Hop On Hop Off Tour

Tour Map of Calgary

We had a day to explore Calgary before the 6:30 wedding at Heritage Park. We decided on a city tour: we've been here only once before, when we visited the Ryan Family during our Rocky Mountain vacation. I noted at the time that we missed Chrissie, "our adventure loving niece" in Melbourne, Australia. Who knew that we would be back to Alberta two years later to celebrate her marriage?

The hop on hop off tour is a new addition for Calgary visitors, and there aren't enough buses to make "hopping off" very feasible for tourists on a time budget. The next bus won't come for another hour, so stops are necessarily limited. The complete tour consists of rides on two lines. The Bow River Line takes a little over an hour and provides a little insight into Calgary's historic past. It was interesting to see "where it all began" at Fort Calgary, but I didn't really feel tempted to visit yet another North American fort. I was intrigued to know, though, that the Fargo TV series is filmed just across the bridge from the fort. Our tour guide, Bev, was very knowledgeable and pleasant.

The Heritage line is longer, with a very interesting stop at the 1988 site of the Calgary Olympics. The games actually turned a profit and the facilities seem to be well used twenty-six years after the Games. I was also intrigued by the sheer size of the Calgary Stampede grounds. This year's celebration -- known simply as "Stampede" by Calgarians -- was still being dismantled almost a week after it ended on July 13.

We arrived at our hotel in time to visit with son Chris, whose flight from the Twin Cities arrived right on time. My sister Marilyn joined us for a cab ride to the wedding venue.