The Haunting of High River Part 2
Happy spooky season…almost.
The Heritage Inn International Balloon Festival is happening this weekend, so in honor of that, I think I should probably finally post my hauntingly fun experience from attending it last year! 3 years ago, my friend and I went to High River to see the Heritage Inn International Balloon Festival but it was cancelled because of bad weather, so we toured the town instead and did a ghost photoshoot. Last year, we went to the festival again, hoping it wouldn’t be cancelled. Luckily it was a go, so that time we got to see all the hot air balloons along with my fiancé and my puppy. We decided to do a ghost photoshoot as well, but we visited some different locations and got to explore more of High River.
Haunt #1: Heritage Inn International Hot Air Balloon Festival
This was such a fun event to attend! We got a great parking spot and it was easy to find a spot to watch the balloons blow up and float away. There were quite a few live humans there, and some adorable floofs. If you do plan on bringing your dog, just be sure they will be ok with all the loud noises, crowds, and scary big objects (balloons) floating into the sky. We had lots of fun chasing the balloons to their landing point too!
Haunt #2: Narrow Road Creperie & Co.
We went here after the balloon festival for some breakfast and loved it. The story behind the creperie is really empowering as well. This is such a cute a cute restaurant and there are so many private dining areas. They also have a patio area if you want to dine with your furry ghost friends. We tried their Apple Maple Sausage Crepe, Florentine Crepe, and Chicken Pesto crepe. Everything was delicious and we’d definitely haunt here again. Thank you to the staff for putting up with our spooky shenanigans 😊
Haunt #3: Walking Trails in High River
It’s always such a joy to haunt these trails during autumn because the leaves are so beautiful. We got to take our ghost pup out and he had lots of fun sniffing and exploring. We also had a fun photo opportunity to take some bootiful engagement pics. Kudos to our spooktacular photographer!
Haunt #4: Margins Bookstore
This is a recent addition to the great selection of shops in High River. This bookstore opened around a year ago and we were so happy it opened. When we were looking for our new haunting grounds, I was so excited to see there was a bookstore. Now, whenever I’m in town this will be my first stop. This store is so quaint and they have a really great selection. I love the shelf full of staff selections and all the displays. They sell a mix of brand new and used books, and they are all shelved together based on genre. The person working there was super nice and didn’t mind having ghosts in their store at all. I think I also ended up taking their shelf copy for their staff recommendation of Summer Sons. I’m currently reading it and loving it so far.
This was such a fun outing after staying in our haunted houses for the COVID years. We’ll definitely be making this a yearly tradition because seeing the balloons was such a beautiful experience. Be sure to head on down to High River this weekend to check it out! Make a day out of it and visit all the local eateries and businesses after you see the balloons 😊
