Calgary and Banff – The Bradleys in Texas

In August we took a 10-day trip up to Calgary and Banff in Alberta, Canada. We stayed at a fabulous hotel in Calgary (the Westley), and made a couple of day trips up to Banff which is about a 45-minute drive from Calgary. The weather was fabulous just about the whole time, with only a couple of days where it sprinkled some. They were having a “heat wave” by their terms, which meant temps getting up to the upper 80’s. To Trace and me, this was heavenly since we were coming from Texas which was experiencing 100+ degree temps for the better part of the summer!

We really enjoyed our time up there. Actually, Calgary reminded me a lot of Denver, the way it used to be. It was a big town but with a small town character. The city was clean, safe, and the people were especially friendly.

I took a boatload of photos up there, and would have taken a whole bunch more had it not been for the wildfires in the Yukon and Northwest territories. It really put a haze in the air especially up in Banff. But here is a sampling of some of my pics from this trip. Enjoy!!

Downtown Calgary — I was amazed at how clean it was. And all throughout the town there are sculptures and other outdoor art pieces, like the horses in the foreground above.

Downtown Calgary with the infamous “Saddledome” where the Calgary Flames hockey team plays. See the tower to the left behind the Saddledome. The next couple of pictures are from the glass-bottom observation deck at the top of the tower.

Looking down from the glass-bottom observation deck

Do you think Trace looks a little scared to be standing up there?

This is downtown Calgary’s pedestrian walk street. There are all sorts of restaurants, bars, and shops lining this walkway. We frequented this place quite often and had some fantastic food there.

One of the crazy sculptures in downtown Calgary. Actually, it was really interesting, and HUGE! You can see there are little openings at the bottom where you can actually walk inside.

This is beautiful downtown Banff, which reminded us a little of Estes Park , Colorado.

This and the next several pictures were taken up in the area around Banff National Park. You can see how much haze from the wildfires is in the air up there.

We took a boat ride on Lake Minnewanka, and this pic was taken from the boat.

Some mountain goats up near the top of the Banff Gondola

Went to the Cascade Gardens which is located just on the outskirts of the town of Banff. This place was a photographer’s dream. This shot and the next few shots were taken there.

Last but not least, I have to post a picture of my breakfast one morning from a little place called OEB Breakfast. This particular entree is called “Don’t Even Think About It”. It’s a crepe pancake stuffed with a custard and bananas and berries, topped off with whipped cream and chopped almonds and pistachios. And of course, I had to have it with a generous serving of Canadian bacon. Yum!!!!

And that’s about it for our Calgary / Banff trip. Hope you enjoyed sharing our photos of this memorable trip.