Paige: Jacket | Jeans | Golden Goose
Our college best friends, HBC (don’t ask), try and go on a big trip every other year. What started out as planning a trip to Nashville slowly turned into Canada with minor reluctance from some, not naming names JV and D. Before we knew it, we were awake at ridiculous hours the night before and packed one lone item. Or was that just me? Prob just me, but we were all ready to get the capital eff out of mom life and the work grind.
Travel tip eh? Use packing cubes to save space. We love these…
The flight was easy. I did what I do best, work. But even adderall and coffee were no match for my brain’s typically out of order off switch.
When I turned my phone back on, I saw that Zach had texted me this with a “this is so you.”
Accurate.
The Calgary airport was not what we expected it to be. We probably had zero expectations actually, but when there were cheesy cowboys everywhere we thought, hmmmmm. Well turns out they were swagger jackin’ Fort Worth’s style and also call themselves “Cowtown.” Ok Calgary, whatever.
Speaking of airport employees, the customs guy was full on ready to detain me. He was so rude and aggressive that I thought he was joking. So I was all smiley and he was all NOT SMILEY. He loudly shamed me for being on my phone while in line. “Don’t you know you are entering a foreign country?! Who are you texting?!?!” He was extra annoyed when I answered with, “my assistant.”
I was sent on for further questioning. Customs guy 1 was certainly hoping I would be interrogated and crying, but customs guy 2 was cool as hell and kind of laughed it off with me. I took one for the team because Dayme was on her phone behind me and after witnessing me being publicly disciplined by this 25 year old, she put hers away and avoided it.
Travel tip eh? Cute Luggage. Easier to spot and just plain FUN.
Canadian people ended up being the chillest and friendliest of all time, but I started out thinking ew.
What do 5 moms rent to drive around Canada? A suburban of course. We shoved our bags in the back Tetris style and drove the 1.5 hours through farm land and fields to get to Banff.
Travel tip eh? Rent a car! Uber isn’t allowed in Banff and the cab fares get super expensive. The town is easy to navigate and it was well worth it!
The trip from Calgary to Banff is about an hour and a half. It was an easy, gorgeous ride and much more economical to rent a car rather than get a transfer. We were hungry and surprised at the lack of fast food restaurants along the way. Everything seemed so much cleaner than Texas.
It was in the car that I started feeling like a kid that stayed awake until 7am at a lock-in eating only warheads and crybabies. I am using this scenario as a specific example because at a cheerleading lock-in in 7th grade I did exactly this.
Lucky for Jeni, she made better choices.
We stopped for the essentials, wine and fireball, and had some subpar fast food at Tim Horton’s so that I wouldn’t pass out.
Travel tip eh? Not saying we were or were not, but if you are interested in visiting the newly legal Canadian dispensaries, you can find one on the way into Banff in the town of Canmore.
About 20 more minutes of driving and we saw our wintery castle of a hotel. The angels sing! AAAAAAAHHHHHH!! Then Elsa sings! The cooooooold never bothered me anywayyyyyyy.
Fairmont Banff Springs is the way to go. I mean, if you are into luxury and greatness. Which we most definitely are.
Mix and Match Travel helped us with the trip planning and we were upgraded to the baller floor with the baller concierge and the baller lounge. Thanks Shay!
Travel tip eh? If you live in a place that’s a lot warmer…like us Texans, you may not have a huge selection of winter coats. Rent some fun ones from Rent the Runway to step your travel attire up a notch without breaking the bank!
Erin did a massive unpacking and organizing while Jeni and I did absolutely nothing but eat cookies. That is a good friend right there.
Dinner that night was at Park Distillery and we were obsessed! Wine is ok, but cocktails are everything and this is an actual working distillery and had the best cocktail menu!
Jeni’s top choice was the adult rootbeer with vanilla vodka. Needing to recreate this immediately. It rivals my sweet tea vodka and lemonade. The food was really great as well.
Paige: Jacket |Jeans
You gotta love when you ask a guy to take your picture and another random guy stops and takes a picture for his own, um, collection. We still got it.
Tipsy white girls make their way back to the hotel and do lunges. Obviously. Doesn’t everyone when they see a long hallway?
Please note the lady that pokes her head out of the door. We aren’t annoying at all. Nothing to see here.
Time for sleep, no more shenanigans. Day 2 was the private tour and we needed to be feeling good for fireball shot hiking and seeing all that Banff has to offer!
