We Found Our “Cheers”

All events yesterday lead to our end goal: we found our “Cheers”.  At least the Canadian version of it.  Which means, “Cheers” but a little off.

In the morning we woke up to…..SNOW!!!  “SNOW!!!!!!”  I screamed + sprung out of bed.  Once again, my flippant Californian behavior drew smug snickers from Jeff.  “Puhleeeeze.” he snorted.  “That’s Alberta for ya.” he so eloquently explained.  Well, helloooooo Mr. Smartypants, when do I EVER get to see snow falling in Los Angeles!  Thanks for squashing my genuine enthusiasm!!!

I enjoyed watching the fluffy, tufts of snow as I was making breakfast.  Quite enjoyable + novel.

As we were getting ready for the day, Jeff put on a button front shirt.  I had on wool, boots, scarf – the whole nine yards.  I asked, “Why don’t you put on anything warmer?”.  “Cuz I’m Canadian.” Jeff replied.  Touche, well played sir.

We toured the city, thrifting.  Because that’s what we do.  Jeff put this hat on, but I pleaded + begged with him to put it back.  I won.

There weren’t that many scores + the stores were closing up, so we headed to Len’s Den + Lounge. 

We had driven past it a couple times + thought it looked really classic, with total potential.  We were NOT disappointed!  TOTALLY CLASSIC!!!  Pool tables, arcade games, LOTS of moustaches.  We befriended a bunch of regulars – especially an old Brit named Trevor.  In the 60’s Trevor built race cars + had raced against Don “The Snake” Prudhomme + Shirley “Cha Cha” Muldowney (The First Lady of Drag Racing).  How bad ass is that?  AND Len’s Den had 12 cent chicken wings – SO TASTY!!!!  PLUS, the bartender’s name was Shelley!!!!!  Doesn’t get any better than that.

A favorite past time of Jeff’s is to hang out in dive bars + cozy up to questionable looking, yet story rich old guys.  See my Salton Sea post, “Desert Rats (pt. 3)” for more evidence.  Here’s Jeff on New Years with a couple of Salton Sea super stars, David Allen + Michael Patrick.

Ok, it gets even better.  This is when a Hutterite woman walked into the bar.  Sounds like the beginning of a joke, right?  “So, a Hutterite walks into a bar…”. 

Hutterites are Anabaptists similar to the Amish or Mennonites.

I was like, “What in the heck is going on right now?!  Am I in a David Lynch movie?”.  Her name was Bertha, + she had an extremely strong Hutterite German accent.  Bertha was selling some of her goods + was in Calgary because her daughter was in the hospital with kidney troubles.  I scooped up a pair of handmade, super cozy + warm moccasins for a REALLY good price:

Weird hand knit dish washing scrubbers knit with a yarn almost similar to steel wool:

Hand knit socks:

Bertha left happy with cash in her Hutterite dress pockets.  This is when we yelled, “Happy Cinco de Mayo, everyone!!!”.  “What’s that?”, was our resounding response.  Ohhhhh, Canucks.  Mexican holidays get no love here.  That makes me so sad.  So what did Jeff do?!  He bought a round of tequila shots for the the guys at the bar!

That’s Jeff sitting next to his new BFF, Trevor.  Questionable looking.  Check.  Full of amazing stories.  Check, check!  It was difficult leaving Len’s Den, because all our new friends were so reluctant to say goodbye!  We will be back – that is for darned certain!!!

Well, after leaving Len’s we were famished, so we headed over to the famed, “Peter’s Drive-In”.

DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME, FOLKS!!!!!  Jeff + I were dying with curiosity to give it a try because Peter’s has been open since 1964 + it ALWAYS has crazy long lines + crowds.  Well, what the heck is going on, Calgary.  The hamburgers are dry + thin as cardboard, the fries frozen + tasteless, the milkshakes nobigdeal.  But, the only good part about Peter’s is that all the employees wear medical scrubs.

Now, what is up with that?  I was obsessed.  All in all, a successful adventure day in Calgary.  I can’t wait for what awaits this summer!!!!!