The Calgary Stampede

For 10 days during July every year, The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth descends upon Calgary, consuming the entire city with cowboy culture. Everywhere you look, people bring out the Western wear. If you’ve lived in Calgary for a number of years, The Stampede can begin to lose its appeal. Every year, I swear that I won’t go, as it’s just the same year after year. Every year, about halfway through, I suddenly have an overwhelming urge to go. Such is life, I suppose.

This year, I had two missions in mind: see The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and try some new food. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band has my favorite song ever (Fishing in the Dark), so that was an easy task as they were performing at the Coca Cola Stage. Free concert with admission! They played my song and all was right in the world. Funny thing is, Country music isn’t even my preferred genre of music, yet two of my all time favorite songs are Country.

Stephen and I tried three new foods. First up: deep fried pop tarts.

They were delicious. I love that they came with whipped cream for dipping! I was left wanting more, and kind of wish that I didn’t have to split it with Stephen.

Next up was  the doughnut burger. It came with a maple glaze and we opted to top it with bacon and cheese. It sounded extremely weird, so I made Stephen split it with me. By the end of it, I was tempted to go back and grab another because it was so dang good! The flavors definitely worked well together.

In not so strange food, we had a blooming onion. It was nice lounging on the grass in the shade with this.

During the concert, I snacked on a deep fried Snickers bar. Something that was a little more common, yet I had never tried it before this year. The melty, gooey insides were divine. Truly.

I left the Stampede that night with a bit of a tummy ache, but it was worth it. I certainly don’t eat this way any other time of year, so I think it’s ok during The Stampede. What’s the best deep fried food you’ve ever tried? How about the strangest? For me, the best has to be a tie between deep fried Oreos (that I had last year) and the deep fried Snickers bar. I haven’t tried any strange deep fried foods though.