Toward the end of April I headed up to Montreal for my first CAN/AM Hockey Tournament. The tournament consists of teams from all over Canada and the United States at various levels. We ended up playing against teams from New Jersey, Boston and Ottawa, losing 4-1, 2-0, and 4-1 respectively. I managed to score a goal in the final game. We had a solid time though the international ice was a challenge.
To travel to Montreal we flew Porter Airlines Turboprop Bombaider planes with a quick stopover in Toronto. As you can imagine, Porter is experienced in processing customers with hockey gear. One checked bag consisted of two hockey sticks and an oversized hockey bag for $20.
I spent the better part of my last morning in town walking around Old Montreal which has the feel of a small old European town. Considering that the city was founded in 1642 this makes sense.
After our first day of game(s) we stopped at a couple of the brewpubs including: Brasserie Dieu Du Ciel, Benelux Brewpub & Café, Le Cheval Blanc and Vices & Versa. We had some good beer at all of them and some decent food at Vice & Versa and Benelux. Le Chevel Blanc was probably my favorite place because they played actual rock and roll music. Quite possibly the only bar in Montreal to do so.
Category Archives: Travel
New York – 2015
As my travel in April continued, Julie and I went to New York for the weekend. We managed to see some family, meet up with some friends and catch a ball game. On arrival I spent the better part of an afternoon in the East Village; first at McSorley’s Old Ale House then checking out the Alphabet City Beer Company.
ABC Beer is one of the new store/bar setups but they don’t allow you to drink the bottled beer that is for sale in house. They do have a rather diverse tap selection that is kept up to date on their website so you know what’s available. After ABC Beer I met up with Julie and her friends for some Playoff Hockey at Fools Gold.
After Fool’s Gold and some hockey we finished off the night at The Meatball Shop which of course is open until 3am.
Mets Game
On Sunday we met up with Julie’s family at Citi Field for the Mets – Marlin’s game. Matt Harvey was pitching and the stadium was packed. I believe the stadium was completely unprepared for the size of the crowd. In the 5th inning I attempted to get some food and ended up walking the entire lower level of the concourse looking for a line that wasn’t 10 deep. On our way out of the parking lot, there was no one directing traffic and it ended up taking us over an hour to leave the lot. It was nice to see a crowd (and a win) but the Mets should probably put a little more effort into handling the amount of people their ballpark was built for.
Side Notes
I managed to swing by the NHL Store when they had Playoff Bracket Bars available. The matchup would have been ideal.
Madison & New Glarus, Wi
This past weekend Julie and I headed up to Madison, Wisconsin for the night. We’ve been to Madison for a football game before but never really ventured out and into the town. We managed to check out Vintage Brewing Co. on the way into town and then once we were downtown we set out for the Capital Tap Haus. From there we spent the better part of the evening working our way around State Street.
New Glarus Brewing
On the way up we stopped at the New Glarus Brewing Co. in New Glarus, Wisconsin. We’ve had quite a few of their beers over the past couple of years. Their distribution is limited to Wisconsin but they are one of the top 20 largest American breweries. We were surprised by the scale of the facility. They have nearly all of their beers available for sale including a wide selection of their fruit beers. The taproom or tasting area was more limited but the expansive patio over looking farmlands was great.
The setup was either a tasting glass with three refills or a 16oz pint glass with one fill. You could then get additional pours for $5. The patio area was huge with several faux ruined structures to walk about. There is also a self guided tour of the production facility where you basically walk a hallway that goes straight through the middle of the brewery with glass partitions on each side. The brewery store had nearly every beer they produce and a variety of ‘mix and match’ so we were able to get a little bit of everything we liked.
Side Note:
Included in the tasting is a ticket for a free New Glarus beer in one of the many bars in town. I’ve never seen this done before but I think it’s a great way to get people to check out the town of New Glarus. We ended up at the Sportsman’s Bar & Grill and they actually had a better selection of New Glarus beers on draft than the brewery had for tasting.