Sad to say, our traditional Christmas lunch venue will be closing its doors before the end of the year. Yup, the St. Louis Hotel, home of the world-famous chicken 'n' chips, is soon to be no more, so we figured we'd better get down there for, perhaps, the last time while we still could. A very small turnout, as you can see, but hey.


For the sake of posterity, The Mayor came armed with his Pentax Ds to grab a few last shots of the Louis. This is, of course, the food service area at the front.


Another shot looking the other way. The bill of fare on October 25th, 2006 included beef ribs, some kind of big weenie on a bun and, of course...


Chicken 'n' Chips.


Hizzoner's lunch: a paper basket of chicken 'n' chips and a glass o' Canadian -- from a jug, as God intended.


The dance floor is quiet today but it may get a final work-out when Alberta Premier Ralph Klein hosts a charity fund-raiser at the Louis in a week or so. As many old-timers will know, Ralph used to come down to the Louis, a short walk from City Hall, at lunchtime to knock back a few barley sandwiches when he was Calgary's mayor.


Well, lunch is over and it's time to climb the stairs one last time. It'll be another afternoon for the regulars and, maybe the odd nostalgia seeker at the St. Louis Hotel. Let's just hope it doesn't suffer the ultimate indignity and become a satellite campus for one of Calgary's educational institutions. That would be waaay over the line.