Calgary

A 50th reimagined

/ Greg / Leave a comment

My wife and I have had a string of bad luck with our plans for recent anniversaries and our respective 50th birthdays. Ever the optimist, when a week’s trip to the Okanagan to celebrate her 50th fell through on account of the health of a close friend, we put together a quick three day visit to Calgary because even in tough times you have to find a way to celebrate.

Calgary has quickly become a favourite city for the two of us since moving to Saskatoon. It’s a reasonable 6+ hour drive, we’ve found a favourite hotel, and over a number of visits we’ve found a collection of favourite restaurants and bars to fill a weekend. On top of that list is Native Tongues, where an early meal during their happy hour lets you order the delightfully named “snackarita” that saves you money to buy even more of their amazing tacos. Hands down so far, this is our favourite restaurant in the city.

At Native Tongues in Calgary
At Native Tongues in Calgary
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The best Calgary has to offer

/ Greg / Leave a comment

Calgary has a vibrant craft beer scene, and while I can get some selected beers at home in Saskatoon, it’s always better to visit the source for a taste of their craft at its freshest. I did my research and lined up my visits to a number of craft breweries so I could taste the “best of the best” that Calgary has to offer. This is obviously a subjective list of breweries and taprooms but I highly recommend each of these.

Stop number one, just as an unexpected snow storm whipped through the city for a few hours, was Annex Ale Project. When I arrived, I noticed they had a number of beers on tap from 2 Crows from my old hometown of Halifax on account of a tap takeover event the previous day. I had previously tried all of the 2 Crows so I stuck to sampling a couple from Annex. My favourite was their “Heavy Meadow” (a saison) and I also quite enjoyed the delicious burger from the attached burger joint. Burgers and beer are always a great pairing!

Annex Ale Project in Calgary
Annex Ale Project in Calgary
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A book lover’s dream

/ Greg / Leave a comment

I have very fond memories of the opening of the new central library in Halifax, and many, many hours spent within it until I moved to Saskatoon in 2016. Six years here, and I’m eagerly anticipating the construction and opening of a new signature library, viscerally aware of the importance of libraries to the communities they serve. While I have a fondness for my small neighbourhood library just a couple of blocks away from my house, I’m looking forward to the day that Saskatoon has its own shiny new central library.

On my recent trip to Calgary, I took advantage of some very limited down time on a work-related trip and spent a couple of hours touring and experiencing that city’s new central library. Opened in 2018, it is an architectural gem and I was excited for the chance to explore.

Calgary Central Library
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Into the mountains with dad

/ Greg / 4 Comments

I’m not going to bury the lede on this… The five day, 2,200km road trip I took with my dad from Saskatoon to Calgary, then onto Banff, Lake Lousie and Jasper, and finally back to Saskatoon via Edmonton was one of the most fun things I’ve done in a long, long time. Every time I speak with my dad on the phone since he returned to New Brunswick, we end up talking about this trip and how much fun it was. Here’s the recap of an epic road trip, at least what I’m willing to share publicly. As with any good trip, there’s always a few things that need to respect the mantra “what happens on the road, stays on the road”

Calgary

When dad booked his flight from Bathurst, NB to visit me in Saskatoon in May, I immediately booked hotels for a mountain road trip so he could see the Rockies up close for the first time in his life. He arrived in Saskatoon, got acclimatized to my hometown for a couple of days, then we packed up the car and pointed it west. About seven hours later, we rolled into a rainy Calgary. First stop was at National on 17th, a great beer bar close to our hotel. Dad seems to be a fan of the pint I picked for him.

At National in Calgary

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Fifteen foot tall Lanny McDonald

/ Greg / Leave a comment

I’m still getting used to having Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver as my extended long weekend city destinations rather than Montreal and Toronto when I lived in the east. Even though it was a quick visit for my first ever time in Calgary back in June, the city left a great impression on me and I think I’ll be bumping Calgary up in the rotation when I’m craving some big city fun.

One of the reasons I left Calgary with an eye to returning was how visually appealing the downtown area was on a couple of aimless wandering hikes. And a huge reason for that was some very interesting art, including what was probably my favouite and most visually arresting piece I’ve seen this year – Wonderland by Jaume Plensa. It’s a piece I could instantly relate to as one representing imagination and dreams. I connected with this immediately because on my hiking around a new city, I’m always lost in my own mind and thoughts.

Wonderland by Jaume Plensa

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Rainy days and penguins

/ Greg / Leave a comment

The Calgary Zoo was the hook for an extended long-weekend trip that also happened to be our sixth honeymoon. I’m honestly loving that tradition. The corresponding anniversary gift this year would have been wood… I think a trip is better than that. We had planned a large part of one of our Calgary days for the zoo, but Mother Nature had other ideas and the morning’s biblical rains made me wonder if we’d see any animals at all. Seeing a possible break in the weather later in the day, we held off on our visit.

It seems like most of Calgary decided against the zoo and changed their day’s plans because once the clouds cleared mid afternoon, it felt like we had the place mostly to ourselves. How often, without waiting in a line, can you get extended, uninterrupted panda time?

Panda at Calgary Zoo

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Eating our way through Calgary

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Any visit to a new to me city means I get excited during the trip planning for laying out an itinerary for my eating and craft beer exploits. And then when I arrive in that city, I am usually consumed with where to eat the next meal or have my next craft beer, even with a plate of food and a cold beer within arms reach and actively being devoured.

I got a lot of strange looks when I told people that this would be my first visit to Calgary. But soon after reminding people Calgary was a lot further away from Halifax than Saskatoon, those quizzical expressions turned into many, many helpful suggestions of places my wife and I should visit during an extended long weekend stay.

One of the most common recommendations was the Calgary’s Farmer’s Market. A pouring down raining Saturday morning made this a no brainer while we waited for the skies to clear for a later day visit to the zoo. Exceptional gluten-free doughnuts from Jelly Modern Doughnuts, a perfectly balanced sweet-spiced iced chai latte from Analog Coffee (as well as a pound of coffee beans to bring back to Saskatoon) and a delicious al pastor taco from Los Chilitos Taqueria made for a nice second breakfast that morning.

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