The food is not the point of visiting the Lake Agnes Tea House.



The chocolate chip cookie was $3.50, and it was just a hard sugary biscuit with chocolate chips. I probably could have made a better cookie. There was tea that cost $7.00 for a small teapot that served 2 cups. The tomato lentil soup came with a few slices of home made bread, and it was quite hearty and filling for a vegetable soup, but it was still $9.







The reasons to stop here for a bite and visit again and again:

• to warm up after the hour of hiking up from Lake Louise
• to enjoy the feeling of dining in the middle of nowhere
• to experience living in the 1900s (this was approximately when the tea house started, and they don’t have electricity at all)
• for the adventure
• for the views!!!

It was bustling when we arrived around 1PM, and the crowds continued to come up, despite the icy trail. If the trail was clear, it would have been a very easy hike. The weather had suddenly turned cold this week, and snow already covered the ground, even though it’s only September. I think the snow actually makes the lake look even more magical, but it does get slippery. I would plan ahead for at least 4 to 5 hours round trip from the trail head, just to make sure there’s enough time to explore and enjoy the whole lake.

Back to the desk job today. Where did summer go?

D and T got hitched!



The day started off at our AirBNB, in Canmore, where the wedding party nibbled on sandwiches from Safeway while getting ready for the day. I was one of the two bridesmaids, B was the other (as the sister, she pretty automatically became the maid of honor). Nicol did our make up beautifully (it actually did not melt off throughout the day, even after traipsing around Lake Minnewanka for photos), and Christine pulled our look together by putting up our hair into messy buns. H and S went along with us everywhere, as did Joel, our photographer, who had the important task of documenting the day. After a beautiful ceremony, which the elk party crashed and where B and I both had to blink back tears, we went over to the Park Distillery, in downtown Banff for the reception:



I was busy stressing out about the wedding game that I was supposed to host, trying all the cocktails, and actually enjoying the reception, and when I looked back on my phone, I only had this one photo of the food from the evening. The prime rib was amazing! H had the salmon, which was just as delicious, and I had the chicken, which was a tad dry, maybe because I was comparing it to THE BEST CHICKEN I'VE EVER HAD.



Let’s take one step back to the appetizers. H had the pork skewers, which I would recommend over the calamari. I mean, nothing wrong with calamari, pretty standard, but it wasn’t memorable. The servers were all very pleasant and patient with us drunken guests, and it was not hard to get a good warm buzz from all their creative alcoholic concoctions (H had about half a dozen different cocktails, and there were still many on the menu that he wanted to try). The food and drink could really make or break the wedding! I think D & T did a great job of choosing this spot, and definitely made sure it was worth our time to travel out to Alberta for their wedding.

Congrats again, you two, and thanks for giving us this adventure!

Now that I’m back at home, I already feel travel, wedding, and vacation withdrawal… There will be a 2nd part about this extra long weekend, so I can continue reliving it!