Another weekend, another whim. And without any specific plan, Alex and I went to the Canmore Highland Games.
It feels like something we should do, though I’m not sure why. I’m the one with Scottish heritage – Alex’s is Irish – and outside of the bagpipes, the only thing of interest might be the mountains, which don’t necessarily require an expensive entry fee.
But attend, we did. There wasn’t much different from the last time we went, though they had moved the strength games to a new area, and I’m fairly convinced I didn’t see women competing in those the last time. Oh, and there were Coos (Scottish highland cows, which apparently do well in Alberta).
Pipe and drum bands still marched through the main field, the dancers were off in their corner with their solo piper, the food tent was about the same as previous.
The most informational part of the whole day was learning some more about the Morrison clan and how it relates to the others. Which, admittedly, I no longer remember, but it was interesting at the time. It’ll probably come back to me at a more relevant moment … I hope.
We stayed until they had the full tattoo of all the bands, at which point the main part of the festival ended with only the ceilidh (“cay-lee”) remaining. But at $50/person, it wasn’t something Alex and I were going to stay around for.
The problem of waiting to the end of the tattoo means that everyone leaves all at once, which fills all the of the restaurants on our way. And we were hungry.
The Grizzly Paw brewpub was full, and while the upstairs had space, Alex was not thrilled by the menu options. We started hunting for something we could get into that would accommodate Alex’s wheat allergy when she came across the Wild Orchid Bistro, tucked into one of the timeshare condo-cum-hotels next to the Trans Canada.
And wouldn’t you know it, the place is fantastic! I feel like it’s one of those hidden secrets of Canmore that only the locals know about. It’s “Asian fusion”, which means it’s not really one particular style, it’s a couple mixed together. It was very tasty, and the sake flight(!) was a nice bonus.
So, yeah, dinner was the highlight of the trip. Not sure the Games will be a draw for me again, unless I know someone competing. Otherwise, I might just go hiking in the mountains.
