Per Wikipedia.com, Banff (pronounced /bæɱf/) is the largest town in Banff National Park, in Alberta’s Rockies, Canada. It is the first incorporated municipality located within a Canadian national park, and at 4,800 ft it is the town with the second highest elevation in Canada, the highest being Lake Louise. It is surrounded by mountains, notably Mount Rundle, Sulphur Mountain, Mount Norquay, and Cascade Mountain, and is situated above Bow Falls near the junction of the Bow and Spray Rivers. Banff is located 78 miles west of Calgary and 36 miles east of Lake Louise, on the Trans-Canada Highway. The town is a member of the Calgary Regional Partnership.

Banff is a resort town and one of Canada’s most popular tourist destinations, known for its mountainous surroundings and hot springs. It is a major destination for outdoor sports and features extensive hiking, biking, scrambling and skiing areas within the region. Two ski resorts are located in close proximity: Sunshine Village and Ski Norquay.

TRANSPORTATION

At Calgary Airport, Brewster Airport & Resort Shuttle’s desk is conveniently located near the baggage claim.  If you prefer to arrange your transportation in advance (often not necessary) call 800-760-6934 OR visit: explorerockies.com.  Round trip bus transportation to Banff and back costs approximately $192.00 for two people.

Buses are new or newer, very clean and most are equipped with features like reclining seats, arm rests, foot rests, individual lighting and pull-down food trays.  The journey to Banff is roughly one hour and forty-five minutes.

The bus cruises along gingerly at 50mph on the highway past lush green fields, gentle hillsides and “Alberta beef” (cow).  It makes for a comfortable ride on our way to Banff.

SHOPPING

At Rundle Gift Shop(A: 319 Banff Ave, Banff, AB, T1L 1A8. P: 403-762-3223) I pick up an attractive hand-painted figurine of a wood duck drake by artist R.C. Ireland.  Creekside Gifts (A: 111 Lake Louise Drive, Lake Louise, AB, Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise. P: 403-522-2359) has a penguin made from buffalo horn (taken from animals used as a food source) that will be added to my collection.

Wood Duck: R.C. Ireland

Goro Canyon Smoke & Gift Shop (A: 222 Lynx Street, Banff Park Lodge, Banff, AB, T1L 1C4.  P: 403-762-4172) has great Canadian souvenirs as well as local artists works.  We purchase a jade penguin figurine and a rhodonite penguin figurine.  Can you sense a theme with our purchases?  Store manager Roma Osicki offers us a much appreciated discount on the jade penguin.

At Cascade Gifts (A: 131 Banff Avenue, Banff, AB, T1L 1C2. P: 403-762-2035. W: cascadegifts.com) you’ll find items such as maple jelly, maple caramels, maple syrup, smoked salmon, maple cookies, maple nougat candy, ice wine candies and maple butter.

Seaborn (A: 205 Wolf Street, Banff, AB, T1L 1C9.  P: 403-760-3900. W: seaborn.ca) sells various Japanese food, a nice variety of maple syrups, maple cookies and maple butters.

Banff Sweet Shoppe(A: 201 Banff Avenue, #12, Banff, AB, T1L 1B3. P: 403-762-3213) sells a wide variety of sweets including delicious maple walnut fudge.  I buy a block of fudge and a bag of maple roasted cashews.

OK Gift Shop (A: 209 Banff Avenue, Banff, AB, T1L 1B1. P: 403-762-3133. W: okgift.ca) has a nice selection of maple cookies, maple caramels, maple syrups and much more.

SCENERY & WILDLIFE

Large magpie birds walk around the lawns and planters of many hotels.  They have beautiful coloring with shades of teal blue, black and white.  I quickly learn that Canadian mosquitoes, unlike Taiwanese mosquitoes, DO like “white meat”.  Thankfully I brought the “Off mosquito repellant”.

We booked two tours (after arriving in Banff) through Brewster Sightseeing Excursions (P: 800-760-6934. W: explorerockies.com).  The “Minnewanka Evening Wildlife Cruise” includes a Minnewanka Lake Cruise, Cascade Mountain, Cascade Falls, Palliser and Fairholme Mountain Ranges, Mount Aylmer, Mount Inglismaldie and Hoodoo clusters.  The cost is $64.76 per adult with an approximate duration of four hours.

On the Minnewanka Lake Cruise I chuckle as I notice that the Saudi teenager (the first mate had us name our city or country of residence) in front of us is “freezing his arse off” as the water spray and wind come through the partially open window.  Conversely, the group from the Netherlands is fully enjoying the ride at the rear of the boat, outside, while the rest of us remain inside.

As we return to the dock big horn sheep are trotting down a long stretch of road bordering the lake.  Cars stop and patiently wait as the sheep stop and start several times…determining their final destination.  We hurriedly exit the boat and jog to where the sheep were congregated.  The males have ventured into the forest while the females saunter towards us.  I snap off pictures as they trot by, within a foot of me.

Minnewanka: Big Horn Sheep

The “Mountain Lakes & Waterfalls” tour includes Johnston Canyon, Natural Rock Bridge, Lake Louise, Moraine Lake, Valley of the Ten Peaks, Takakkaw Falls and Emerald Lake.  The cost is $111.43 per adult, includes a box lunch and duration is approximately nine hours.

Our tour bus picks us up bright and early and within seconds a deer and her fawn dart out in front of our “fortunately” slow-moving bus.  The pair cross Banff Avenue and make their way down a side street…only after sampling flowers out of a planter box of the Aspen Lodge Hotel.

A moment later a driver in a dated POS Ford Explorer drives down the wrong side of the road, making a left into oncoming traffic.  The driver quickly realizes it and slowly drives up and over the median…and back to the correct side of the road.  Most passengers are having a good laugh.  This driver must be a tourist…or…British?

Our driver advises us that Banff has about 50-80 of each bear species (black/cinnamon and grizzly).  He tells us that a week ago a huge grizzly appeared at Johnston Canyon (our first destination) near the gift shop.  Approximately 30 tourists aggressively angled their cameras at the bear and “fired off” pictures.  He was sure someone was going to be mauled but luckily the startled bear bolted into the woods.

He mentions that the grizzlies in Banff weigh less than the grizzlies in Quebec because there aren’t any salmon streams.  As a result, grizzlies in Banff are predominantly herbivores.  He mentions that porcupines live in the forest.  Bella can’t recall exactly, but thinks the Taiwanese refer to them as “arrow pigs” or “thorn pigs”.

Johnston Canyon reminds me of a combination of Taroko Gorge and Shitou in Taiwan.  It has the limestone and eroded rock formations in the walls of the canyon (similar to Taroko Gorge) and the lush green forests, streams and waterfalls (comparable to Shitou).

Lake Louise is absolutely stunning with beautiful aqua colored water.  Oftentimes destinations don’t live up to the hype which I’m happy to report doesn’t apply in regards to Lake Louise.

The Fairmount Chateau Lake Louise (A: 111 Lake Louise Drive, Lake Louise, AB, T0L 1E0. P: 403-522-3511. W: Fairmont.com/lakelouise) is somewhat overrated.  A store owner inside the hotel informs me that the air conditioning inside the hotel recently broke and due to the high monthly cost they decided not to repair it.  I know it is an older hotel but this isn’t the type of decision you would expect from a four-star resort hotel’s management team.

Lake Louise

As a result, there are pockets inside the hotel that feel almost “sauna hot”.  I walked through a floor to ceiling glass hallway where I felt like a lizard sunbathing on a rock in the Mojave.  Fortunately this hotel is located in the mountains or they would be out of business within six months.  Other minor fixes within the hotel have been neglected as well.

Moraine Lake has a higher elevation than Lake Louise and is nearly as striking.  There is a huge rock pile and what looks like a beaver’s paradise with floating logs crisscrossed, bordering the lake’s edge.  Golden-mantled ground squirrels, pika (“rock rabbit”) and hoary marmots (largest North American ground squirrel) live in the rock pile.

The movie “The Edge” starring Alec Baldwin and Anthony Hopkins was filmed in the area with Moraine Lake featured.  The Edge is a 1997 survival and relationship drama film directed by Lee Tamahori starring Anthony Hopkins as billionaire magazine publisher Charles Morse and Alec Baldwin as Bob Green, one of his ambitious employees.  Harold Perrineau also co-stars as the group’s photographer Stephen.  Elle Macpherson has a supporting role as Hopkins’ trophy wife and model for his magazine.  Her presence in the beginning of the movie acts as a catalyst for the film’s bold rivalry between Baldwin and Hopkins.  L. Q. Jones has a supporting role as an innkeeper.  Bart the Bear (a trained Kodiak bear) known for appearing in several Hollywood movies, also appears, as a vicious grizzly, and it would be one of his last film roles.

Our driver says that wolves are very capable of killing grizzly bears.  Grizzlies never try and run down a wolf because they aren’t fast enough.  Gray wolves can weigh around 200 pounds and will use the pack mentality to take down a bear.

As we traverse down the highway, he points out animal overpasses built to save the lives of wildlife.  They build bridges and grow grass and plants across the path so that it is inviting to the animals.  So far they’ve built 22 of these animal crossings and plan on building many more.  Monitoring shows that 100,000 animals have used these to date.

We’re now heading to Yoho National Park in British Columbia.  We make our way up the mountain side towards Takakkaw Falls.  This is a very tight one-lane road which has a “switchback” which involves backing the bus uphill, through the middle portion in order to get to the top.  Maybe I can trade occupations with this guy – not!

It is a bit warm here in BC but we snap off some pictures of squirrels and the waterfall before returning to the bus.  Next is Emerald Lake.  This stunning lake is smaller than the two previous lakes with aqua colored water.  Unfortunately, the sun has shifted and the photos don’t appear to do it justice.  There is a wooden bridge leading to a walk-up snack bar and a casual restaurant.

SNIFFING & SAVORING

Tim Horton’s(W: timhortons.com, Calgary Airport) serves dependable baked goods and reminds me of Dunkin Donuts.  The whole grain blueberry muffin is soft, moist and very tasty for a slightly healthier snack.  The maple pecan Danish has a crystallized maple syrup center with pecan slices on the outside.

I finally found a place that serves coffee European style!  Evelyn’s Coffee Bar (A: 201 Banff Avenue, Banff, AB, T1L 1A4. P: 403-762-0352. W: evelynscoffeebar.com.  Various locations.).  I take away a bag of whole bean Papua New Guinea coffee as Evelyn’s and I part ways.

Simply put, coffee in this town — “blows doors”.  At quality restaurants I witnessed what appeared to be watered down tea emanating from the spout of the carafe.  Add a single creamer and you have an ecru colored milky beverage of some sort.  Nasty!

Cows Inc (A: 134 Banff Avenue, Banff, AB, T1l 1C3.  P: 403-760-3493. W: cows.ca) is an ice cream store chain.  The smooth and creamy maple walnut in a sweet almond cone is to die for.  Throwing out the cone is NOT an option.  Bella goes with the coffee and blueberry flavors (big chunks of blueberry).

Don’t be fooled by the pretty Asian hostesses at Maple Leaf (A: 137 Banff Avenue, Banff, AB, T1L 1C8.  P: 403-760-7680.  W: banffmapleleaf.com).  This restaurant and bar have more to offer than just pretty faces.  The interior of the restaurant is beautiful and has that lodge feel I appreciate in mountain resort towns.

Their banana bread French toast is excellent.  The bread consists of slices of baked banana bread (like mom made), caramelized bananas, whipped cream and maple syrup.  The crème brule trio (espresso, maple syrup, white chocolate raspberry) is pretty good as well.  However, white chocolate raspberry was a throwaway flavor for me.  Combining fruit and chocolate often proves disgusting and reminds me of those hideous flavored coffees.

Our bartender is Australian which seems to be the prevailing culture among service staff in Banff.  We were informed that most of the service staff here are from other countries.

Unfortunately, it is at Maple Leaf where I learn that service in Banff is different than other resort towns.  Absentee waiters, waiting 5-10 minutes to be seated and empty promises were regular occurrences at dining establishments.  I think they have a more “European mentality” in this town where people take their time while dining, focusing on enjoying the meal and the ambiance.  Now if I could only get them to brew a “European style” cup of java.

The Evergreen Restaurant (A: 459 Banff Avenue, The Delta Banff Royal Canadian Lodge.  P: 403-762-3307.  W: charltonresorts.com) serves a breakfast beyond the standard fare.  Unfortunately, their coffee looks like watered down Earl Grey tea as it flows out of the carafe.  A cup of java from the Corner Bakery would smoke this cup of Joe.

Tooloulou’s Bistro & Bar (A: 537 Banff Avenue, The Rundlestone Lodge, Banff, AB, T1L 1A6. P: 403-762-2201.  W: rundlestone.com) offers up some decent home cooking with a Cajun influence.  I felt like I flashed back to a friend’s parent’s house as a very casually dressed woman in her early fifties handled all serving responsibilities for the room.  The dining room has the appearance of a living room converted into a dining room for the purpose of serving food to strangers.  A couple of youngster females came and went, working the hostess stand as needed.

The fried oysters had the appearance of a mass produced frozen packaged variety but did contain juicy, plump, tasty oysters.  Our salmon and red snapper entrée’s were pretty good albeit clearly not spectacular or memorable.

Melissa’s(A: 218 Lynx Street, Banff, AB, T1L 1A9. P: 403-762-5511. W: melissasrestaurant.com) has been in business for over 32 years and serves standard breakfast fare with a fair amount of options.  The building is the only remaining portion of the original Homestead Hotel built in 1913.

Grizzly House Restaurant (A: 207 Banff Avenue, Banff, AB, T1L 1B4. P: 403-762-4055. W: banffgrizzlyhouse.com) specializes in exotic game meats.  A pounding rain, deafening thunder and brilliant lightning exhibited outside had us quickly turning tail to our hotel’s front desk.  Fortunately they had a loaner umbrella which assisted us in getting to the restaurant “drier”, excluding below the knee, which were soaking wet.

I order the “Exotic hot rock platter” featuring shark, alligator, rattlesnake, ostrich, frog legs, buffalo and venison served with a variety of sauces.  I added sides of elk and wild boar.  A hot stone is brought to your table and you cook the meats yourself.  The waiter and menu address how long you should cook each type of meat.

Grizzly House: Raw Meats

We open our meal with a delicious “Bagna Cauda” (vegetable fondue) in a VERY garlicky and SERIOUSLY salty broth.  The cuts on the meats don’t look to be precision cuts which will likely affect the taste.

Regardless, here are my assessments:

Shark tastes similar to swordfish but is a tad fishier with a firm texture that cooks rapidly.  Alligator has a shiny, smooth texture and a lumpy consistency.  It possesses a noticeable fishy or “from the swamp” aroma that penetrates your nasal passages.  Surprisingly, it is not chewy as long you cook it right and it tastes delicious.

I chuckle to myself as the extended version of Eric Carmen’s “All by Myself” emanates through the speakers.  Every now and then, I do a “very personal” karaoke version of this song for my colleagues.  I ask our waiter where I might find fresh baked maple cookies.  He gives me a couple of bakery names which are “long shots”.  Apparently Quebec is the province known for its maple.  That makes sense when you consider where Vermont is and then point north.

Rattlesnake has a stringy composition, a slightly gamey taste (unlike chicken), isn’t chewy and tastes quite good.  It is my second favorite to alligator thus far.  Ostrich likely tastes similar to a sirloin or “maybe” a filet steak.  I’m not that impressed as I was expecting a little gaminess or something out of the ordinary.  Buffalo tastes like beef but a healthier rendition of it.  Venison is somewhat gamey and tasty with a firm texture.  This is my third favorite.

Frog leg has a dryness factor in between white meat and dark meat chicken.  And yes, it “tastes like chicken”.  After spending 10 minutes to cook it I am underwhelmed by the finished product.  Wild boar is rough and tough in texture.  It doesn’t have the “fragrance” that pork sometimes has.  It tastes okay, is a bit tough to chew and I label it simply – okay.  Give me a farm-raised pig any day.

I’ve heard people rave about elk over the past few years so I am most excited to try this.  I find it similar to beef, not gamey and with a texture similar to steak.  It tastes good but too similar to steak to draw any real excitement out of me.  I’m wondering if the tiny portion and cut of the meat impacted the flavor dramatically.  I think I’ll try an elk entree the next time it is made available to me.

The sauces included: an orange colored creamy Cajun sauce; a creamy tomato basil sauce; a bacon/mashed potato creamy sauce; a creamy horseradish sauce.

We closed the meal with a Toblerone chocolate fondue and fruit (apple, cantaloupe, banana, wafer cookies, honey dew and strawberries).  The Grizzly House provided us with our first exposure to mediocre service in Banff.  I love a relaxing dinner when you’re on vacation but 2.5 hours is a tad excessive when you aren’t drinking wine and you’re still “moist” from the torrential downpour.  We walk back to the hotel and as we pass Safeway the dark smoky blue colors of the sky remind me of Van Gogh’s “Wheatfield with Crows” painting.

Another dinner venture was at Saltlik (A: 221 Bear Street. P: 403-762-2467. W: saltlick.com): “a rare steakhouse”.  I’m already scared when the waitress is delayed in getting to our table and says “sorry for the delay, I’m all yours for the rest of the night”.  And for the next two hours, she clearly was anything but — “all ours”.  We barely saw her for the remainder of our meal.  Fortunately, other staff filled in as needed.

The wok-fried calamari with sea salt, pepper, pablanos and charred serranos was nothing short of amazing.  The 3-inch pieces of calamari (“cuttlefish”) were quite tender with nice spice.  The Chinese style of cooking was familiar albeit surprisingly even more impressive than anticipated.  The garlicky broccoli was super heavy on garlic but delicious.

Our entrees were the “CAB Porterhouse” with Montpellier butter and “Bodacious Rib-eye” with citrus rosemary butter were both served “Chicago style” (charred outside, medium rare inside).  These highly touted “Alberta beef” steaks were thin cuts and clearly high quality meat but a bit short of reaching the mark of the corn-fed American Angus beef we were accustomed to (think Fleming’s, Mastro’s or Morton’s).

Saltlik: Bodacious Ribeye

My glass of Peter Lehmann shiraz was a good value at $10.00 per glass.  It has nice fruit but not over-the-top with nominal alcohol that relaxes quickly.  We closed the meal with an outstanding vanilla bean panna cotta (“Italian flan”) with ice wine granita, mint and slices of mandarin orange and grapefruit.

It was unbelievably creamy in texture and was followed by a scrumptious taste.  A chilled glass of Luxardo Passione Nera Black Sambuca has a very herbal taste with that yummy black licorice (anise) taste.  Oh, and their coffee is pretty decent here, second best to Evelyn’s.

Our final meal was at Sukiyaki House(211 Banff Avenue, 2^nd floor, Park Avenue Mall, AB, T1L 1B8. P: 403-762-2002. W: sukiyakihousebanff.ca).  It’s a 120-seat sushi restaurant with Tanami rooms, a traditional sushi bar and an outdoor patio.  I ordered the seafood yakisoba, salmon sashimi and fried octopus balls (takoyaki).  The Japanese food is above average but I’ve had better in Orange County, CA.

SANCTUARY

Red Earth Spa (A: 521 Banff Avenue, Caribou Lodge Hotel, AB, T1L 1H8.  P: 403-762-9292. W: redearthspa.com) was where we chose to relax on our final day in Banff.  We booked the couples room for Bella’s 90 minute deep tissue body and scalp massage and my 90 minute Shiatsu body and scalp massage.  Spa privileges included: Jacuzzi; steam room; exercise room; sauna; hot pool; showers; fresh fruit; tea; fruit flavored water.

Charlton’s Cedar Court (A: 513 Banff Avenue, Banff, AB, T1L 1B4. P: 403-762-4485. W: charltonscedarcourt.com) was our three-star residence.  We salvaged more funding towards plane fare, tours and food.

We pack our bags for our return flight and hit the Jacuzzi.  A couple in their late forties are fluctuating between childish (splash wars) and romantic behavior in the swimming pool.  I’m going to take a wild guess — not married?