So I finally went to Calgary. The concert was at the grey eagle casino...the carpet smelled like a bums ass and the sound was pretty bad. At least they had banquets and a fine crowd enjoying them! The Proud Sons from Winnipeg opened up....and while I don't like country they had an energetic guitar player who was very entertaining. Tea Party themselves seems to be winding down and there was a definite drop off from the last concert in LA. We did not stay for the final set and that will probably be that for travelling to see the Tea Party.
Apparently...it still snows quite a bit in Calgary in May. On the only semi decent day we went up to Banff and Lake Louise. The rest of the time it snowed. The RCMP had a tourist trap setup for tickets in Lake Louise. I still have no idea what stop sign I supposedly didn't stop at. He even made me take a breathalyzer immediately! But it looks like they were doing that with lots of people as they had many cars pulled over at this spot. He kept telling me I was getting a good deal for $233! Thanks tool of the man Constable! I didn't let that dampen my Lake Louise experience though. Lake Louise is still pretty even on a semi cloudy day. Nevermind all the tourists out on the ice when it says DANGER THIN ICE!.
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I didn't get a chance to go up to Wetaskiwin because the weather was bad. My 2nd great grandfather is buried up there and had a land grant so I wanted to go see it. Probably gives me an excuse to go to Edmonton.
I was shocked at the amount of video surveillance....everywhere on the streets of Calgary there were cameras and signs telling you they had the right to film you.
Hotel Le Germain was way too posh and pretentious for me.......Valet only parking for $40 a day! What a deal!
Not sure what the hype is on this hotel. Location was sub-par as was the services. The concierge was kind of a knob....I handed him my keys and my wife and I spoke with him directly....2 hours later and he is pulling a Rick James, trying to tell me that never happened and he never accepts keys....the folks at the front desk were very hard to understand. Supposedly one of the best hotels in Calgary.....the rooms were nice but I could have made do with much less and better/friendlier service.
I was the only one I ever saw wearing any Flames gear. In fact I saw more Bruins fans than Flames fans.....speaking of......a huge shout out to
Hudson's Canada's pub in Downtown Calgary. Watched both Bruins games there....they turned the sound on and even turned on the goal lights when I asked what they were. When the manager fellow found out I was an out of town Flames fan he even gave me a 3X5 Flames flag. TVs with hockey on everywhere and in the booths (and the poutine was great too)! Great experience.
Thanks Emily and Manager guy at Hudsons!The city could use some better signage....this Way to the Saddledome or Stampede park would be really helpful. Fortunately, I was right next to the Calgary tower so getting home wasn't bad. No Lyft but plenty of Uber and that's a good thing because the roads downtown were confusing (for me, google maps and even the uber drivers) and led me down 7th street in my rental which was definitely a no no. Thankfully, I got off that street quickly as I'd already donated enough to Alberta through the RCMP.
Tim Horton's......we went to the 7th street location. Think homeless people and drugged out weirdos next to mommy's with strollers all being hovered over by security. An interesting collection of people inside a dirty little store. Not the type of Timmy Ho's I am used to but hey its still Timmy's and I enjoyed it!
Calgary was bigger than I remembered (25 years ago) but still reminded me of Denver 15 years ago before the outside swell of humans. The people weren't as friendly as Montreal but compared to the wads down in Denver they were still pretty chilled and super PC (and of course the magic word is hockey). The road design seems to be quite antiquated...I read that they encourage mass transit downtown because of that. I did putz around the saddle dome/fan attic and my wife kaboshed the Calgary Beer fest.....(oh well it was pricey anyways). I would not go back to stay in Calgary downtown unless I was for sure seeing the Flames. Its a young western city.....but its still Canada and getting a chance to do my Canadian things in Canada is always a plus. The wife wants to go back up to Banff but I'd stay in Canmore. I wouldn't say I was disappointed as the Banff/Lake Louise trip was nice and I can have fun spending time with my wife doing nothing anyway. Overall the the whole trip value was meh (weather probably had a lot to do with it)....and it crosses something off my list. Not a lot of bang for the buck north of the border it seems so definitely something to consider for next time.
Having US customs at the airport in Calgary was a nice touch and the WestJet experience was pleasant.
Looks like this will be as close as I get....
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