Finally I got some work done on the pictures from Stampede time, sorry it took so long I just now recovered from the party (just kidding). Anyways this was my first trip down to Calgary in quite a long time and I can say I wasn't disappointed. Of course going during Stampede time the city is already a buzz with activity and excitement. I took a drive around the city one evening and most bars were packed and all of them not surprisingly were all made to look like country bars. With that said though they have nothing on one of Calgary's real country bars, Ranchman's.
I've been to Ranchman's before during the stampede and throughout the regular time of the year and I have to say they definitely outdid themselves. On this day I was lucky to find out that a bunch of bars around the city were participating in a giant pub crawl. The pub crawl started around 11:00 AM and went through most of the day. I probably got to Ranchman's at about 3:00 and wow was it packed. Once I was able to find a parking spot my first stop was on the Ranchman's front patio. The music was playing and everyone was all excited to be part of the pub crawl. What I found lots of fun was the fact that because this was more than just a regular night out a number of people were dressed up or painted up for the pub crawl.
My next stop was to the back of Ranchman's where they had a giant beer tent set up for all the overflow. Again tons and tons of people were passing through the doors. I asked one of the doormen and he said that he had already counted over 1000 people through the beer tent doors alone. Thankfully there was lots for them to do including a main stage for some great music, another patio to be able to sit out in the sun and of course the mechanical bull. Finally I made my way into the bar itself and guess what it was packed as well. Inside more and more people having a great time enjoying dancing to the band on the regular Ranchman's stage and for those who were hungry some great food like bbq roast beef on a bun.
Overall I was at the bar for about 2 or 3 hours and it was lots of fun. Everyone was more than willing to get their pictures taken and it was definitely a great party atmosphere. Weather it was the band playing on stage or the dj's spinning out tunes everyone was keeping the party going. Unfortunatly I had to eventually leave, but I will be making a trip back down to Calgary and without a doubt I intend to stop by Ranchman's again. I would like to thank all the staff at Ranchman's for all their hospitality, they were all very accomodating and made my Ranchman's experiance a good one.
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