Our Anniversary
This year, Christine and I celebrated our wedding anniversary (8th) by taking a day trip to the Banff Springs Hotel for afternoon tea.
The day started unenthusiastically with sleeping in and leaving about an hour late. By 11:00 we were out of the apartment and on our way. We decided to stop at McDonald’s and cash in a free iced coffee coupon. The restaurant was short staffed so we bailed and decided to give it another try in Red Deer. The first excitement of the day happened as we turned onto the freeway. There was a loose bucket in the road which I dodged around with rally car skill. We were supposed to be in Banff for 3:00 so we decided I had better speed. (I usually do anyway)
We made good time to Red Deer where we stopped to get our iced coffee’s. They were terrible. Christine had thought that even if the coffee at McDonald’s wasn’t very good, they should at least be able to make decent iced coffee. She was wrong. If they could find a way to deep-fry the coffee, maybe that would be something they could be good at.
As we were coming up on Calgary I asked Christine to check the map to see if we could take a secondary highway around the city. She couldn’t find the map. I had counted on having the map. With no map, we drove into Calgary. It was now 1:30. We were making good time. We turned onto the Trans-Canada Highway (16 Ave) only to find that it was undergoing construction. Forty minutes later we were out of the city. We weren’t making good time anymore.
It was about this time that I started to have to go to the bathroom. No matter. One hour shouldn’t be a big deal. By the time we get to the park gates things were getting more serious in the time department and the bladder department. The park gates. I hadn’t factored that in. $20 and 15 minutes later we’re through the gate. I was doing the seat jive almost constantly by now.
We pulled into Banff just after 3:00. Not too bad. There’s a sign: “Banff Avenue closed for bike race. Use detour.” That doesn’t sound good. So onto the detour we go. Well, it turns out that Banff road infrastructure does not handle road closures gracefully. We start following the detour around the town of Banff. My bladder is now approaching critical mass with no sign of arriving at our destination soon. We stop at a red light and I look over and see a hotel across the street. “I’m going to that hotel to use the washroom.” “Chris, stop!” But I don’t stop. I open the door and run.
I catch up with Christine a few blocks later. She is not pleased. Now that I can think clearly, I don’t blame her. I apologise profusely, but inwardly I know that I would do the same thing all over again. It’s now 3:30, so I call ahead to the hotel and explain our situation. They say that they will hold our reservation, but we need to arrive by 4:00. After that they stop serving afternoon tea. Another ten minutes go by and we decide to split up. I will start walking and whoever gets there first can order the tea. We’ve been stuck in traffic in Banff for 40 minutes.
I get out and walk down the block to the corner. As I’m waiting for the light to change (a very slow light I might add) so I can cross the street to get out of town (the only street out of town), cars start moving and Christine drives by! I wave frantically, but she doesn’t see me. Later I find out that she hadn’t thought that I would only be half a block away. I settle in for the hike and arrive at the hotel about 15 minutes later. I find Rundle Lounge and slide into my chair at 3:59.
The afternoon tea was fantastic. They have their own tea blend which was very good. It was served with a fruit bowl (actually a fruit martini glass), salmon and cucumber finger sandwiches, scones with Devonshire cream and jam, various pastries and desserts, and my favourite, crème brûlée. By the time we were finished, all the trouble in arriving was forgotten and we had had a fantastic time.
Oh, and the view was pretty good too. We took a few pictures then headed back home. (But not before I opened the trunk to put a bag in and found the map!)