August 5th and 6th ~ Calgary, Canada
Gasoline pumps at Heritage Park Historical Village
We took our time driving to Calgary after a long day of dinosaur hunting and a late night at Wal-Mart. The drive was beautiful and we soaked up the scenery.
Heading down the highway toward Calgary
Lush farm land and puffy clouds
Calgary is much larger than I remembered from my visit back around 1981 when I attended the Calgary Stampede. We managed to find an RV park on the west side of town. Not much to choose from here.
After a restful night and lazy morning, we headed out to see a few sights in Calgary. Our RV park was very close to the home of the 1988 Winter Olympics, and we could see the massive ski jump and what I think was the bob sled course high on the hill.
Winter Olympic Village
I had marked the Peace Bridge as one thing I wanted to see, but somehow the directions on our GPS took us to the wrong place. I was a bit frustrated, but as we started to backtrack, Tim spotted a black squirrel. This is a lousy picture of it, but wanted to document it as I did not know that they were found anywhere outside of Palo Alto, California. I’ll have to do a bit of research when I have better Internet to see if I am remembering accurately.
Black squirrel
Driving through the downtown section, I was amazed and impressed by how modern and beautiful it was.
Calgary skyline as we approached downtown
Modern buildings reflecting the sunshine
Back on track, we found a place to park near the Peace Bridge, only to learn that the parking garage was completely empty (spooky), and that if we went out the door, we would have been locked out and our car locked in.
I was beginning to think that this day was not being very co-operative 😦
After exiting the structure, we found street parking, and since it was a three-day holiday in Canada, threw caution to the wind, and parked in a 15-minute-only spot. The way our day was starting out, perhaps not the wisest move.
Peace Bridge ~ According to Wikipedia, it has the “popular nickname “Finger Trap Bridge” due to its visual similarity to the finger trap puzzle”.
The Peace Bridge
Looking through the Peace Bridge
Tim and Joanne on the Peace Bridge with Downtown Calgary in the background
The Peace Bridge was great to see though, and after walking across it, taking a few photos, we further pressed our luck on the parking spot, and found a quiet place for a late lunch right downtown.
Butterfly on wilted flower
Same butterfly, different angle
Something else that caught my eye is their lending library. Right in a park, near what was probably some apartment buildings, as well as downtown office buildings, we saw this tiny wooden structure on a post.
Lending Library
Sample of books inside
Awesome idea!
Rates and options for Heritage Park
By now it was mid afternoon, and we headed off toward Heritage Park. I had envisioned a large park, kind of like the Golden Gate Park, where we could drive through and perhaps get out and stroll through some pretty gardens.
Boy was I wrong.
Map of Heritage Park
I had failed to see the words, “Historical Village” tacked onto the name. It was more like a combination of Knott’s Berry Farm meets Old Town. By the time we got parked and got our tickets we only had 90 minutes to try to cover a LOT of ground. A couple local people, upon us asking them for some guidelines on how to make the most of our limited time, highly recommended that we take the boat cruise on the lake, so off we went in that direction.
Old paddlewheel boat we took for a short spin on the lake
Hmmm, it was OK, and perhaps for this land-locked town, a thrill, but for us who are used to water activities, it was a bit of a snore.
An old train takes you on a loop through the park for an overview
For us, the highlights were the old historical buildings that had been relocated here, furnished to the time period and were open for inspection. Sadly, by the time we got to many of them they were already closing.
One of the main street of the Historical Village
Inside the Attorneys Office
Bank window
Parlor
Any guesses on what this paper bag is for??
Our recommendations:
- Allow more time. You could easily spend at least a half day or more there to see the highlights.
- You can download a 1/2 coupon online before you go.
- Skip the boat ride unless you rarely get to see water or have extra time on your hands
- Get to Gasoline Alley. We ran out of time but it was supposed to be great.
We did enjoy what we did get to see and just kicked ourselves for not allowing enough time.
The answer to what that paper bag was doing over the door? In fact they were found over many of the doors in the park. The reason is that they have a problem with hornets building nests here. The paper bag is similar enough in appearance to mimic a hornets nest and the invaders think that someone else has already claimed that territory, so will leave it alone. Problem solved!
GRATITUDE MOMENT: Today I am grateful that although all did not go smoothly, we were still able to make some good memories. The Peace Bridge stands out, as well as the beauty of downtown Calgary. We did not get to see near as much of the Heritage Park as we would have liked to, but had a good time regardless.
NEXT STOP: Banff National Park
We invite you to tag along…
A Note From Abroad 
Calgary is one of those beautiful places I don’t like. That seems like a contradiction. I have many friends there and we visit often. I just don’t like the place. Of course I don’t like any cities so maybe that’s all it is. A much nicer than most city but still a city.
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Big cities are certainly not for everyone. Being from a small town in Southern Oregon, I NEVER thought I would end up living in a big city area like Los Angeles. But now that I call that “home”, I can appreciate all of the opportunities and diversity it has to offer.
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That’s a neat idea about the paper bag, too!
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Seems to work for them. Pretty clever, huh?
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Reblogged this on Joy Lennick and commented:
Love the cool design of the Peace Bridge…Everything looked pristine. A shame your time in the Heritage place was too short, but at least you had a thumb-print. Good snapping…
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Thank you for sharing this Joy!
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We are recently discovering the Calgary area and southern Alberta in general as my daughter and her family made a move to High River last year. I enjoyed your description of how planning to see a new area works out. It is often the case for us of the well laid plans do often go astray. They don’t often come off as envisioned but, as you say, good memories can be made all the same. Great photos. I am looking forward to travelling along with you via this blog.
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Thank you Francis and WELCOME! I hope that your daughter is all settled in now, and that some of our posts will give you some ideas or suggestions of places to check out.
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Wow! Are you guys thorough or what.
Sorry I don’t get to read all my email
but now I know what I am missing.
Between purchasing a 1031 exchange
and getting ready to go to Greece in
Sept we have kept super busy. Can’t
Imagine how I held a job at the same
time. 😳Any suggestions on spending
almost a week on Mykonos? Do you have
place on your web site for all your previous
trips? Probably a dumb question.
Great job of documenting your trips!!
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Hi Ernie! It is easiest to find your way around our site on a lap top or iPad. Open our main page using the link http://www.anotefromabroad.com
From that main page, on the far right hand side you will find a listing of all the different countries we have visited and written about. Just click on the link you are interested in, and a list of all posts we have written about that country should then pop up for you. We only spent a day on Mykonos however so don’t have much to offer. We loved the island and spent the day wandering around through narrow streets. Nearby Santorini was our favorite of the Greek Islands that we visited.
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I really liked Corfu too.
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P.S. Our trip that included Greece was before we started writing our blog 😦
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I was relieved to see you didn’t get a parking ticket! The bee is on an echinacea flower, and there are black squirrels everywhere in western Canada. I’m not sure about back east, but they are probably there too. They are very common in Vancouver – in all the parks and leafy suburbs.
Alison
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Alison, thank you for identifying the flower and for the additional information on black squirrels. We too were pretty happy that we did not get a parking ticket. Since it was a holiday, and the downtown was deserted, we were hopeful that it would be OK. Thankfully it worked out well.
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Glad you enjoyed my humble little city 🙂 and agreed that the paddle boat at heritage park isn’t that exciting lol
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Lol, hope I did not insult anyone regarding the paddle boat. We did enjoy the rest of the park, downtown and loved Peace Bridge very much 👍
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Oh I wouldn’t worry about that, you gave your honest opinion and that’s the best thing!
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Thanks for the posts! Here’s more on Little Free Library: https://littlefreelibrary.org/
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Jean, my Internet connection is really lousy at the moment and I can’t pull it up, but will try again this evening. Thank you very much for sharing that link with us. Such a wonderful idea!
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I have only been to Niagara Falls in Canada. For some reason, I guess because it is cold there, I expected the terrain to be very mountainous, so was surprised by how flat it is. (Yes, this is showing how little I know about geography.) Sorry that you didn’t get to see as much of the village as you would have liked, but I enjoyed seeing pictures of the parts that you did see. I love the ornate wood stove in the picture of the parlor. The little library is really a neat idea. Also glad to see that you did NOT get a parking ticket.
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The southern part of Alberta has quite a bit of lush farm land and soft rolling hills. That stove caught my eye as well. I would have loved curling up in a corner with a good book in the winter and having it keep me warm. The lending library was such a surprise, just perched on a pole in the parkway. Loved it!
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Wow! So many things and not enough time.
Black squirrels. Neat. I didn’t know squirrels came in any other colors until I lived in Alabama. There were black ones, gold ones, copper ones, grey ones (most common) and silver ones. The gold and copper ones I saw were spotted around Jacksonville on the same day and they were magnificent. I never saw a white one, but I heard they can be found in the east and south east with some spotted in the central part of the US, both albino and others with dark eyes.
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I have not seen gold and copper squirrels and would love to. We did see the white squirrels in Olney, Illinois a few years back when we visited Tim’s family who live not far from there. They were so pretty, but rather shocking to see them that color.
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That’s how I felt about the gold and copper. They were so luminous, they almost appeared fake. The same with the silver. I know it was just how the light was hitting them, but it was still pretty cool.
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We have lots of those little free libraries here in Portland. Cool idea. Unbelievably some cities ban them over zoning laws.
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Lucky you! I think they are a wonderful addition. So sad that they are banned in some cities ☹️
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How was the RV Park? We see it all the time when driving to Edmonton to see out boys and have thought about spending a night and touring Calgary, but it didn’t look that great. I agree with you that Calgary has very few options for RV parks and it is a pretty city so I would like to spend some more time there. Enjoy Banff, will you make it in to BC?
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The RV park in the west side of Calgary was just OK, but there were few options. We did enjoy our brief time in Calgary. It is a pretty city. Could have easily spent several more days. We will be passing through BC, on our way to visit friends and family in Washington State. Originally planned on a revisit of Vancouver and Victoria, but may pass on this trip due to all the fires and smoke.
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Yes the air quality all over BC is pretty bad this year due to forest fires. I would always recommend stopping through out the Okanagan Valley but right now the smoke is sitting in the valley 😦
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The heritage park looks great, I love looking round places like that. We stayed one night in Calgary at the beginning of our trip so we only had a few hours to look around in an extremely jet-lagged state. We went up the tower, had an early dinner and collapsed into bed!
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We have certainly missed seeing a few things here and there because of jet lag, or just being too tired. Gave up long ago on the need to see it all. Got to enjoy the ride and be grateful for what we do get to see. 😀
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Very true!
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Calgary looks like a fun place. Thanks for letting me tag along with you.
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Always happy for the company!
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The Peace Bridge stood out for me as well, though I preferred its nicknam.
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It does look like a finger trap doesn’t it!
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I always enjoy reading your posts. Are you going on west into British Columbia? They have wonderful provincial parks – some of our favorite places to camp when we rv’ed through Canada to Alaska. p.s there are black squirrels in Marysville Kansas too.
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We have now decided to postpone our exploration of BC due to all the fires and smoke. My heart goes out to all those who have been displaced .
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This is my beloved home!!! I am so glad you came to visit 🙂
There are actually little free libraries all over the city. Some our embedded in neighbourhoods !!!
Hope you had safe travels after you left 🙂
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We have continued to have an amazing trip – thanks!
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Heritage Park looks right up my alley, I could spend all day there looking at all the buildings. So how did the parking situation go in the 15 minute spot?
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Thankfully no ticket – in fact the town was pretty deserted over the holiday.
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Thanks for the information. I have never thought I’d visit Canada, ever, but you may have convinced me….Wonderful photos, you really brought it to life
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Canada is a wonderful country to visit. We have been treated warmly, made to feel welcome and the scenery is spectacular. The US dollar also goes further in Canada at the moment (unless you get a manicure/pedicure in a tourist city) 🙂 We can definitely recommend Canada as a tourist destination.
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Sunday 20th August … haven’t had any updates for a while … you two OK?
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Thank you for checking in on us! We were totally without Internet for several days, as well as spending some time with family, so got behind on our blogging. Just posted about the start of our time in Banff National Park and hoping to get more writing done today. Appreciate your concern – we are doing GREAT!
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Pingback: Calgary, Alberta, Canada ~ Peace Bridge and Heritage Park — A Note From Abroad – Suman Ds Blog
Appreciate the share – thanks!
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Wow, the Peace bridge is an amazing structure! Our little historic town has several of the “Little libraries” scattered around, even in the yard of a private home. 😍
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I would love to see them in every town. Such a great idea. 🤓
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A very nice set of Calgary pictures! Keep up the good work.
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Thank you Rob
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