Sorry all, cramming my days full of touristy whatnots while Roommate, The is still in town. Everything will be documented so have no fear, just keep checking back!
Day 7: (Banff Part 2; Bear Watch 2011)
Day 7 started with something that made my heart hurt – snow. I pulled back the curtains to see giant white fluff falling from the sky: about two inches by the end of it. Day 7 also did not start so well for me. Unfortunately I consumed one too many cocktails and had made fairly good friends with the porcelain by the time noon rolled around. Roommate, The went for a nice relaxing spa experience and Girlfriend, The enjoyed every moment she could of our first day being able to sleep in. After finally fighting down some ibuprofen, I managed to expand out of the fetal position and put my big boy pants on. Off to lunch.
Lunch was at the world-renowned Fairmont at Banff Springs. Everyone we’ve talked to mentioned if in Banff, try to grab lunch over looking the golf course. So we did. An absolutely stunning building and property, the Banff Springs Hotel was visually everything it was built up to be (I’m not sure if there’s a pun there or not, but you know what I mean). Once inside, we were directed by the doorman in kilt and jacket to the location of the restaurant. We lucked out immensely, grabbing a table right in the atrium over looking the golf course – which was situated in a valley between three mountain peaks. Impressive. When our waiter finally moseyed on over, he did a mediocre job of informing us about the hotel and the food. He then left us to our own devices and rarely returned for the rest of the meal. Roommate, The ordered an intense Mojito, and Girlfriend, The and I stuck with the mocktails, especially with the way I was feeling. I had a homemade ginger ale, which was delectable. Probably the best part of the meal for me. Appetizers came and were consumed with Roommate, The’s crab dip being the best of the three. Mains followed shortly thereafter and were really nothing too spectacular. Oddly enough, the highest recommended restaurant was my least favourite thus far. Had it not the view it did, I doubt very much it would be so highly regarded.
After lunch, we popped outside on the terrace to be touristy and snap some pictures. Afterwards, we went back inside and checked out the mini museum to see the history of the hotel. I tucked out to call my mother, as it was mother’s day. After all was said and done, we split from the hotel and headed up to Sulphur Mountain to take a gondola ride. The gondola was pretty neat. It was a slow build like the beginning of a roller coaster – except it went up for 10 minutes and there was no major drop. Once at the top, we went up to the observatory deck to grab some pictures, but these were limited due to the thick layer of fog and snow at the top of the mountain. We then went on a boardwalk ‘hike’ to another observatory. We were told that it was closed due to snowfall, but that was not going to stop us from getting some cool pictures. We hopped over the ‘do not cross’ sign and snapped a few quick pics before scurrying back to the safety of the accessible area. What rebels we were. The ginger ale, two waters and coffee I drank then caught up with me. Seeing as we were already being rebellious, I figured I could cross something off my bucket list: peeing at an altitude above 7500 feet, check. Relieved, we went back to the gondola station to head back down the mountain.
At the base of the mountain we found a magazine of local things to do. The two boys read it while the girl went to the restroom – somewhat embarrassed about what we did at the top of the mountain and upset that she had to wait the 15 minutes to get to the base. In that magazine we found an ad for a surf and turf place that had a lobster special on Sundays. Score. Before we investigated further, we tried to check out the hot springs. Turned out to be not that interesting. Next we tried to check out the ‘cave and basin’ but the road was closed for construction. Lame. So we puttered back to the hotel and called the restaurant about reservations. Lucky we did, as we were able to reserve three of the last four lobsters they had. After changing into slightly more appropriate outfits, we hopped on the Trans-Canada and boogied down to Canmore to get some sea treats. While we were driving around Canmore looking for the joint, the van rolled over the 5000 km mark. Still another day of driving ahead and we already reached 5000 km’s travelled! Awesome.
We finally found the restaurant, “The Wood” and went inside. As soon as we walked in the waitress guessed it was the lobster callers and sat us down. Knowing what we wanted for a main, we all decided on appies. Duck and brie spring rolls, shrimp tacos, and crab and artichoke dip arrived and were consumed quite quickly. So far, so good. This was followed by whole lobster and 5 oz. steaks. Another bucket list moment for Grilfriend, The who had already crossed one off by firing a gun, now was able to check another by cracking and eating an entire lobster for the first time. Dessert was out of the question. We were three full individuals. What next on our Canada adventure? Well, we were only 20 minutes away from another casino, so why not gamble in another province. This adventure had a little more balance, and a little less luck: one of us lost, one of us won and the other broke even. Not bad. The not so fun part of this trip was the drive back to Banff. It wasn’t quite raining and it wasn’t quite snowing, but whatever was falling from the sky was coming in at such an angle it was almost as if I was driving the Starship Chevy Enterprise and we were going warp 10. It was enormously difficult to drive. The speed limit was still 110 but I doubt I could push it past 80 without fearing for my life. However, I’m still alive, so we made it back safely. Good night Banff, part 2.
H.
Ps. No bears 😦
Hashbrown, The 