Thanksgoing

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the process of trying to figure out how to make a Thanksgiving trip home to see family into something…well, a little bit more. (You can read that post here.) To recap: the cost of flying from California to the east coast during the busiest travel time of the year felt almost prohibitively expensive. As I played with flight routes, I realized that a stop somewhere along the way actually decreased the overall cost.

So for a few days, I dithered. I researched. I imagined. I examined. And in the end, I came up with a plan: Montreal, on the way to DC, for a long weekend on the front end of Thanksgiving. It took some maneuvering and I’m a little nervous about a plan that involves three different airlines, but I think it’s going to be the best kind of mini-adventure, still with enough time left over to have several days with family and friends.

Now, though, I need recommendations. What’s not to be missed in Montreal? We’ll have a car, and an Airbnb in Le Plateau. I’d like to speak French and eat some vegetarian poutine (which I’ve only ever had once before, in Toronto during one freezing New Year’s Eve), visit parks and wander in and out of shops.

I’d like, ideally, to find something small and delicious, something that feels like I know a secret about a city that is in no way mine. Isn’t that always the way, though? The constant beat of wanderlust continues its strong, insatiable rhythm, and I keep going along for the ride.