Seven of my favourite places we visited in Alberta (and what I wore to each of them)

You may notice that the title of this post says "Alberta", instead of just Calgary, and the reason for that is that while on the other side of the Rockies, though the majority of our time was indeed spent in the beautiful, bustling city of Calgary, we also enjoyed a fantastic day trip further south in the province to a fantastic little prairie down called Nanton (many heartfelt thanks all those, including to Jill from Tea with the Vintage Baroness, who highly recommended we visit this charming corner of the province - you were spot on when you said that you thought I'd adore it).




I'm not kidding in the slightest when I say that I did more, and pushed myself harder during the process, during our week in Calgary that I usually do in a half a year - sometimes even an entire year, just depending on my health's current state. I know that this long overdue trip was likely to be a rare occurrence (the last trip, a short jaunt to Montreal where Tony was speaking at conference for work, that we took was at the start of 2007) and that I wanted to squeeze as much out of the experience as I possibly could, short of wrecking myself, so to speak, to the point where I'd be too ill to do anything at all.

While at home in sweet little Penticton, I would never push myself so hard for so many days in a row, but am sincerely glad that I did while on the road, because - though it means weeks of recovery time afterwards now - it enabled me to enjoy such a rich, activity packed adventure with my darling husband, in a city that I know (the bones of) like the back of my hand (I spent a little over two years living in Calgary when I was in my late teens).

I headed to Alberta with a hefty sized list of places that I thought might be oodles of fun to visit. I knew of course that we wouldn't get to all of them, but in a way, that only made the ones that we did see even more enjoyable, because in the back of my mind, I already had a list of destination being compiled for the next time we happen to have the good fortunate of being in that neck of the woods - or in this case, sprawling urban prairie metropolis.

We went out together every single day during our trip, often for several hours at a time, and returned both very happy and very tired every night. Most days we planned our itinerary of outings in advance, but on a couple, we took a more "on the fly" approach and let the weather, our mood, and what we really hoped to accomplish while in Calgary guide our choice of destinations.

As this was Tony's first time in Calgary (or anywhere in Alberta), we knew that some of the more touristic destinations would be a must. After many years away from the city, and having loved them all myself long ago, I didn't mind seeing each of them again. After so much time, I almost felt like I was experiencing these sights again for the first time.

What follows is not a complete list of all the places, big and small alike that we visited, instead it is a roundup of seven that stand out as particular favourites of mine from this action packed, truly enjoyable journey.

Interspersed between them, were many moments that brought me equal joy, when, for example, I would find myself on familiar streets, glimpsing sights my eyes hadn't beheld in a decade, remembering which roads lead where, reconnecting with once treasured haunts, and discovering new ones in a city that had certainly changed and grown, but still retained so much of the brazen, multifaceted soul it possessed when I lived there.

{A Vintage Affair}

To say that we hit the ground running when we got to Calgary would be a major understatement. We reached town in the early evening on Friday, checked into our hotel, promptly headed out to (briefly) visit Chinook mall, get groceries, and explore the town a little. The next day, Saturday, was a big deal, let me tell you, because it saw not only my first ever blogger meet up (which I'll be posting about here in much more detail later this month), but also oodles of vintage clothes shopping.

As you may have heard me say before, Penticton does not having any dedicated vintage clothing stores, nor do the towns around us. Occasionally you'll luck out and one of the consignment, thrift or antique stores will happen to have a small number of mid-century garments, but this cannot be banked on my any means, and as a result, for all intents, I have no where in my town to shop for vintage clothes. I was practically starved for the chance to do so again and leapt into exploring Calgary's little handful of such shops with great gusto.

Bar non, my absolute favourite was A Vintage Affair located at 638 - 11th Avenue SW in downtown Calgary. The shop itself was beautiful, teaming with vintage garments spanning a range of decades, with no shortage of 40s and 50s pieces, all of which are well organized (including listing the bust, waist and hip measurements on the tags - something that I truly wish all vintage stores would do) and expertly displayed. I loved the friendly, cheerful staff who showed a genuine interest in vintage and were eager to chat on the topic, as well as about my blog and where I was from.

I've stepped foot in a number of vintage stores over the years where you were lucky to be given the time of day, even if you're sporting head-to-toe period vintage, so it was a truly awesome and much welcomed experience to be greeted so warmly by the wonderful ladies running this top-notch vintage shop (where I'm happy to say, I bought several items). The next time - and every time! - I'm in Calgary, A Vintage Affair is going to be my first shopping destination.

{Calgary Zoo}

Hit hard by this summer's tragic flooding, the Calgary Zoo has thus been able to partially reopen at this point, and on our last full day in town, Tony and I were able to spend about 1.5 hours there, which gave us time to see a small portion of the whole park.

No worries though, it's great to have the others to look forward to on our next trip. Though we might not have had all the time in the world, we were able to see the fabulous penguin exhibit, the Canadian Wilds exhibit, and stop by the gift shop (where I bought an adorable little pink plush penguin for myself).

{Glenbow Museum}

No matter where my journeys in life take me, if there's a museum there that speaks to my interests, you better believe I'll be making a speedy beeline for it. I'd been to the Glenbow Museum before many years ago and was champing at the bit to return.

With more than one million diverse artifacts and close to 30,000 pieces of art, the Glenbow Museum is the largest in Western Canada and one of the biggest museums in all of Canada. With both static and temporary exhibits, it's a true history and art lover's paradise, whether you want to learn more about Canada's First Nations People, the fascinating history of the Alberta, or even brush up on your geology via the beautiful display of rocks, gemstones, and minerals. Tony and I both adored our afternoon at the Glenbow Museum and agree that it was one of the highlights of the whole trip for us.

{Inside Avenue Antiques}

We were spoiled rotten with sublime weather throughout our travels, but in most every holiday, as in life itself, a little rain must fall, and we got pummeled with a prairie storm on Wednesday. This didn't deter us in the slightest though, in fact, we used the occasion to squeeze in plenty of shopping, including a trip to sprawling antiques mall Inside Avenue Antiques, located at 3419 - 8th Street SE.

I remember my step-dad taking us there when I was living in Calgary and how much I enjoyed the experience back then, so of course these days I was eager to return and see what this sprawling (the recently expanded into another 5,000 square feet of showroom space) antique mall had to offer.

Though there wasn't much in the way of clothing at all, and prices varied a fair bit between vendors, there was no shortage of incredible vintage and antique household items, jewelry, collectibles and sundry other yesteryear items (as well as the friendliest staff you could ever hope to encounter). I picked up a few things for myself there, including a vintage paperback copy of Gypsy Rose Lee's autobiography, as well as two awesome vintage presents, quite fitting, for my step-dad’s birthday.

{Nanton}

As mentioned above, one of the most memorable experiences of our time in Alberta was our day trip down to the absolutely lovely little farming (and tourism based) community of Nanton, which is famous for its abundance of vintage homes and buildings, as well as a wealth of antique and secondhand stores.

We were there on Sunday afternoon and most shops were open (until 5 or 5:30pm), however a couple were closed (more to see next time!). All, even those where most items were light years beyond my budget, were a joy to behold. For the sheer volume of items (filling numerous rooms on multiple floors), I really enjoyed Sentimental Journeys Antiques (where the picture above was taken), and picked up one sweet little treasure there (that I'd wanted to find one of for years - I'll reveal what it is was in my upcoming post about some of my fave items I bought on our travels).

In terms of prices and the best selection of mid-century items (for my tastes, at least), my pick of the day definitely goes to The Raven Store, located in a darling pale pink and white Edwardian home. I spent about half and hour and a hundred dollars there, and walked out with some of my favourite household and collectible pieces of the day, as well as a charming 1950s/early 60s pair of sunglasses (that I'll need to get prescription lenses put into if I'm to wear them for anything but merely modeling in). I adored this fun shop with its very reasonable prices, friendly employees and owner, and piece after piece that all but made me squeal in delight.

{17th Avenue SW}

Ages ago, when I lived in Calgary, 17th Avenue SW was one of my favourite streets in town to hang out on. It's always been a busy, exciting street bursting with diverse shops and excellent restaurants, as well as being a terrific place to simply stop and people watch for a while.

Though some of my old favourites are long gone, others remain and plenty of great new stores have sprung to life there in recent years, including rockabilly clothing shop Blame Betty, Divine - a fabulous basement level vintage clothing shop (the picture above was taken in Divine's graffiti bedecked stairwell) with the most reasonable prices on mid-century garments I found in Calgary, and Cat's Eye Vintage and Consignment.

Returning to 17th felt like rekindling an old friendship, and I'm so glad we got the chance to spend time there on multiple days throughout our trip.

{The Calgary Tower} 

Parking in the heart the downtown business district in Calgary, as it is in most cities these days, is mighty pricy, so in order to get the most bang for our ($25!) buck one day, Tony and I divided our afternoon between the Glenbow Museum and the Calgary Tower (where I posed with a super cute stuffed Mountain Goat at the base of the tower).

I've always enjoyed peering down at the city from the top of the tower and this visit was no exception. As I stood there and gazed out at the city below teeming with activity, vitality and ever greater expansion, it really sunk in that at long last, I'd returned to my very favourite city in all of Canada.

(All photos in this post were taken by Tony with either his iPhone or Canon DSLR camera.)

♥ ♥ ♥

It's safe to say that Tony and I both truly enjoyed our time in Alberta. It was busy indeed, but by the same token, it also granted us a breather from some of the many pressing demands, stresses, and priorities of daily life at home - as any good holiday ideally should. We agreed that the drive - draped both ways in an absurd amount of gorgeous end-of-summer sunshine - was as pleasant a highway trek as anyone could ever hope for, and that, during the warmer months, when the risk of snow storms is very low, we'd happily make it again anytime circumstances allowed.

Without a doubt, this is my favourite trip Tony and I have ever taken together (which to date now totals four, excluding those involved with moving). For nine years Tony had heard tale of my time in Calgary - which included some of the very best and very worst days of my life. In part, he must have felt as though he had a certain picture of it already in his mind's eye, which I hope sprang to life and took on a whole new dimension for him when we find stepped foot in the White Hat City, as it's known.

Looking back, so soon after our trip wrapped up, it's almost hard to believe how much we accomplished, saw, experienced, and yes, even found time to buy (the highlights of which will star in a post of their own in the very near future) while in Alberta. There wasn't a single moment, even those when my body felt like it had to crawl out from under a thousand pound pile of bricks to keep going for another day, that I didn't relish, didn't love, didn't try to make the very most of.

This trip was incredible. It helped me see a number of things in a whole new light and reminded me of others that I might have forgotten about over the years. It taught me a lot about my endurance levels (as they presently stand), showed me that overnight travel can be possible sometimes (especially if I cook all of my own food, which I did thanks to the kitchenette at our Marriot Residence Inn suite), and has bolstered my enthusiasm for future travel a million times more.

{A snap grabbed in the lobby of our hotel against a lovely photographic mural of the Calgary skyline.}

Calgary rocked, as did getting to finally share a city I hold so very near and dear to my heart with my husband. I don't know when we'll get back there again, but as I now have another devoted fan of Cow Town (and I use that nickname in the most affectionate of terms) in Tony, you can bet your bottom dollar that, with any luck, this will be the first of numerous trips we take to Alberta throughout our life.