the lovely banff springs

Today we enjoyed a delicious breakfast at a place recommended by my parents, Jump Start! It was just what we wanted ... something healthy and filling:) We did some shopping in the cute little Banff stores, then in the early afternoon we headed to the Banff Springs hotel. Oh my goodness, that hotel is just gorgeous.

We shopped in the little shops in the hotel, then walked around taking pictures and video for about an hour or two. Then we took an official tour led by the cutest little tour guide. He started working there as a bellhop in the 1950's, and has been there ever since, so he has worked there longer than anyone else on the staff! He was very knowledgeable, and had fascinating stories about all the celebrities and politicians that have stayed there.

I love ghost stories, so I loved hearing the stories he told about the hotel. For example, there was a winding stone staircase that I have pictures of but haven't uploaded yet, and in the 1920's a bride was walking down the stairs, heading to this ballroom to get married. There were candles lining the staircase, and her train caught on fire. She spun around to try and put it out, fell down the stairs, broke her neck and died. Apparently lots of hotel visitors have seen her dancing alone in this ballroom. The Mr. and I went into this ballroom before we had heard this story, and since we were all alone in there we danced a little waltz around the room:) Good thing we hadn't heard the ghost story yet ... we probably would have been too creeped out to be romantic.

Now we're off to dinner. Tomorrow we're checking out of the hotel and going to Calgary, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to blog again until Sunday. Hope everyone's weekend is going really well:)