Weekend in Ottawa

I noticed people requesting posts from visitors describing things they did and what they liked about Ottawa, so here is my long overdue post.

I spent the first weekend in February in Ottawa starting a 10 day long road trip where I visited Ottawa, Montreal, and then Quebec. Ottawa was my girlfriend's favorite city by far and I am inclined to agree with her. We had an airbnb in Mechanicsville and the location was great especially with the convenience of uber in the city. I am aware of the issues with uber in Canada but never did we feel uncomfortable taking one. A cheap shuttle from Lieutenant's Pump and we were able to attend a Sens Leafs game where the environment was better than any Islanders game and most Ranger games in New York.

Food was amazing in Ottawa as were the beers. Favorite restaurants included Town, Union 613, and Sidedoor. Our server at Town was Zach and he was an amazing help and we even ran into him at breakfast the next day at Wilf and Ada's for another great meal. Evan at Broken Stick Brewery gave us complimentary tastings and introduced us to some great beer along with advice for Montreal. Josh at Dominion Brewing also provided a fun tasting and helped lead us in the direction of good beers in Ottawa. Beyond the pale was definitely a brewery for the hop heads but again some really great beers were had. Another great brewery, while not exactly in Ottawa, but a reasonable drive away, is Beau's where we made a great decision to stop and try the beer before making our way to Montreal.

The only thing I feel we missed out on was skating the canal being that it was closed that weekend, but now we have yet another reason to go back next year. We did skate in front of city hall, visited parliament, and had beaver tails like any tourist would and should in our opinions. I must say I was very surprised that Ottawa would be the perfect foodie and craft beer filled city for a weekend getaway. Excited to make it back next year and explore more restaurants and see more of the city.

Thank you redditors for the advice and the Ottawans I met once there for showing me a great weekend.