Loving Calgary
When I was a teenager (and a little older
) a cheap date was to drive to Calgary for coffee. Then drive back that night
You could get to know the other person and it was a signal that the other person was REALLY interested in you. If they were sort of interested it was a coffee to Red Deer (11/2 hour drive each way). If they kind of liked you or were casual friends it was a coffee at the local airport to watch the planes take off and land.
As you can tell kids on the prairies (most of us were from immigrant parents) were quite in love with their cars and frugal at the same time.
My son lives in Calgary and we have never been invited to his place in two years
He always comes home for laundry and free meals. Calgary was a place to stop and have Peters Burgers (real home made burgers and fries, pretty famous in its day) and a pit stop to the mountains.
That is the extent of my love for Calgary, it is a reminder of fun times on the way to somewhere else. But thanks for the trip down memory lane.
PS. My grade 6 teacher ( in the days when dinousaurs roamed the earth) shared a story with our class that gives insight into Calgary/ Edmonton rivalry. Back in the day when the province was incorporating there was a desire for Edmonton and Calgary to become the capital city. The province said that one could be the capital and the other could get the first university. Edmonton chose to be the capital and designated Strathcona (just across the river) to get the first university. Edmonton and Strathcona amalgamated soon after. He said that was the start of the rivalry( it has been very bitter at times) and goes way beyond the sports rivalry. I had to laugh though. When I was in university Edmonton sold its ugly old Christmas decorations to Calgary. I used to see those decorations every year on my way to work at my part time job in downtown Edmonton and always hated them. They looked like ugly giant golden spiders. When I heard that Calgary bought them I had to laugh and remember my teachers story.