Montreal - Richard's Bachelor party

---

Montreal is a fascinating city. The food is delicious, great party scene and a lot to see while in the city. I had only been there once before and that was for another bachelor party years ago for my my friend Dan. Richard's bachelor party planning went on for months. Finally, the weekend arrived (August 4th-7th) and my excitement was at an all time high. The trip started eventful when I went to Kenny and met David there and we took an Uber to meet the other guys. The Uber drive got so lost on the way to the car rental place near Laguardia airport. We finally arrived and all met up and rented a large van that was able to handle everyone.

On the drive up we stopped at Saratoga Springs. For years, I had always heard about this town due to my love for Dave Matthews Band. He had always played here at the SPAC theatre so I was curious to always visit the city. It was a cute small town. We stopped off at Druckery Brewery for lunch. They had a tasty IPA called "All In" that I drank along with a burger called "Ugly Burger." It was so amazing the burger and included ingredients, such as beer cheese, onion rings, gorgonzola cheese and egg. We left the city and drove up north. The drive reminded me a lot of the Pacific Northwest trip that I had taken 2 years ago with a lot of big trees and beautiful lakes. We passed by Lake George, Adirondacks and Lake Placid. We stopped for gas in Plattsburgh and soon enough we were almost in Montreal. On the way into the city we hit a construction pit. In total it took us about 9-10 hours with stops to get into Montreal.

We get into the hotel, Le Square Phillips and go into our rooms to relax. Our room was stunning with 2 beds, a separate kitchen and dining room, a bathroom for a toilet and a huge bathroom with a shower. After relaxing for a little, some of us meet up on the rooftop which offered such stunning views of the city. I was able to see Olympic stadium and downtown Montreal. We went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner which was ok. It was odd place as they only had appetizers consisting of ceviche or different type of tacos. We order a guacamole and chips that was decent. In addition, we had cornbread that had a little spicy kick to it. The nachos tasted more Greek than Mexican and wasn't good at all. The tacos ordered was the best part of the meal, as we had steak, chicken and shrimp. Each of them was excellent and the service was great. Later that night, we went out to different bars in downtown Montreal and headed back late to rest up for a fun filled Friday.

We ate breakfast and picked up sandwiches for lunch. Our plan for the day was to do go carts and paintball. It was a huge structure that holds both of these fun activities. I haven't done either since I was a little kid so I was very excited. We had a practice run than we did a few races. It was a lot of fun as expected and I went from 9th to 5th place finish by the last run. In between, we ate our sandwiches before playing paintball. We played on 4 different tracks for paintball with different games, such as capture the flag. In addition, there was a special game for the groom, where he had to dress in a chicken suit and run across to the other side as everyone shot paintballs at him. A few of the tracks was muddy and I was covered with a lot of it by the end of the games. Our team ended up winning the last 3 games so it was quite successful.

We left and went back to the hotel to rest. Brian/Kenny decided on getting us a funny hat playing off the Donald Trump slogan "Make America Great." The hats was bright red and said "Make Richard Great Again." We wore the hats towards dinner and a lot of people stared at the hats in confusion. One person disagreed with our political stance not realizing the hat was for a bachelor party. We went to a french restaurant for dinner. At one point, the jazz band called up Richard and a few of us up to sing "Lady Marmalade" which was definitely a funny highlight for the weekend. The service was slow, however I ordered the mussels frittes, which was so delightful. We went out to the bars afterwards which capped off a fun filled day.

The next morning we got a delicious breakfast, and I had this universal benedict. We walked through Chinatown and saw a bunch of people dressed up in anime costumes for Comic con festival. We walked through the Norte Dame Basilica church. It was stunning with high ceilings and reminded me a lot of walking through the churches in Florence. We finished the tour and walked through Old Montreal all the way to the top of Mount Royale. It was a tough climb up with steep steps. Once you get to the top the view of the city is surreal. It was a sunny day with few clouds in the sky so you could see everything. It made the walk up so worth it. We went to dinner at Gibby's Steakhouse. We went to this place for my friend Dan's bachelor party years ago, but I didn't remember how the food was. The food was amazing, especially the beef Wellington. We went to a microbrewery after dinner called "Brasserie Artisanale" and I tried a lemon beer. It was an acquired taste, but it was pretty good. We went to the La plateau area "hipster area." There was a lot of bums outside and clubs for younger people waiting on line to get into for the night. We played pool at a bar and then went to a few other bars before heading home.

The next day we got breakfast at Tim Hortons. On the way home we stopped in Lake George. I remembered going so much with family as a little kid so that was a big treat. There was a beautiful lake you got to see as you went into town and a lot of cute shops. We ate lunch and headed home. It took 8 hours to get home, which was very good considering there was no traffic. It was mostly stopping frequently to stretch your legs and use the restroom. It was a fantastic trip and getting to spend the weekend with a bunch of great guys made it all worth it. The most important part of the weekend was that my friend Richard had a great time and that was what mattered the most.

---