This weekend was the National Conservative convention and it was held in Calgary. A friend of mine who I met in 2011 when I used to be involved with politics was in town this weekend for the convention and I offered to pick her up from the airport. In turn, she offered to buy dinner on Saturday evening, very nice of her.

I suggested that we head to a great smokehouse downtown called Palomino. They have the best deep fried pickles that I’ve ever had and everything I’ve had there was excellent. My friend went to Palomino on Friday evening and found the atmosphere a little too noisy for her tastes and she decided she wanted to go somewhere else.

I offered a few suggestions in Calgary or an amazing Indian place in Airdrie, but she suggested that we go to Caesar’s Steakhouse instead. I jokingly asked when she had won the lottery, as Caesar’s is probably one of the top 5 restaurants in Calgary. She said “don’t worry about money”. Well, ok, I won’t, I made reservations.

I picked up the two ladies from their hotel at around 645pm last evening for a 7pm reservation, the restaurant is just down the street from the hotel. Caesar’s is upper end and I wore the suit I purchased back when my aunt passed away in 2025. It was only the second time I wore it.

We were seated and I had my back to one of the BBQ pits where they cook the steaks, it was nice and warm and oddly, I was cold last night so it was great.

They started us off with a variety of bread, garlic and cheese which was absolutely amazing. We shared a Caesar salad that was prepared table side and it was the best Caesar dressing that I’ve ever had. I also had a small bowl of French onion soup, it was flavourful, but lacked cheese that all French onion soup I’ve ever had has. My main course was a 10.5oz New York strip, Neptune which included a couple of shrimp and asparagus as well as a twice baked potato. The steak was good, but in all honesty, I’ve made a steam at least that good at home, I was mildly disappointed. For dessert, I had creme caramel and it was delicious.

All in all, the meal was excellent, but I find the value just not to be there. I’ll admit it was the best Caesar salad that I’ve ever had, but the prices were a bit high, thankfully it was paid for and I thank you for that, Donna.

We chatted and casually ate dinner and dessert over about 2.5 hours and decided to head out. I dropped off the ladies at their hotel and headed home, it had been a long day. Having insomnia at the moment, I was awake a mere 5 hours later.

I’m dropping them off at their airport for their return flight to Ontario this morning and then things will.ve back to normal. It was great to see an old friend and I hope we can get together when I’m back in Ontario in August.

On the apartment front, I have paid the security deposit and I can now sign the lease. I move in on February 20 and I’m looking forward to a fresh start in a new place.

I’m hoping everyone reading this entry had a great weekend for themselves.