Chateau Sneaksters

To celebrate the last official weekend of winter*, Glosette Girl, Margot and I spent one night at the Chateau Laurier in downtown Ottawa this past weekend. Spending a night in a hotel that's 15 minutes from your house isn't something I would normally do, but I won the a one night's stay at the Chateau Laurier at a Christmas raffle at work and thought, "what the hay, let's try something new!"

It was a fun evening. Full disclosure, it was originally supposed to be a date night style weekend away for Glosette Girl and I (oooh la la!) with Margot sleeping over at a friend's house. But we've had some choppy waters lately and we thought it would be best if we stayed together as a family. The only hiccup was that technically we had to sneak Margot into the hotel but that wasn't too hard (my family is naturally shifty).

Straight out of "The Shining!"

Turns out bringing Margot was a good call!

First, it gave us an incentive to use the 1920's Art Deco pool in the basement.

Second, instead of eating at a fancy schmancy restaurant we tried a more kid-friendly local southern smokehouse. Yummy with a dash of good ol' boy charm thrown in? You betcha! Vegetarian-focused? Mmmmm not so much.

Craft Beer?Yes Sir, one Bud Light coming up!

Third, we spied on a movie set that was set up downtown. Maybe we will appear in the background of a future blockbuster? Keep an eye out for us!

Finally, we topped off the eating by buying junk food from a local store and chilling out in our hotel room reading and watching nature specials. Thank you David Attenborough for your rich voice.

Definitely a fun little evening. Remind me to sneak Margot into more five star hotels!

Look for the room with the book in the window - that was ours!

*Saying that spring starts on March 21st is someone optimistic in Canada.