent bought some rice and we walked through the mall back to our hotel.

Everyone separated for a few hours.  Shawn and I took a nap because we were chilled to the bone.  I honestly have no idea what everyone else did.  But maybe two hours later, all the boys ended up back in our room except for Seth, who was somewhere with Blair.  Anthony started flipping through the channels and came across the Seahawks game.  The boys were all excited because football was on, so that’s what we ended up watching.  Meanwhile, I was simply confused.  I thought we were in Canada, right?  So why was the Seattle Seahawks game on?  I would understand if the boys found a hockey game and it was the Avs playing the Ducks or something, but there are definitely no NFL teams in Canada.  Not that it was soccer season, but I was pretty sure that’s the kind of “football” the rest of the world watches.  I’m not really sure what kind of market Canada has for the NFL…  Maybe it’s a larger market than I thought.  I guess they have the CFL, so it’s not too out of the realm of possibility….  But it was definitely surprising to me.  Admittedly, I forget who the Seahawks were playing.  I know it was playoffs, but we were rooting for the Seahawks, so whoever they were playing has escaped me.

We watched the game in its entirety.  During half-time the boys went down to the sauna and I took a shower.  Once they were back, Blair and Seth returned with some poutine and a good time was had by all.  We considered starting our drinking, someone suggested we get some food, and Blair reminded the boys about the fireworks.  The boys agreed to go.

I then lamented to Blair that I didn’t think I had enough clothing for tonight.  Not that I didn’t pack enough, I did.  I just packed enough to go out in upstate New York, but not enough to go out in Montreal.  It’s the difference, I think, between just going to the bars downtown or going out to the bars downtown.  If you’re just going to the bars, you can wear whatever it is you like.  If you’re going out to the bars, you dress up and you look fantastic.  And I feel like that’s the difference between going out in upstate New York and Montreal.  Montreal is very much a “dress up and look fantastic” place.  At this point I really only had sweaters and polos.  Not good enough.

Blair suggested that we go for a shopping trip while the boys got ready and finished the football game.  So Blair and I grabbed our bags and headed out toward Rue Saint Catherine.  I suggested we head to Forever 21.  Not the best quality clothing by any means, but it’s reasonably priced and chances were good I could find something appropriate on short notice.

So we got there and it was two floors!  That was the largest Forever 21 I’d seen at that point.  The first time I went to New York, I successfully avoided any shopping whatsoever.  Last year, I was not so lucky and was able to enjoy one that was three floors.  Clearly the dresses were on the bottom floor, so we headed down there.  Racks and racks and racks of clothing.  I found a few things I liked, but not in my size, which is always disappointing.  Apparently people are smaller in Canada, because I can always find my size in Colorado.  Good for you, Canada.  There was no sarcasm there, I really did mean that.

While I was on my mission for a dress, Blair found several great outfits for herself.  It was at this point when an employee let me know they were closing at six.  At first I was confused, at six?  It’s Saturday….  That’s a weird time to close…  Then I was excited thinking of the prospect, as this was when I still worked at the department store.  Wouldn’t that be nice if the store closed at six on Saturdays?  Then I could go to work and still get stuff done!  And then sadness because that was wishful thinking, but in the meantime, I found a dress I liked, tried it on, and it was perfect.  Blair and I paid for our things and were on our way back to the boys.

And just in time for fireworks too!

Shawn and I wandered away a bit during the fireworks, also his dad called.

Then we all decided to find food, but it’s not only the retail stores that close at six.  No, it’s the restaurants too.  (And now that I work in a restaurant, I am also jealous.  What is this?)  So we wandered around aimlessly looking for food, and we ended up back at the grocery store where Brent finally got his rice.  We all ended up getting sandwiches, except Anthony decided pasta was a good idea.  Our hotel room didn’t have a microwave, so where he planned on heating it up, I don’t know.

But I learned one thing, everything that isn’t a bar closes ridiculously early in Montreal!

So there was that…

Next time (and I promise it’s next weekend and may be a bit longer of a snippet!):  Overly friendly Canadians, the boys finally make it to a strip club, and the really stupid thing I did while leaving Steph a ridiculous message.