Canmore Weekend
Bryan and I needed a weekend away from Calgary so here we are in Canmore for the weekend. The weather is quite lovely for December and so far we have been able to walk everywhere quite easily. The sun was out earlier today but it seems to set early (mountains are in the way).
We attempted to get a deal on a place to stay here in Canmore. I spent many hours looking for a room here for a weekend away in the summer but most nights were around $200 each, which was a bit too much. So, I was quite happy to receive a Groupon deal for the Lodges at Canmore for $99 / night. I purchased the Groupon and picked this weekend...and then saw the actual charge on my bill. Stupid Groupon is all in US dollars when you pay, but listed in Canadian on their site. Very deceptive! And, with exchange and other charges, we still ended up paying over $200 / night for this place.
Anyway, what can you do? We are renting a condo for the weekend, rather than staying in a hotel. This smallish 1-bedroom condo is quite lovely. We have a full kitchen, a cozy living room with a TV and fireplace, a large master bedroom, bathroom and laundry. It's more than enough room for us and it's very nice to have space to spread out, rather than spend every moment on the bed. We can veg out here in the condo but still be happy knowing we are away from home finally!
Last night we walked over to the Grizzly Paw Brewery for dinner. It took about 15 minutes to get there from our condo - nice easy walk! I tried their beer sampler - 4 5-oz beers for $9, which I felt was a pretty good set up. Their Evolution IPA was terrible - so hoppy! - but the Blond, Nut Brown and Raspberry beer were all very smooth and tasty (all were quite different from each other too). For dinner, I tried their Hippie Biscuit - a butternut squash vegetarian patty on a bun - with a house salad. It's been awhile since I enjoyed a good salad and I thoroughly enjoyed my meal.
After dinner, we went walking to find the Christmas in Canmore event that began last night. Advertised as running from December 4 through 31, Christmas in Canmore is a 2 hour event each night by their Civic Centre, with a live band, fire stick performers, bonfires for roasting marshmellows, and other entertainment meant for the entire family. Approximately 100 people were milling around, enjoying hot chocolate and hot cider, admiring the beautifully decorated parade of Christmas trees (each wonderfully decorated and sponsored by different local businesses), and bopping and swaying to the great band performing Christmas songs. The older guy on the saxophone was absolutely amazing to listen to!
We spent a little over half an hour at the event and then decided to walk around a bit more before heading back towards the Lodges. We stopped in at the Rose and Crown Pub on our way and ended up staying for quite a few hours. We went in shortly before 8 and Bryan was pretty much done by 9:25; I convinced him it was Friday night and we could probably stay out a bit longer. We got home around 1:30! The pub is apparently where all the young people hang out because I felt like I was at least 12 years older than most of the people in the bar last night! It was fun and our waitress was friendly.
The mountain air must have treated us well because, after so many drinks, we both woke up feeling pretty good. Well, I am in much better shape with not even a headache or stomachache to complain about. We slept in (yay - that NEVER happens for me) until 10:30, getting up only because our stomachs were beginning to growl.
Not far from here is a little place called Elita Restaurant. It had some great reviews on Trip Advisor and other sites and it served actual breakfast food, so we decided to walk that way this morning. We walked into the restaurant and no one else was in there. The one owner (clearly the wife of the family who runs it) turned on the music and seated us, making fresh coffee for us and getting our orders in pretty quickly. Her husband came in a few minutes later with a little girl, and he got to work on our food. The food was served quickly and was really very tasty. We loved their new potatoes - boiled and lightly fried, not deep friend or processed. Bryan and I both ordered the burrito, but mine came without cheese or ham, and we thought the meal was quite delicious. Their Costa Rican coffee was amazing too!
After breakfast, we walked back over to the downtown area and decided to check out the shops. Three hours later, we had hit most of the unique stores selling local products and stocked up on quite a few great stocking stuffers! I love shopping in these small, locally owned stores, especially around Christmas. Nothing beats the feeling of wandering around a small town with its friendly and happy people, checking out what's new and different out there. I'm so not a fan of the malls anymore so this was a very fun afternoon.
We stopped for a quick lunch at the Canmore Hotel bar - this is a very old building that reminds me of all the small-town bars we used to go to back in Manitoba. The place was dark, sparsely furnished, with a lot of creaking wood. The food was pretty decent though so we can't say it was a bad choice!
Now, here I am back at the condo, lounging around in my brand new flannel pyjamas from Rocky Mountain Flannel, and relaxing before we head out for our dinner reservation.
We attempted to get a deal on a place to stay here in Canmore. I spent many hours looking for a room here for a weekend away in the summer but most nights were around $200 each, which was a bit too much. So, I was quite happy to receive a Groupon deal for the Lodges at Canmore for $99 / night. I purchased the Groupon and picked this weekend...and then saw the actual charge on my bill. Stupid Groupon is all in US dollars when you pay, but listed in Canadian on their site. Very deceptive! And, with exchange and other charges, we still ended up paying over $200 / night for this place.
Anyway, what can you do? We are renting a condo for the weekend, rather than staying in a hotel. This smallish 1-bedroom condo is quite lovely. We have a full kitchen, a cozy living room with a TV and fireplace, a large master bedroom, bathroom and laundry. It's more than enough room for us and it's very nice to have space to spread out, rather than spend every moment on the bed. We can veg out here in the condo but still be happy knowing we are away from home finally!
Last night we walked over to the Grizzly Paw Brewery for dinner. It took about 15 minutes to get there from our condo - nice easy walk! I tried their beer sampler - 4 5-oz beers for $9, which I felt was a pretty good set up. Their Evolution IPA was terrible - so hoppy! - but the Blond, Nut Brown and Raspberry beer were all very smooth and tasty (all were quite different from each other too). For dinner, I tried their Hippie Biscuit - a butternut squash vegetarian patty on a bun - with a house salad. It's been awhile since I enjoyed a good salad and I thoroughly enjoyed my meal.
After dinner, we went walking to find the Christmas in Canmore event that began last night. Advertised as running from December 4 through 31, Christmas in Canmore is a 2 hour event each night by their Civic Centre, with a live band, fire stick performers, bonfires for roasting marshmellows, and other entertainment meant for the entire family. Approximately 100 people were milling around, enjoying hot chocolate and hot cider, admiring the beautifully decorated parade of Christmas trees (each wonderfully decorated and sponsored by different local businesses), and bopping and swaying to the great band performing Christmas songs. The older guy on the saxophone was absolutely amazing to listen to!
We spent a little over half an hour at the event and then decided to walk around a bit more before heading back towards the Lodges. We stopped in at the Rose and Crown Pub on our way and ended up staying for quite a few hours. We went in shortly before 8 and Bryan was pretty much done by 9:25; I convinced him it was Friday night and we could probably stay out a bit longer. We got home around 1:30! The pub is apparently where all the young people hang out because I felt like I was at least 12 years older than most of the people in the bar last night! It was fun and our waitress was friendly.
The mountain air must have treated us well because, after so many drinks, we both woke up feeling pretty good. Well, I am in much better shape with not even a headache or stomachache to complain about. We slept in (yay - that NEVER happens for me) until 10:30, getting up only because our stomachs were beginning to growl.
Not far from here is a little place called Elita Restaurant. It had some great reviews on Trip Advisor and other sites and it served actual breakfast food, so we decided to walk that way this morning. We walked into the restaurant and no one else was in there. The one owner (clearly the wife of the family who runs it) turned on the music and seated us, making fresh coffee for us and getting our orders in pretty quickly. Her husband came in a few minutes later with a little girl, and he got to work on our food. The food was served quickly and was really very tasty. We loved their new potatoes - boiled and lightly fried, not deep friend or processed. Bryan and I both ordered the burrito, but mine came without cheese or ham, and we thought the meal was quite delicious. Their Costa Rican coffee was amazing too!
After breakfast, we walked back over to the downtown area and decided to check out the shops. Three hours later, we had hit most of the unique stores selling local products and stocked up on quite a few great stocking stuffers! I love shopping in these small, locally owned stores, especially around Christmas. Nothing beats the feeling of wandering around a small town with its friendly and happy people, checking out what's new and different out there. I'm so not a fan of the malls anymore so this was a very fun afternoon.
We stopped for a quick lunch at the Canmore Hotel bar - this is a very old building that reminds me of all the small-town bars we used to go to back in Manitoba. The place was dark, sparsely furnished, with a lot of creaking wood. The food was pretty decent though so we can't say it was a bad choice!
Now, here I am back at the condo, lounging around in my brand new flannel pyjamas from Rocky Mountain Flannel, and relaxing before we head out for our dinner reservation.
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