Mike Turns 30, Skiing Lake Louise, And Eating At Banff’s Grizzly House

On February 13th Mike’s Mum and Dad flew in to spend a few days with us!  We’ve been looking forward to their visit for several weeks now, and we had plans to do some skiing, wander around in Banff, and celebrate Mike’s 30th birthday at The Grizzly House!

Mike and I had to work on Valentine’s Day, so his parents headed out to Banff early to get settled into the hotel and do a half-day of skiing at Sunshine Village.  We drove out to the mountains to meet them for supper, and once we got checked in, we all hit Earl’s to grab a bite to eat and visit.  It was really great to see them again, since it’s been a long time.  Mike’s mum was out last year at this time, but we haven’t seen his dad since the Alaska trip in August 2011.

Supper was followed by a couple of glasses of wine and more visiting, before we packed it in early in preparation for a full day of skiing the following day (which also happened to be Mike’s 30th birthday!)

We got up early and met up downstairs for breakfast.  Fortunately our stay at the Banff Ptarmigan Inn included a breakfast buffet both mornings, which was delicious.  It hit the spot, and then we headed to Lake Louise!  We picked up rentals and then we hit the hill.  The conditions were great and the weather was mild.  It was a perfect day.

After a full day of skiing, we were ready to relax, and then have some dinner! Due to the long weekend, we couldn’t get reservations until quite late, so after we returned our rentals, we decided to check out the ice sculptures around Fairmont Lake Louise, still left from the Ice Magic Festival.  Although many were quite melted from the mild weather we’ve enjoyed as of late, they were still spectacular.

It was a very nice stroll around the grounds. Later, when we got back to the hotel, we all had a dip in the hot tub and soaked away the soreness from the day. It was really lovely because the hotel has two different hot tubs in their spa room. One is “normal hot tub temperature” and the other is “boil a lobster in here”. We went back and forth until we were thoroughly relaxed, and then we headed to our respective rooms to nap and then shower and dress for dinner.

When we all reconvened for supper, we were starving!  We headed to Grizzly House, where we were seated and ordered wine and a selection of fondue.

Mike and I both had the exotic fondue, which included shark, alligator, venison, kangaroo, frog leg, bison, ostrich, and CAMEL!  Apparently the rattle snake is only available over summer, so we are going to have to go back for our anniversary this summer to try that.  We also had cheese fondue, and bagna cauda (which are vegetables cooked fondue style in a broth of garlic, anchovies, olive oil, and butter) and of course chocolate fondue for dessert!

We left the Grizzly House thoroughly full and ready for bed. We said goodnight and retired for the evening, Mike’s birthday drawing to a late but satisfying close.

On Saturday we wandered around Banff for the morning, before heading back home to spend some time just visiting and showing Mike’s parents our new place out at the stable. It was a great visit, although it was over far too soon. We are looking forward to having them back again sometime, maybe in the warmer months next time, when we can do some hiking!