Day two in Calgary began with us taking the C Train to City Hall, then walking about 20 minutes to Fort Calgary. It was still very cold in Calgary, so the 20 minute walk felt like an eternity. As we got near Fort Calgary, we could already see the row of log cabins leading into the museum. We could also see the statue of Col. James MacLead near the front.

After stepping inside we paid for the admission and started touring the exhibits. A lot of the rooms were made to look like store fronts and houses from the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s. There was a pharmacy, a hospital room, a jailhouse, a printing shop, among many other replicas from that era. It was actually quite enjoyable inside the museum and much larger than I expected. Just before we left, we took some photos outside along the barracks and by the statue of the buffalo.

Later on we walked for about 20 minutes to head to our next location. We had made reservations to go up Calgary Tower for lunch at noon. We got there a little early, so we ended up going to the observation deck first. It was a little foggy that day, so the view from up top wasn’t great. It really just felt like a miniature version of the CN Tower. =P

For lunch we ended up ordering way too much food. We started with mussels for the appetizer, which was probably the best dish out of our entire meal. I ordered the ling cod as my entree. The fish itself was actually pretty decent, but the vegetables that came with it felt like they dumped an entire tablespoon of salt on top. I don’t know how (or why) I finished it, but for the rest of that day I pretty much had to keep chugging water to wash the taste out of my mouth. Definitely the worst meal out of our trip.

After lunch we headed across the street to visit the Glenbow Museum. Glenbow is like a mini version of the ROM. There’s three floors inside the museum. A huge section was devoted to Native American art and culture. They also had a special exhibit on the Leather Jacket, as well as a photography exhibit by Bryan Adams. We saw most of the exhibits after spending three hours inside. We quickly browsed through the gift shop before we headed out.

We didn’t have any plans after leaving the museum. A lot of the shops close early on the weekend, so we ended up strolling along Stephen Avenue, peeking inside some of the storefronts. We also visited Olympic Plaza, where the medals were handed out during the Summer Olympic Games. Later on we headed into The Core Shopping Centre. The best part of the mall is the garden on the top floor. Devonian Gardens is an indoor botanical garden they built into the shopping centre. It’s mainly connected to the food court, but there’s also a playground for kids, living walls and a koi pond. It’s definitely a hidden gem.

After a couple hours we were ready to head to dinner at Vintage. Since we were in Calgary, I knew I had to try C.A.B steak. Most of the restaurants we had looked up were equally expensive, so we just decided on Vintage after going through some reviews. The food we ordered was pretty amazing. We decided to get a two-person prime rib chop set, which was $83. It was super pricey by the time we got our bill, but it was totally worth it. We even got leftovers to bring back to the hotel. Definitely a great day exploring downtown Calgary. =P