Weekend in the Canadian Rockies

We've been living in Alberta since February and had been desperate to get out to the Rocky Mountains, however it didn't happen over summer so we last minute decided to go during the Thanksgiving weekend.  So off we went on Saturday morning at 4am with intent of reaching Banff in the morning...didn't quite go to plan though as our Jeep decided to crap itself (alternator) and we ended up in Tim Hortons for 2.5 hours at 5am in the morning waiting for an auto service department to open.  We finally got on the road shortly after 10am and $400 poorer and hoping we got to make it to Banff after our setbacks.  It wouldn't be an adventure without a breakdown now would it! lol
 
 
Banff has quite a selection of restaurants, pretty much something for everyone but like every tourist town it's expensive.  I had carried out a little research beforehand and a restaurant called Melissa's Missteak seemed to be mentioned quite a few times as a good spot to eat in town and it wasn't too expensive.  We had two meals here during our stay in Banff and also had drinks in the upstairs bar which we got on the house as the barman felt bad as we tried to order some food but they had closed the kitchen early, he also came out with some warm popcorn for us.
 
http://www.melissasrestaurant.com/index.htm
 

 

 
Gorgeous George burger, Darren ordered this with bison meat rather than regular beef, it's topped with Canadian Cheddar, pineapple and Canadian back bacon.
 
I had the steak sandwich which was an 8oz Alberta beef sirloin served on garlic toast with some of the tastiest fries I've ever had.  The steak I ordered medium and was cooked just nicely and had a nice char taste.  I usually order medium rare but some restaurants seem to cook it too rare for my liking so I play it safe these days.
 

 
We went back to Melissa's again, this time for dinner, because it was the Thanksgiving weekend they were serving a turkey dinner and pumpkin pie special but we passed on this as I was in the mood for wings and Darren doesn't like turkey dinners! lol So he ordered a Joe Canadian burger, which is basically a burger topped with Canadian cheddar, sauteed mushrooms and bacon.
 

 

I had the chicken wings and a basket of onion rings, which ended up being waaay too much for me to eat but what I did eat of it I thoroughly enjoyed:
 

 
We also took a brief visit to British Columbia to a little town called Golden as we heard the roads there were pretty scenic plus there was a little diner there that we though we might as well try.
 
Legendz Diner seems to be thee spot in town, it's a little 50's themed diner but it seems to have been there a long time and everyone seems to have a favourite dish there.  They also apparently hold a classic car night every Thursday evening.
 

 

 

 

 

 


 
Anyway onto the food, the menu had too much to choose from, I was having a hard time choosing what to get but in the end I settled for a Hawaaian burger and Darren went for the chicken burger.  Darren was in the mood for a milkshake and he was sure glad he ordered one and one taste and he claimed it to be the best he's ever had (yet anyway), it certainly was a great milkshake!
 

 

 

 
I was intending to order dessert here as they had a great looking selection of homemade pies but I ended up being too full after my burger and fries and had to pass.
 
British chocolate we got from one of the many candy stores in the Banff area:
 

 
Some sodas we bought from Grizzly Paw Brewery in Canmore, AB:
 

 
Root beer, cream soda and black cherry.  We so far have only tried the root beer, but it was really good so we’re looking forward to the rest.
 
http://www.thegrizzlypaw.com/
 
Onto some scenery pictures...
 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
We headed to Jasper en route home on Monday and had intentions to get another spot of Roadfooding in but we just couldn't find anywhere.  Overall it was a great trip and the scenery was breathtaking, really can't wait to get out to that area again, but maybe next time when it isn't -21! lol
 
 

Hey this is a great report...Some great views of a beautiful part of the world...and great food.....thanks for sharing!!!!

Very nice report. Thanks for sharing!!

Beautiful pictures kirstin!  I've got a hankering for some Canadian Rockies scenery myself.

I so much want to go to Banff and especially the Jasper Ice Fields!  I've been to Calgary, to Waterton Park, Cardston and Lethbridge (and environs) in Alberta, but never made it to Banff or Jasper -- yet.   I love to see the mountain goats and I understand there are some in Jasper.  Waterton really doesn't have any -- it's got plenty of dahl sheep, bears, bison and other wildlife, but you have to go to Glacier in Montana to see the mountain goats.
 
Anyway, the photos are beautiful, and it is nice to know that there's some roadfood to be had.
 
 

That is some gorgeous scenery.  I did not realize how beautiful and majestic the Canadian Rockies were.  I would go there not just for food but the neat looking little town along with those majestic mountains.  Thanks for the writeup.

Quick question....looking at the pictures, they were linked to your photo bucket.  What the hell are those guys dressed up in military outfits with pale white faces holding giant keyboards marching down the street all about?

Thanks guys! Yeah the scenery is something else altogether, we had a hard time taking in just what we were witnessing, and it's really hard to show it in it's full glory in a photograph as you really have to see it for yourself.

Our favourite part of the trip was just driving the road from Banff to Jasper, beautiful scenery all the way and the area around Columbia Icefield was stunning.  I was hoping to see more wildlife, all we really saw were a couple of elk holding up traffic in Banff, the mountain goats outside Jasper and some crows that must have been on steroids! lol I was hoping to see some moose! I could very easily move to that area...there ain't so much to look at up here in the prairies...

P.S The guys with black faces and huge keyboards marching down the street are the "keyboard army" lol