Crossing Off My Bucket List: Banff

It’s raining, it’s pouring, Savannah should be snoring…

That’s how it goes? Right? It’s pouring outside, and I’m snuggling in my bed inside thinking about having to go to work tonight and already dreading it. I mean, baseball and rain DO NOT go well together.

So guys… who saw the Eclipse yesterday?! Trev left work early to come home so we could go to the park and watch.

I was prepped with Moon Pies, and Trev was prepped with beer.

And then we waited… and it got SO FREAKIN CLOUDY. This was about the best we got to see…

Still really cool. But not nearly as cool as what we were watching on TV! I so wish we were in the line of the Total Eclipse! Looks like we’re just going to have to plan better in 2024 🙂

Alright. On to today’s post!

It’s Travel Tuesday over here on Savannah Said It, and I’m sharing a new Bucket List destination with all of you! This Bucket List destination is one you’ll be familiar with if you’ve been with me awhile. I’ve raved about it over and over, and honestly, I’ve told every single person I’ve ever met that it needs to be on their Bucket Lists too. In fact, I’ve had quite a few people tell me I’ve inspired them, and they’ve booked tickets to head here. I loved when they sent me pictures of their trip and it just made me want to go all over again!

That’s right… I’m talking about Banff! (Sorry if you’re rolling your eyes… I just adore this place so much!)

Now, if you’ve been with me from the beginning, you already know this story. So feel free to skip ahead 🙂 But I feel like I need to tell you how this beautiful place got on my radar, and why I wanted to go here so badly before I can talk about all things I crossed off my Bucket List while there.

I want you to think way, way, way back. Back to a simpler time, when reality tv was at it’s best. That’s right, I’m talking about the year 2013. When ABC let our favorite ginger, Sean Lowe, find love on national television. Personally, I feel like his season was pretty iconic. I mean, you got a bachelor relationship that actually lasted (and now they have a baby!) out of it, you met Lesley Murphy (All Hail The Road Les Traveled!) and we were introduced to the greatest Bachelor contestant of all time. Yup. All you Bachelor fans know who I’m talking about… Tierra LiCausi and all that sparkle.

Who remembers that episode where Tierra lost a bit of her sparkle… and got hypothermia?! ME ME ME! But I remember it for much more than THE MOST DRAMATIC EPISODE IN BACHELOR HISTORY. I remember Sean telling them they were heading to Banff, Alberta and being like “He’s taking them to Canada?!” Cue eye roll. Then, I remember seeing Lake Louise for the very first time, and instantly falling in love with it. I mean… the blue of the lake looked photoshopped. I instantly knew that someday, I had to go there.

Flash forward a few years, and Trev and I were talking about where we wanted to go for our honeymoon. I thought back to that beautiful blue lake, and said “How about Canada?” The rest was history.

So, our honeymoon to Banff was based off two huge “Bucket List” items for me… Visit Lake Louise, and See the world with the one I love. And once it was official and our flights and hotel were booked, I started to do research, which meant I started adding SO many more things to my Bucket List.

Alright. Are we ready to see Part 1 of the TWO Part Banff Bucket List?! Get ready to enjoy some of the prettiest photos you’ll ever see! (I’m breaking my Bucket List based on how our trip went, so I don’t miss anything. So this list you’ll see the things we crossed off on on the first half of our trip, and next week, the things we did on the second half of our trip!)

See the world with the one I love. 

Peyto Lake, Banff National Park. I’ll talk more about this one next week!

Go on my Honeymoon. 

The official start to our honeymoon! I accidentally thought our flight was an hour later than it was, so we ended up with barely any time at the airport that morning! Thank God we didn’t have to go through customs until we landed in Toronto, and the Air Canada line was so short!

Experience the Canadian Rockies. 

Okay… more on this picture next week too! However, I felt like this was the best way to sum up experiencing the Canadian Rockies, so that’s why you’re seeing this picture now, too! 

Visit Banff. 

The cutest little town! I want to live here. 

See Johnston Canyon. 

I put this one on my bucket list because I’d seen quite a few travel bloggers go here, and I loved what I saw! 

Ride in a Mountain Gondola. 

I’d wanted to ride in a Mountain Gondola (totally different than the ones in Italy) ever since I saw them in Jackson Hole. I was SO PUMPED when I finally got to do it! If you read the original post… you’ll know how this experience turned out for us! If not, it’s linked below. Regardless of the result, at least I got to do it!

See Banff from above. 

I totally thought I’d see Banff from the top of Sulpher Mountain, but when that didn’t work out for us, we found this gorgeous spot on the way to Mr. Norquay. It’s a perfect view of Banff and it’s so freakin’ peaceful! 

Try something new. 

While fondue wasn’t new to us (we’ve been to The Melting Pot before) trying a bunch of food in Canada was! This particular night, we tried some really crazy meat. While I easily went back to Chicken and Beef at least I can say I tried it! (Meat not pictured. However the delicious cheese fondue is!) 

See a Mountain sunset. 

When we were in Jackson Hole, I had wanted to watch the sunset over the mountains so bad! People always told me there was nothing like a mountain sunset. However, we never were in the right place at the right time to be able to see it. So when we accidentally stumbled upon this at Vermilion Lakes I almost cried. We had taken a drive after dinner hoping to see a pretty sunset, but never did we expect this! This is easily my most favorite scenic photo I took on our honeymoon. There is no editing, not photoshop, no nothing done to this. It was really just that perfect and beautiful! 

Play on a Glacier. 

Easily the COOLEST thing I’ve ever done! Get it? Coolest?! HAHA I crack myself up. Athabasca Glaicer, Jasper National Park

Drive the Icefields Parkway. 

It isn’t named on of the top roads to drive before you die for ‘nothin. 

Have a Picnic in the Mountains. 

Y’all know I love picnics! Easily one of the prettiest places I’ve ever planked my picnic basket 🙂 

The first three days of our honeymoon were filled with so many amazing things! But honestly… we saved the best for the second half 🙂 Come back next Tuesday to see what else we crossed off when I was in Banff.

Want to read more about all the things I’ve mentioned above? Find the original posts here,  here,  here, and  here! (They’ve got lots of pretty pictures and great information if you’re thinking about heading to Alberta!)

You can find my other Bucket List posts here, here and here!

Alright loves. I’m off to make myself look presentable for a bunch of baseball fans tonight. I’ll be back tomorrow!

Xx.
Savannah