Happy Friday ya’ll! I’ve been back to work for almost two full weeks and I still find myself dreaming about our trip to Alberta, Canada with the fresh air, gorgeous blue lakes, and tree that soar higher than anything I’ve ever seen. Originally, I was going to tell you about the first part of my trip: Calgary and Lake Louise. But I had SO MUCH to write about I thought for your sanity, I’d split it into two different posts.
To get to Banff National Park, your best bet is the fly into Calgary if you’re coming from the States. We got a car right from the airport. Super easy. We landed into Calgary late in the afternoon so instead of hoping into the car and taking a two-hour drive – after a propeller plane, a four-hour flight, and heading through customs – we spent our first night in Calgary.
What we didn’t really think about, but night one was a Sunday. Calgary is a major city in Canada, but a major city in Canada is a little different then the major cities I’m used to here in the U.S. so we didn’t have a huge pick of restaurants and bars that were open, and we were ready to explore.
Calgary – Where we stayed and where we ate
We stayed at the Calgary Marriott Downtown Hotel right across the street from the Calgary Tower, thanks to Marriott’s amazing relationship with travel agents. Our room over looked 9th Ave and the tower itself. It was awesome. I really wanted to go up to the top to see the views of the city but it was super overcast and cloudy that first night so we opted out of the trip to the top and headed to a brewery that’s been in Calgary for over 20 years. WHAT! That’s insane! Wild Rose Brewery was a craft brewery before craft breweries were a thing. We each had a flight and split some of their amazing flat breads. It was the perfect quick dinner that we needed to wake up and get ready for our night out.
We Ubered back into downtown Calgary and started at Last Best Brewing Company, which was recommended by our server at Wild Rose. Not really the vibe we were going for but this would be an awesome place for a group dinner on a Saturday night. On Sunday it was a little too, I’m going out alone and going to sit in the corner watching the TV for us. But they did have an awesome bartender who gave us some great recommendations for the rest of the night.
He told us to head over to 17th Avenue and check out Living Room. We walked by a ton of other amazing restaurants and bars that look like on a Friday or Saturday night it would be wild. Living Room was so cute! We walked in and the bartender asked 3? I said yeah and instantly there were three of their late-night specialties in front of us, the Shaft. Coffee, Kahlua, and a splash of skim milk is apparently what locals come in to get at the end of the night. It was just what we needed to end our night.
Next week I’m here to tell you more about our trip. I have travel guides for Lake Louise and Banff with tons of detail, recommendations, what we did, and what I’d do again. AND info for a non-hiker going to a National Park. (yep that’s me!)
restlessretreat.com 