Canmore Winter Carnival & The Iron Goat Restaurant

February 16, 2015

Canmore Winter Carnival & The Iron Goat Restaurant

i absolutely love, adore, long for, long weekends.

they're pure perfection.
#fact

because of the family day long weekend, our regularly scheduled ski sunday is on hiatus this week, but ski or no ski, we still headed west to continue our tradition of being mountain bound on another beautiful sunday.

leaving behind our skis, we instead packed up our skates, and made our way to the annual canmore winter carnival. although to be fair it was more spring-like, with above zero temperatures and lack of windchill.

from ice carvings to kid & mutt races there is a different activity each weekend, which runs from february 13 - march 1.

to kick off the carnival, saturday showcased an ice carving competition. sculptors from around alberta took part in frozen works of art which can be found in different locations around town and on display for viewing for the remainder of the festival (provided they don't melt before then). yesterday was the bonhomme carnival which we took part in. ice skating unfortunately didn't happen because of the warm temperatures, but there was music, a snow playground, & maple syrup snow taffy.
maple syrup + snow = 100% canandian

we followed up our afternoon carnival adventure with a great walk along the river and an early mountain dinner courtesy of the iron goat.
this weekend also happens to be a pretty special one for our family since the little man in our house turns 7 on tuesday.

and, because his birthday always falls around the family day holiday we make it a point to leave the city and take a birthday road trip.

dinner was the birthday boys pick.

but more than the food, L was actually interested in the back story to the restaurants name. apparently "iron goat" on its own doesn't make sense to this still 6 year old.

so for inquisitive minds like L's, here is the backstory...

the restaurant derived it's name from canmore's mining and railway era. prior to the rail industry being introduced to the mining trade, goats were domesticated for the purpose of working in mines. horses were considered too large and donkeys too stubborn, therefore goats were chosen for their small size and notable strength.

goats came to be known as powerful units in the mines as they were able to haul heavy carts saving men from straining themselves further in this demanding industry.

once the rail industry was integrated into the mining trade, the train locomotive began to replace and provide more power than the great animal. these locomotives were known as the 'iron horse' and miners chose to transfer this nickname to the mining trade. the 'goat'; once known to be an animal was now the 'iron goat', a train.