Soup or Salad vs Sandwich

A few years ago we re-visited Banff National Park. We had to settle a score with Lake Louise.

Why? 

Last time we were there, it must have been in 2006 or 2007, it was so foggy we didn't even see that there were actually mountains. 

So in 2017, we were rewarded with the most gorgeous blue sky and stunning view.

It was pretty cold, though, and as it got towards lunchtime, we were wondering whether the Fairmont Chateau was suitable for us. 

We hesitantly snuck in and looked around. The lobby was crawling from guests. Everything looked pretty and pretty posh, too. 

One look at the menu of the Italian restaurant not only told us that a simple pizza Margherita costs CAD 26, but that the dress code is casual, and by casual they mean "denim is to be in good repair and no athletic wear."

Our sneakers got us out of there immediately. 

Our GPS proposed the Station Restaurant instead. 

As the name suggested, it was a former railway station. It looked super charming.

Wait a minute - why former? There was an actual train approaching. As it turned out the engineer stopped for lunch ;-) So if the locals eat here, we're good.

We were immediately enchanted. The restaurant was basically a living room, and a moose was playing the piano.

The first thing our youngster does upon getting a menu: finding out if there's Mac and Cheese.

Mac and Cheese: Check.

Moving on to my dish. I'm not telling you what it was just yet. Let's just say when the friendly waiter brought it to our table, my first reaction was like 

"is that (supposed to be) chicken?" 

Then I tried to remember what the heck I had ordered...?!

Here's a hint, it was early October, Canadian Thanksgiving. Now I am Swiss, and we don't do Thanksgiving. While I am aware that there's a lot of turkey and pumpkin dishes being served in North America, I had never seen, much less eaten, an open faced turkey sandwich drowning in gravy. 

And the thing is they didn't even say it was open faced, see for yourself. 

I pictured I was going to get something more like this:

Source / Photo Credit: Butterball

I was not impressed by my lunch.

I should have gone for a Super Salad.

What's this?

I experienced the exact same situation with my ex-boyfriend and with my husband, a few years apart, here goes:

Random dinner place, the waiter is taking our order. 

"Soup or salad?" they asked. 

Since this is a question they probably ask a hundred times a day, they really speak fast, and it comes across as 

"Supersalad?"

Ex-boyfriend, excited about a salad that must be truly exceptional, said "yes, please!"

Husband, humbly inquired "what is a super salad?"

End of slide-in episode. Back to the turkey sandwich disaster.

Since there is no Starbucks, and not even a Tim Hortons in Lake Louise, (can you believe it?) what we inevitably had to do next, was to raid the gas station store. 

We had M&Ms, potato chips, cookies, you name it, and it was more delicious than my lunch...

Since it's important to maintain a sense of humor, here are some why did the chicken cross the road jokes:

• Why did the chicken cross the road? To get away from Kentucky.
• Why did the cat cross the road? The owner told them not to.
• Why did the dog cross the road? To get away from the Chinese chef.
• Why did the duck cross the road? The chicken had a day off.
• Why did the geeky guy cross the road? He heard there were chicks on the other side.
• Why did the one-armed guy cross the road? To visit the second hand shop.
• Why did the lettuce cross the road? It was green.

Why do you think the chicken crossed the road?

How do you feel about open faced turkey sandwiches in general, and drowning in gravy ones in particular? Have you ever ordered a Super Salad?