Canada day and Montreal Comiccon recap
Last Wednesday was Canada Day. Everyone slept in but me (curses) and when we got up, we tidied a bit, packed all of our stuff up, loaded up the car and headed to the Russell Fair where the boys played. Garett has a lot of fun watching daddy's band, and seeing his babysitter (she organized it all this year). We had to leave around 12:30 because my boy was asking for a nap. As soon as we got home it started to storm--good timing!
Garett was so exhausted he fell asleep on the stairs on the way to his bed, lol. I know how you feel, bud!!
Some of Tyler's friends came early with their little boy and we visited while g napped. Eventually he woke and the other guests came. We bbq'd, had some drinks and we were in bed by 11:30.
Thursday was an early morning. I headed out to bring Garett to cornwall, Ty headed In to pick up the uhaul trailer and load the stuff from the store. When I got home the cleaning ladies were still there. So I just grabbed the rest of my things and headed out!
First stop was in Rigaud to pick up the rest of the games from the supplier. Then we made our way to Montreal. Traffic was not too bad, and things were looking up.
We manoeuvred ok around construction to get to the Palais de Congress, and managed to find the loading dock. Well, because it's so busy, you only get 30 minutes until they come and find you to move your truck. So we loaded up two huge trollies twice each and scrambled like crazy people to get them to the booth and unloaded, returned and bring the truck to find a parking spot that could fit a our truck with a trailer attached. If you've ever been to Montreal, you know this means ALL underground spots, and most outdoor spots are out of the question. We found a lot two blocks from the center, and jumped out to get the booth set up.
Imagine a 10x10 booth. This is the space we had here, since it was the first Montreal show (next year, they are the gaming providers, have a corner booth and it's a huge size). We had like 20 big rubbermaids and probably 15 boxes to put into this little space. We got to it. We assembled the shelves, put the soft mats down, and got to unloading bins and boxes, putting them in alphabetical order, and organizing the overstock bins. We left the centre around 7:30, and we were STARVING and sweaty and tired and sore.
We walked to the truck, grabbed our luggage and walked a block to grab a cab to take us three more blocks to our hotel. We checked in, took a quick shower, changed our clothes and headed out for a very nice dinner in the hotel restaurant. (Bonaventure Hotel--very nice if you need a place to stay that is centrally located :)).
We started with a beef Carpaccio to split, then Ty had lobster and goat cheese linguini, with hand made noodles, and I had a 10 oz sirloin steak (Tyler ate half lol), and we had some cheesecake for dessert. Ty had his dirty martini, and I had a gin and 7up to cap off a busy day. We had a lot of bonding time, and visited and laughed together. We also got to eaves drop on a first date going horribly wrong and it was awesome lol.
We went back to the room around 10, and we plugged our electronics in and passed out as soon as our heads hit the pillow. It was an AWESOME sleep.
The next day was the big day! We woke up at 6:45, got dressed and took a nice three block walk to the congress center. (we were very blessed with weather the whole time). We got some breakfast and started pricing all of the items. We met the people in the booths around us, and braced for the VIP's to be let in.
Friday was actually pretty quiet. We did enough business, but Friday is a day people are working, and out of towners aren't coming it--I should also mention they had a Magic event that weekend, Jazz fest, Poutinefest and some celebration of a festival opening...it was a busy Montreal weekend, so people were splitting their time between things!
Friday, Comiccon ended at 8, and we were pooped after another long day. We decided to grab a quick meal from McDonald's across from the hotel, and make pigs of ourselves by eating it in bed lol. I grabbed a shower to wash off and then cuddled up to eat my way to a stomach ache lol. We were asleep pretty shortly after that (by 10).
Saturday, we were awake bright and early around 6. Showered again, did my hair, got dressed and set out for our morning walk to the center. The doors opened at 8:30, and it was a crazy busy day! Ended at 7, and we walked back to the hotel and decided on another nice dinner at the hotel.
Ty had Beef Carpaccio to start again (it was really that good lol), and I had a French onion soup.
Ty ate a creamy risotto, and I had a chicken ceasar salad. I had a pina colada and Tyler had a manhattan. We took our drinks out by the botanical gardens, and sat alone to visit in the dim light while Tyler enjoyed a cigar. It was a nice night :) When we came in, we bought a shot glass and a really cool vase at the gift shop. We were in bed by 10:30 lol
Sunday, you guessed it, another early day. I packed up all of my stuff, and we grabbed a cab outside of the hotel around 7:45. We were dropped off at the parking lot where the truck was, so we could drop off our stuff and run over to the center for the 8:15 start. The closer we got to the truck, the more Tyler`s heart sank. Someone had smashed the front passenger window, looked through everything, and stole the change from inside the armrest. They took nothing else (though there were only receipts in the truck), and opened the trailer on the back (which was also empty). At least they didn`t get mad when they found nothing. There was virtually no damage other than the broken window, thank god. Poor Tyler--such bad luck.
Luckily the parking lot had already filed a vandalism report with the police. So, while Tyler dealt with the police and insurance people, I ran over to the center and opened the booth just in time. It was another crazy busy day filled with people galore, and Tyler finally got through to our insurance after an hour on hold (Oh and PS Statefarm, thanks for not having proper service on weekends and refusing to fix our window while we were out of town. We will be dropping you for all of our vehicles :)).
He brought me some breakfast since I didn't have time to eat, and then went to get the truck. Comiccon organizers were nice enough to let us bring our truck into the loading zone all day for free and keep our stuff stored. They let Tyler in to vacuum up all of the glass with their vacuum and get it cleaned up. We were very impressed with their hospitality. Apparently that was our official welcome to Montreal--car theft is very common, and two other cars in the lot were broken into that night. So no big deal, I guess! It`s getting fixed today :)
I sent Tyler around later in the afternoon to do some shopping and get his mind off of it. He bought me a really cool ear cuff earring to wear at Comiccons in the future. He bought himself a hand bound leather book with pages that look aged, with hand carved silver skulls on the front. He is pretty proud of it. We bought G a little something, and that's all she wrote for Comiccon shopping lol. He also went and put the deposit on next years area. The event ended at 5 on Sunday, and we were packed up and loaded and on the road by 6:30. The people in the booth next to us (a special effects company) commented on how insanely fast we were moving. I told them we were parents that missed our two year old, and nothing is better motivation than that! lol
We called ahead and ordered food on our way back, and said goodbye to my parents when we got home. It was a hard night--my boy missed me so much and did NOT want to go to bed. We eventually let him just fall asleep in our bed and I took him to his own bed around 10:30 pm. Poor kiddo! He was up around 6:45 today, and we cuddled in bed for a bit before heading to daycare. I waited in the driveway for the go-ahead from my babysitter to make sure he was settled down :) She told me one minute later that he was good to go. Off I went to work--I was still only 40 minutes late, which is good for having gotten to sleep in and drop G off!
All in all, it was a pretty good few days with very few hiccups.
Things I saw/learned in Montreal:
- Bums changing clothes in the street.
- Men dressed in skimpy ladies outfits, and women dressed like men (at Comiccon anything goes lol)
- Merle from Walking Dead right outside of our booth
- Chewbacca stopped by for a visit
- R2D2 stopped by for a visit
- A Dalek from Doctor Who popped by for a visit
- That they are mostly very friendly there.
- That about half of them speak English, and the other half either can't or refuse to
- That they have no boardgame stores, so 5 year plan for the store is to expand to open in Montreal by popular demand.
- That they love to put cilantro on EVERYTHING in the Congress Center (BARF)
- That my husband will spend $150 on a book, but would have a heart attack if I spent that on a wallet
- Never park outside. Thugs will break in for no reason.
-Rooftop gardens and pools are more peaceful that anywhere on the ground.
- That I love my husband more everyday
- That I have a pretty photographic memory. Guess I'm not aging as badly as I thought.
We manoeuvred ok around construction to get to the Palais de Congress, and managed to find the loading dock. Well, because it's so busy, you only get 30 minutes until they come and find you to move your truck. So we loaded up two huge trollies twice each and scrambled like crazy people to get them to the booth and unloaded, returned and bring the truck to find a parking spot that could fit a our truck with a trailer attached. If you've ever been to Montreal, you know this means ALL underground spots, and most outdoor spots are out of the question. We found a lot two blocks from the center, and jumped out to get the booth set up.
Imagine a 10x10 booth. This is the space we had here, since it was the first Montreal show (next year, they are the gaming providers, have a corner booth and it's a huge size). We had like 20 big rubbermaids and probably 15 boxes to put into this little space. We got to it. We assembled the shelves, put the soft mats down, and got to unloading bins and boxes, putting them in alphabetical order, and organizing the overstock bins. We left the centre around 7:30, and we were STARVING and sweaty and tired and sore.
We walked to the truck, grabbed our luggage and walked a block to grab a cab to take us three more blocks to our hotel. We checked in, took a quick shower, changed our clothes and headed out for a very nice dinner in the hotel restaurant. (Bonaventure Hotel--very nice if you need a place to stay that is centrally located :)).
We started with a beef Carpaccio to split, then Ty had lobster and goat cheese linguini, with hand made noodles, and I had a 10 oz sirloin steak (Tyler ate half lol), and we had some cheesecake for dessert. Ty had his dirty martini, and I had a gin and 7up to cap off a busy day. We had a lot of bonding time, and visited and laughed together. We also got to eaves drop on a first date going horribly wrong and it was awesome lol.
We went back to the room around 10, and we plugged our electronics in and passed out as soon as our heads hit the pillow. It was an AWESOME sleep.
The next day was the big day! We woke up at 6:45, got dressed and took a nice three block walk to the congress center. (we were very blessed with weather the whole time). We got some breakfast and started pricing all of the items. We met the people in the booths around us, and braced for the VIP's to be let in.
Friday was actually pretty quiet. We did enough business, but Friday is a day people are working, and out of towners aren't coming it--I should also mention they had a Magic event that weekend, Jazz fest, Poutinefest and some celebration of a festival opening...it was a busy Montreal weekend, so people were splitting their time between things!
Friday, Comiccon ended at 8, and we were pooped after another long day. We decided to grab a quick meal from McDonald's across from the hotel, and make pigs of ourselves by eating it in bed lol. I grabbed a shower to wash off and then cuddled up to eat my way to a stomach ache lol. We were asleep pretty shortly after that (by 10).
Saturday, we were awake bright and early around 6. Showered again, did my hair, got dressed and set out for our morning walk to the center. The doors opened at 8:30, and it was a crazy busy day! Ended at 7, and we walked back to the hotel and decided on another nice dinner at the hotel.
Ty had Beef Carpaccio to start again (it was really that good lol), and I had a French onion soup.
Ty ate a creamy risotto, and I had a chicken ceasar salad. I had a pina colada and Tyler had a manhattan. We took our drinks out by the botanical gardens, and sat alone to visit in the dim light while Tyler enjoyed a cigar. It was a nice night :) When we came in, we bought a shot glass and a really cool vase at the gift shop. We were in bed by 10:30 lol
This picture makes me laugh..trying to take selfies in the dark with a flash lol
The vase I got
Sunday, you guessed it, another early day. I packed up all of my stuff, and we grabbed a cab outside of the hotel around 7:45. We were dropped off at the parking lot where the truck was, so we could drop off our stuff and run over to the center for the 8:15 start. The closer we got to the truck, the more Tyler`s heart sank. Someone had smashed the front passenger window, looked through everything, and stole the change from inside the armrest. They took nothing else (though there were only receipts in the truck), and opened the trailer on the back (which was also empty). At least they didn`t get mad when they found nothing. There was virtually no damage other than the broken window, thank god. Poor Tyler--such bad luck.
Luckily the parking lot had already filed a vandalism report with the police. So, while Tyler dealt with the police and insurance people, I ran over to the center and opened the booth just in time. It was another crazy busy day filled with people galore, and Tyler finally got through to our insurance after an hour on hold (Oh and PS Statefarm, thanks for not having proper service on weekends and refusing to fix our window while we were out of town. We will be dropping you for all of our vehicles :)).
He brought me some breakfast since I didn't have time to eat, and then went to get the truck. Comiccon organizers were nice enough to let us bring our truck into the loading zone all day for free and keep our stuff stored. They let Tyler in to vacuum up all of the glass with their vacuum and get it cleaned up. We were very impressed with their hospitality. Apparently that was our official welcome to Montreal--car theft is very common, and two other cars in the lot were broken into that night. So no big deal, I guess! It`s getting fixed today :)
I sent Tyler around later in the afternoon to do some shopping and get his mind off of it. He bought me a really cool ear cuff earring to wear at Comiccons in the future. He bought himself a hand bound leather book with pages that look aged, with hand carved silver skulls on the front. He is pretty proud of it. We bought G a little something, and that's all she wrote for Comiccon shopping lol. He also went and put the deposit on next years area. The event ended at 5 on Sunday, and we were packed up and loaded and on the road by 6:30. The people in the booth next to us (a special effects company) commented on how insanely fast we were moving. I told them we were parents that missed our two year old, and nothing is better motivation than that! lol
We called ahead and ordered food on our way back, and said goodbye to my parents when we got home. It was a hard night--my boy missed me so much and did NOT want to go to bed. We eventually let him just fall asleep in our bed and I took him to his own bed around 10:30 pm. Poor kiddo! He was up around 6:45 today, and we cuddled in bed for a bit before heading to daycare. I waited in the driveway for the go-ahead from my babysitter to make sure he was settled down :) She told me one minute later that he was good to go. Off I went to work--I was still only 40 minutes late, which is good for having gotten to sleep in and drop G off!
All in all, it was a pretty good few days with very few hiccups.
Things I saw/learned in Montreal:
- Bums changing clothes in the street.
- Men dressed in skimpy ladies outfits, and women dressed like men (at Comiccon anything goes lol)
- Merle from Walking Dead right outside of our booth
- Chewbacca stopped by for a visit
- R2D2 stopped by for a visit
- A Dalek from Doctor Who popped by for a visit
- That they are mostly very friendly there.
- That about half of them speak English, and the other half either can't or refuse to
- That they have no boardgame stores, so 5 year plan for the store is to expand to open in Montreal by popular demand.
- That they love to put cilantro on EVERYTHING in the Congress Center (BARF)
- That my husband will spend $150 on a book, but would have a heart attack if I spent that on a wallet
- Never park outside. Thugs will break in for no reason.
-Rooftop gardens and pools are more peaceful that anywhere on the ground.
- That I love my husband more everyday
- That I have a pretty photographic memory. Guess I'm not aging as badly as I thought.
That bed looks SOOO comfy!!! I can't believe that about the truck though...seriously, such a jerk move :(
ReplyDeleteGlad you guys had fun though, despite that! Casey and I were talking about checking that out next year for a weekend away together so keep us posted on the dates :)