50 Awesome Things to Do in Calgary - Contest

The Calgary Stampede is just hours away and our city is about to be flooded with tourists, even some Royal tourists! A while back I made a list of 50 Awesome Things To Do in Calgary. I thought I would re-post this list in hopes that some of the tourists might find it useful.

I need your help, surely there are more than 50 Awesome Things to Do in Calgary. I want you to add to this list. All you have to do is leave a comment with something that you think I left off this list, and you will be entered to win a hard cover copy of "The Book of Even More Awesome."

For my birthday this year a friend sent me the original "Book Of Awesome." It was a really fun read. If you haven't read it, I suggest you check it out. I thought this would be the perfect prize for this contest.

It's that simple, leave a comment with something that is awesome that I left off the list. Make sure you put your email address (don't worry, I won't give it out, or EVER send you any other kind of email other than maybe saying thanks for leaving a comment). I will randomly select a winner on July 17th, the last day of Stampede and mail you the book!

Good luck, and thanks for reading!
Cheers,
Adam

50 Awesome Things To Do in Calgary

1. Watch a Battle of Alberta (Flames vs Oilers) at the Saddledome.

2. Go to one of the many World Cup sporting events that come to Calgary. Speed Skating, bobsled, luge, skiing, etc… brings the best athletes in the world for their respective sport and it is often very cheap or even free to attend.

3. Take a cooking class at the Cookbook Company. Lots of classes for every style of food you can think of.

#5. Bobsled at COP

4.  Get an Alley Burger from Charcut.

5.  Do the bobsled run at COP. Expensive, but worth every thrilling, ridiculously fast second.

6. Take a walk through Princes Island Park

7.  Go watch some great music at the Ironwood. Many times I’ve never heard of the people playing there, but I always leave with one of their CD’s.

8. Get dressed up, go for a nice dinner and then to the CPO. You'll feel fancy.

9. Spend a summer afternoon rafting down the Bow River.

10. Go see your favourite musical act at the Saddledome. Top acts are always coming to town. Splurge a little bit and get floor seats. It makes for a much better concert experience.

11. Skate at Bowness Park in the winter.

12. Have a few too many drinks and go two stepping at Nashville North during Stampede.

13. Go to a pancake breakfast.

14. Watch the Chuck wagon races and make sure you stay for the Grandstand show! The Grandstand show is my favourite part of Stampede.

15. Go for a walk/run/bike/roller blade on one of Calgary’s almost 1000kms of paved pathways. I like to start west and head towards downtown on Memorial Drive and watch the skyline get closer and closer.

16.  Go to Banff, but don’t just do a day trip. Stay over-night. See a concert at the Banff Center for the Arts. Go to one of the many nice restaurants for dinner. Relax in your hotel’s outdoor hot tub.

#18 Scotchman's Hill

17. Zip line at COP.

18. Go to Scotchman’s Hill and admire the view of Calgary’s skyline

19. Have a coffee (I prefer lattes) and a scone at Bumpy’s

20. Go to Calgary Roughneck’s Lacrosse game. It’s a much different sporting experience than any hockey game you’ve been too.

21. Drink a “heroin” beer at the Saddledome. There is something about that draft.

22. Use the C-train. Get to know the routes. You don’t have to drive everywhere in this city. It’s sometimes the quickest way to your destination, especially in the winter

23. Watch at Stamps game on a warm summers night at McMahon.

24. BBQ a Spolumbo’s sausage in the summer.

25. Learn how to line dance at Ranchman’s.

26. Have some Pho at one of Calgary’s many amazing Vietnamese restaurants. It's the cheapest, most filling lunch in town.

27. In the winter, play some shinny at one of Calgary’s many outdoor rinks.

28. Eat a shawarma at Jimmy’s A&A Deli. They are the best in town.

29. Cross-country ski at the Nordic Centre in Canmore.

#31, Skate on Lake Louise

30.Overdose on mini donuts during Stampede.

31. Skate on Lake Louise in the winter, and canoe there in the summer.

32.Take a day off and go skiing at Sunshine or Lake Louise.  It’s a lot less busy on a weekday. You pretty much have the hill to yourself.

33. Eat some fresh Taber corn in the late summer. It’s the best corn you will ever have.

34. Buy some local produce/meats/crafts, etc… at the farmers markets. Calgary Farmer’s Market and Kingsland Farmers Market are two of the best.

35. Check out the Olympic museum at COP. It’s a nice way to spend a few hours.

36. Skate at the Olympic Oval. There is public skating everyday and it is considered to be the best ice in the world.

37. Go for a drive and visit Drumheller.

38. Take in one of the many cool exhibits at the Glenbow Museum.

39.  Eat a steak at one of Calgary’s many Chophouse’s. Alberta beef served at its best.

#41, Visit a Corn Maze

40.  Admire the view from the top of the Calgary Tower. Just before dusk is a nice time. There is still day light but the lights of the city are just coming on.

41.  Go to a corn maze south of the city in the fall. It’s a lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

42.  Stroll through Nose Hill Park.

43.  Eat a Crave Cupcake. Cravolicious is my favourite. Chocolate with blue icing.

44.  Spend a day at the Calgary Folk Festival. You’ll discover all kinds of world class talent that you’ve probably never heard of before.

45. Go to a Calgary Vipers Baseball game.

46.  Enjoy a cold drink on a hot summers day on one of the many patio’s on 17^th Ave. Why not Melrose in the heart of the Red Mile? Maybe have a Big Rock Beer? They brew them here in Calgary.

47.  Get some gelato at Amato Gelato in Kensington. Delicious homemade Italian ice cream.

48. Join a sporting league. The Calgary Sport and Social Club has many different leagues of all different sports from beginner to advanced. It's also a great way to meet new people.

49.  Golf at one of the many golf courses in and around the city. The City of Calgary owns 6 different courses in every quadrant and it is the most affordable way to golf in the city.

50. Visit the Calgary Zoo. There are over 1000 animals from all over the world. Zoo Lights over the holidays is a nice night out. Buy a copy of hot chocolate and stroll through the zoo and admire the over 1 million lights.

Gnome Sayin'???

A few years ago I thought this would be funny. I saw a Gnome in a grocery store this weekend and made this. Hope ya like, kno'm sayin'?

April Fools Day - My Favourite Youtube Videos

In honour of what I certainly consider a holiday, here are some of my favourite Youtube videos that make me laugh. We can never get enough laughter right?

Dramatic Chipmunk

Unicorn in Banff

Guy Shows Girlfriend a Magic Trick

Prank on Roomate

Husband's Revenge

Sit-Up Challenge - Week 1 Recap

On February 1st, I started a fitness challenge where I have to do 100 sit-ups every day for a month. The inspiration came from a blog that I came across where a lady did 100 sit-ups everyday for a month. There are no rules. Just do 100 sit-ups everyday. One at a time, 10 sets of 10, it doesn't matter. I posted my intentions on my facebook account to let the world know what I was going to do. This way people could hold me accountable. I encouraged my friends to join me in the challenge, and much to my surprise many people did. I've been checking up on them as well and I know that many of them haven't broken the challenge.

Day 1 was easy. I started with 10 sets of 10, no problem. Day 2 hurt a little bit, but it wasn't too bad. I didn't like doing the sit-ups on the floor so on day 3, I went Kijiji and bought this sit-up bench for $15. 

Day 3 and 4 hurt like hell. I found myself doing 50 sit-ups at 11:00 pm on both nights as well, because I had busy days.

On day 5, I decided to increase the reps up to 50. Just to see if I could do it. Turns out I could, but it hurt. I also did two sets of 50, on day 6.

On day 7, I decided to do 4 sets of 25. I found that while doing 50 reps, my form started to collapse and the quality wasn't as good. Day 7 was the first day that it started to not hurt as much. Doing 4 sets of 25, my form was much better than it was doing 2 sets of 50.

I was feeling good enough on day 7 that I thought I would try doing some push-ups. This was a bad idea. I did 3 push-ups and couldn't do anymore. It wasn't because my arms weren't strong enough, but because it was killing my abs! Doing push-ups hurt my abs more than doing sit-ups. I know I'm not in as good as shape as I should be. That is why I decided to take a challenge like this - to get in better shape and strengthen my core. I'm a fairly active guy. I play hockey anywhere from 1-3 times a week. My job involves a lot of light manual labour. I know I'm fairly active, but I didn't think that I could only do 3 push-ups. It's very embarassing. I wonder how many I could do if I wasn't doing the sit-up challenge. My arms/upper body are not the problem, it's my abs/core. It's pretty obvious what next months challenge is going to be.

I'm not stupid enough to think that working muscles that haven't been worked in a long time will not be sore after only one week of working out. In my denfence, I've been getting over an illness that had me laid up for most of December. My strength wasn't at it's best starting out. I'm not using that as an excuse though. The good news is that the sit-ups are starting to get a little easier, and after week 1, I haven't missed a day of the challenge. The bad news is that I'm in worse shape than I thought I was. I knew that work and hockey wasn't enough activity. The good news is, I'm doing something about it.

It's not too late to start the challenge. I started on the first of the month just cause it's easy to keep track. You can start anytime. 100 sit-ups for 30 days. Start right now!