July 4th. Calgary

We got up really early this morning to be ready to catch a bus, again the small school buses, to take us downtown to the Calgary Tower for breakfast.   This area of Calgary was under water just two short weeks ago.  It is amazing how this city worked together to clear out the mud and get electricity back on line in only two weeks.

The Tower is Calgary’s answer to the Seattle Space Needle. At the very top is the observation floor with a 360 degree view of Calgary, and one section is complete with glass floor looking straight down onto the street below! I hate heights, but we mugged a little for the  camera…there was no way I was looking down though!

The restaurant was the floor below the observation floor and there was not a bad seat in the house, as the entire restaurant rotated around continuously while we were served and ate breakfast! The food was very good and the view was wonderful!  At the same time it was a little sad as we were able to glimpse evidence of the damage the recent flooding had done.  Notably was the bridge that had been totally wiped out by debris floating down the river.

Left front is Phil and Nita and then a new couple from the tour.  Right side, me, Jim and Gail

Bridge destroyed by debris.  They are already rebuilding it.

Amazing view.  You can see the Saddledome and stampede grounds.

After breakfast we walked across the street to the Glenbow Museum. This is a combination of a Museum, Art Gallery, Library and Archives all under one roof, boasting nearly 200,000 artifacts, 30,000 works of art, and thousands of shelved archival materials.  We spent many hours there. 

Of course, we had to kid around in the gift shop:

After the museum, we walked over to Stephens Street where the street is closed off to vehicle traffic and vendors set up their wares in the street.  While there, we were able to purchase a couple of the coveted "Hell or High Water"  t-shirts.  The Stampede had these printed especially due to the flooding experienced just before the Stampede.   All the proceeds from the shirts goes directly to the people of Calgary affected by the flood.

We rode the C-Train home, which is Calgary’s mass transit system. We have been provided with free tickets for the train for the time we are here, and it’s very easy to use. The exit station is right across the highway from the stadium, with a walk bridge over the highway.


We took it easy for a couple hours, so we were both feeling a little more rested, just in time for our hot dog cookout in celebration for those of us from the states for the 4^th. We were suppose to have root beer floats afterwards, but a storm came up, sending all of us scurrying for our rigs to avoid the lightening and rain. We went back to Phil and Nita's rig for a couple of games of cards, and the girls won both games!