The Lord Elgin Blog

From Andrew Horsfield, ‘Senior’ Sales Manager at the Lord Elgin

Number one on everyone’s list when they come to Ottawa should be the museums.  Starting with the War Museum, my personal favourite, the list goes on from there.  You just can’t go wrong.   I was just at the opening of the Animals Inside Out display at the Museum of Nature and it was spectacular.   A truly fascinating display of animals shown in a unique way.   Then there is The Museum of History in Gatineau.  It is famous around the world, especially for its architecture.    Be sure to plan on an entire day to truly do this wonderful building properly.

Other than museums, the next stop you need to make is at the National Gallery.  I have spent many pleasant hours wandering through its galleries and special exhibitions.  I know there are masterpieces from around the world there, but I still find myself returning the Group of Seven Gallery and Tom Thompson.  Much of my life was spent living in North West Ontario so their paintings of the wilderness bring back many wonderful memories.

Once you have visited the Museums and the Gallery, it’s time to hit the market to enjoy some serious patio action.

From Tessa Webster, Sales Manager , Lord Elgin Hotel (busy young mom)

One of my closest friends, Karalyn is coming from the Big City of Toronto to Ottawa for a girls’ weekend.  I can’t wait!  Our favourite things to do are sit on a patio, sip wine and shop, shop, shop.

On Saturday morning we must have our Starbucks latte.  We grab one at the Starbucks attached to the Lord Elgin Hotel, which is ideally situated in the heart of the city.  We go for a walk along the canal – she appreciates the quiet nature walk which can be hard to find in a bustling metropolis like Toronto.  This walk gives us a good chance to get caught up.  It also helps that we can walk from the canal and easily access the Rideau Shopping Centre which is where we end up after only an hour into our walk!  We grab lunch at the Dining Hall in the mall otherwise known as the food court – we love Amaya and when I visit Karalyn in Toronto it tends to be our go-to spot as well so why not continue the tradition?

The mandatory part of our girl time together is a spa treatment.  So we enjoy a relaxing afternoon at Spa Nordic.  What girl doesn’t need to put her feet up after spending the morning maxing out her credit card?  The massages are heavenly and while we lounge in the many baths and saunas it gives us a chance to chat a bit.  We know that Nordic has a great restaurant but with the nice weather these days we prefer to head to downtown Ottawa for dinner.  We end up on the patio at the Bier Markt on Sparks street.  We know the brand well because her husband works at a location in Mississauga.  The food is delicious – the cheese and lager fondue is great for sharing and the mussels are always at the top of our list of plates to share.  The “Bier Flights” is like a sampler platter of beer that adventurous beer lovers like us can’t get enough of.  They also have live music on Saturday nights which gives us a reason to stay out late.

On Sunday morning we head out early, stop at the Starbucks drive-through in Kanata and head over to the Tanger Outlets. We can always find a good sale at J. Crew and Banana Republic – our favourite stores.   Once we have worked up an appetite we head over to my new favourite restaurant in Kanata – Central Bierhaus located in Kanata Centrum.  There’s an incredible selection of beer on the menu and the food is perfect – great sharing plates, salad and French fries with mayonnaise…yum!

Sadly, our weekend together has come to an end.  See you next time, Karalyn.  Can’t wait for our next “girl’s weekend.