Roaming Edmonton: Edmonton Street Car

If you’re looking for something a little different to do on an adventure out, the Edmonton Street Car is a really neat experience that you won’t get anywhere else!

The street car starts from the Alberta Arts Barn on Whyte Avenue and goes all the way to the Jasper Plaza. If you’re looking to get to the Legislature Grounds, the street car is one of the most fun ways to get there. It runs from May to October, so you have allllll summer and fall to go take a ride! Since it travels over the North Saskatchewan River, you’re bound to get amazing views. Apparently, the river crossing is the highest crossing by street car in the world, measuring in at 49 meters high. 

The boyfriend and I got on at the Alberta Arts Barn, and off at the Legislature during our weekend date. The inside of the street cars are well-maintained and so vintage. It’s such a unique experience, I doubt that there’s anywhere else near the city where you’re going yo find something like this. It gets pretty crowded though, so make sure you’re in line early!

I’m a huge fan of the street car, and I’m definitely going to be taking that trip again! Maybe I’ll go in fall when the sun starts setting a little earlier and I’ll try to get a glimpse of the sunset on. Top of the High Level Bridge. It’s such a great date idea, I’m dying to go again!!

Any of you ever taken the trip across the bridge?

Roaming Edmonton: Neon Sign Museum

So I think it been exposed to one of the most interesting attractions in Edmonton. The Neon Sign Museum. Look in’ for the bright lights of Edmonton baby.

This past weekend, the boyfriend and I went to the Edmonton Art Gallery, and when we were done we decided to explore the downtown area. Never before have I felt like such a tourist in my own town. Since I’m never in the downtown area, everything is a new experience.

The boyfriend wanted me to see the new downtown arena, soon to be the new home to the Edmonton Oilers. He brought us on a slight detour to 104 Street, where the Neon Sign Museum is.

The Neon Sign Museum is pretty simple – neon signs on the side of an older brick building (hence totally free to visit). It is an attempt by the city to revitalize the area and preserve part of Edmonton’s past. According to their website, this museum is the first of its kind in Canada, which makes it a must-see if you visit Edmonton!!

The signs are iconic for Edmontonians and are meant to reflect the character of Edmonton’s past.

A few years ago, my mom and I were incredibly disappointed to see that Bee Bell Bakery had been closed down. So many good memories of weekend trips to go get fresh bread or other goodies. I can guarantee you that there is unfortunately no where else in Edmonton that made better baked goods than Bee Bell. Wherever we saw the big neon sign from the distance it always brought warm feelings. It’s funny how small things like that can jog your memory and matter so much.

That being said, I got all the warm fuzzies back when we walked down the Neon Sign Museum street and saw the old Bee Bell sign! There are some super old signs up on the wall, some that I even recognized (like Call the Kettle Black)! 

Definitely one of the cooler places in Edmonton. A hidden gem in good ole Edmonton. Next time you go to check out a hockey game, drop by!

Anywhere in your towns that have hidden gems like this?

Out and about, gathering things I don’t need.

This past Sunday I dropped by Whyte Avenue for an event I’ve never had the opportunity to go to before: the Edmonton Art Walk!

All up and down Whyte Ave they have booths set up for the different artists to display their work. 

It was looking like it was going to be a pretty crappy day weather-wise (it had been pouring allllll morning!), so I came prepared in my cute rubber booties and rain coat, only to have the day clear up and I basically died because over preparedness. Thanks a lot weather app!! 

But anyways, Art Walk is a great opportunity to get outside and connect with local artists. Since it’s in a public area (Whyte Ave) it’s totally free to go to, and the art is priced for almost any budget.

After talking myself out of some art from one of my faves (Katylyne of Kay Pop Art; I’ve bought her stuff as Christmas presents) because my bedroom is totally the wrong colour now, we managed to find a couple of prints that will look lovely in my room!

First, I bought the iceberg print by Jared Robinson (jaredrobinson.ca), pictured above. Then I couldn’t resist the draw of the mountains and ended up with a print from Dallas LaRose of Freebird Art & Design, pictured below.

Unfortunately for me, I have a pretty small room and almost no need for more art, but I also have alarmingly low self-control. Oh well, at least what I bought is beautiful!

Block 1912 is open again and looking amazing, so the boyfriend and I had to stop in for a chia and an iced vanilla latte!

Have any of you ever gone to Art Walk? Any of your cities have anything similar? 

In the pursuit of adventure.

“Adventure is out there!” I declare while filling up my new mug and settling in for an afternoon in my office, because adventure may be out there but it’s sure not showing its face in here.

I’ve been MIA for a while here, but now I’m back! I’ve been focusing on making some mad dolla dolla bills to help fund my adventures, and now I’m ready for some excitement. 

I spent Canada Day out and about in Edmonton, so I’ll have to make another post to fill you all in on that!

But for now, I need to geek out a little bit. 

While planning out our summer adventures, the boyfriend and I stumbled upon an Instagram post for Travel Jasper. Apparently, the Dark Sky Festival is coming up, and the post said that George Takei would be there. That got my boyfriend interested so I looked up all the details, and was initially pretty disappointed, because it isn’t happening until October.

Their website is lovely, hey?

While I was scrolling through the event page though, I found something even more exciting! Bill Nye the Science Guy will be headlining the festival on October 14th, my birthday!!!

So our newest planned adventure is to hit the road the morning of my birthday and head out to Jasper to see our favourite scientist! I’m beyond excited!

Bill Bill Bill Bill, Bill Nye the Science Guy!
Any of you guys planning on going to see the Dark Sky Festival? And more importantly, are any of you going to go see Bill Nye? Let me know!!

Roaming Edmonton: What to do on a Rainy Day

Edmonton is so rainy right now. Everything is wet and I hate it. At first it was fine, a little rain is always great, but now it’s just a constant sad drizzle with intermittent downpours. I’m ready for the sun.

But since I’m no magic man/rainmaker, I thought I’d put together a list of things to do in Edmonton when it rains:

1.  Strathcona Farmers Market: open on Saturdays, the farmers market is great if you’re looking for something fresh, or if you’re partaking on a dinner experiment like we did last weekend. It’s busy busy busy so go early!
2. T&T Supermarket, or the Italian Center: once again, great if you’re looking to experiment with food. My advice is to go on Pinterest and find a recipe you’ve never tried before. That’s what we did when we made pho and we’ve done it countless times at the Italian Center. Both places are super fun to roam around and check out foods from different cultures!
3. Whyte Ave: go out your raincoat on and explore Whyte Ave! I bought a lovely canary yellow, t-swift style raincoat the other day to get over this depressing weather. You can shop-hop the whole way up and down, and stay out of the rain for the most part. There are bookstores, music stores, pubs, clubs, and shopping all throughout. 
4. West Edmonton Mall: it literally has everything. If I remember correctly, it’s one of the biggest malls in North America. There’s shopping, a skating rink, a seal show, an aquarium, Galaxyland, a movie theatre, and a water park. The choices at literally endless.
5. Any mall: Edmonton has plenty of malls if you want to avoid the hustle and bustle of West Ed. Southgate, Capilano, Kingsway, and Bonnie Doon will all give you something to do on a rainy afternoon.
6. Telus Space & Science Center: along with their normal science displays and interactive rooms, the Space & Science center usually has a feature exhibit going on. Last summer, we went to the Indian Jones one, and it was hands down one of the best dates I’ve ever been on. My boyfriend went to the exhibit that’s currently on display (Sherlock Holmes) which is apparently pretty good too. There’s also the massive imax 3D movie theatre.
7. Cinema: speaking of theatres, a movie is always rainy day material. There are a literal shit-ton of theatres in Edmonton. We recently also got one of the upgraded theatres where you can order food or drinks and they’ll be delivered right to your seat! That’s on our to-do list!
8. Comedy Club: lately, I’ve been super into stand up comedy and I’ve been watching a ton of it on YouTube. I’ve been to a couple of comedy clubs in Edmonton before, and they’re a great experience! Also a great date idea, laughter always breaks the ice 😉
9. Paint Nite: I’m in love. Go to paint nite. Doesn’t matter if you can’t paint, they show you a step by step tutorial, and the instructors are great at helping out! Hit me up if you want a 50% coupon code. We’ve done paint nite quite a few times, and learning and laughing over your masterpiece is always such a hilarious night!
10. Leave Edmonton: escape the rain. Like literally just leave. I’m going to Calgary to escape this weather, and then to Banff to escape it even more. Find an online radar map and go where it’s dry!!

Sorry for the lack of pictures guys! I assumed from the get-go that this post would be more text based than photo based. But since I’ll be visiting Banff, I can guarantee some lovely pictures in the next few posts 🙂

Did I miss anything that you love to get up to on a rainy weekend? Let me know!

Roaming Edmonton: Strathcona Farmer’s Market

Holy crap. 

So we went to the Strathcona Farmers Market, which is near the end of Whyte Avenue. The market is only open on Saturdays, so for once we actually planned the day out. It was my first time ever going, but definitely not the last!! If it weren’t for the fact that the boyfriend and I will be traveling for the next two weekends, I’m sure we’d be back. 

We got there around noon, and it was already packed and stalls were already sold out. The bread and bakery stalls must have been particularly good, since they were completely sold out. 

As we wandered around, we thought we would make a game plan and figure out dinner for the night. After having a million amazing samples, we narrowed down our options.

Elk on the right, bison on the left.

We ended up with elk and bison steaks (which were fucking awesome), as well as some pesto to put on pasta. It was so garlicky, so it was basically heaven. I’ve never had bison, or elk, or homemade pesto before, so this was a really nice treat. 

We bought some rhubarb wine, which was waaaay better than I expected it to be! The Birds and Bees wine stall had some tastings, so we tested raspberry, honey, rhubarb, and cherry wines. All of them were knock outs, but the rhubarb was our favorite. Also had to get some cheese to go with our wine!

By the end of our trip, we had wine, cheese, meat, macaroons, pesto, and olives. So basically, our dinner was the best we’ve made in a while. We always like to try new things, so I was pretty impressed. 

We’re already planning out our next trip there!! 

Next weekend I’ll be in Calgary visiting my sister, and then the weekend after that I’ll be dragging my boyfriend to Calgary to do some touristy stuff. Might go back to go to the Calgary Stampede with one of my friends later and visit my big bro. Probably the most I’ll have been to Calgary in one summer ever!

What do you guys like to do in Calgary?? What’s something that o can’t miss out on when I go?

Roaming Edmonton: T&T Market

The other night the boyfriend and I did one of our favorite kinds of dates. We decided to try to cook pho together!

Most of the ingredients for the Vietnamese soup can be found at normal grocery stores, but for fun we decided to find some of them at T&T Market.

I absolutely love markets that have food from other cultures. There are so many unique foods there!

We bought delicious fresh sushi, and grabbed a couple of spices for our pho. We also walked up and down every aisle. I’m a fan of the candy aisle 😉

It’s impossible for us to go to any grocery store without visiting the meat section, and this one definitely didn’t disappoint. You can get fresh crabs, fish, lobsters, and clams. I played with the crabs, they’re snappy and amazing. 

The pho we made was so damn good. To cook the meat, you pour the hot broth over top, which was pretty interesting. Quite yummy, would definitely make again.

Want to know what I’ve been up to so far in Edmonton? You can check out my other adventures here, here, and here!

Let me know where else there is so explore in Edmonton!

Roaming Edmonton: the River Valley Walking Bridge

  
By far the best place to watch a sunset or a sunrise. The Edmonton River Valley is amazing in the summer time.

The River Valley is quite a large area. When I was around 8 years old, my grandparents used to take me there to toss pine cones around for my puppy, something I remember very fondly. Now in my 20s, I think of the River Valley as both the place that 8-year-old Kelsey used to play, and where 20-something Kelsey escapes from university. 

I’m not going to make this post too in depth about the River Valley – that can always come later in the summer when there’s a bit more to do, but I just wanted to share this sunset with you all. 

I think that when you spend your whole life growing up somewhere it’s really easy to take it for granted. I always want to be on the move because “Edmonton is boring.” When I started university 5 years back and was in the downtown area more, I guess you could say I gained a bit more appreciation for it. Once I started dating my boyfriend though, Edmonton became a lot more interesting since we’re always on the look out for date ideas and places to explore.

I think it’s easy to get restless when you’ve been somewhere for so long. There are a lot of places I’ve been in my life that have had an overwhelming feeling of being home… Granada, Banff, Summerland… But in the end Edmonton is always the place I’m drawn back to. Even though I’m so young and don’t have any commitments keeping me here, I feel like I’ve put down roots here. Edmonton is a pretty special place if you start paying attention to it.

 
Tonight, my friends and I decided to watch the sunset from the walking bridge that’s underneath the Highlevel. Every time we try to find it, we get ridiculously lost, but that’s mostly because we’re lazy and try to find the fastest way there from campus. It always involves a lot of straying from the paths and slugging through mud or bushes. Not very successful, but interesting nonetheless! We were lucky enough to find the bridge just in time to see the beautiful sunset behind the Edmonton skyline. I think the sunset looks different in the spring, a little more pink? But maybe I’m just crazy haha

This summer I’ll definitely be checking out the River Valley area more and experiencing more of it than usual! I’ll also stick to our Canada Day tradition of watching the fireworks from the Highlevel, while the city puts on a light show on the bridge.  

Any places around the River Valley that I’m missing out on that I should check out this summer? Let me know!! 🙂

Check out my Roaming Edmonton series intro here, and bookstore adventure here!

Roaming Edmonton: The Edmonton Book Store

  
Ok guys, I think we may have found the best shop on Whyte Ave. I was planning on making this post originally about Edmonton’s Legislature Grounds, but the weather hasn’t been too great this week and the grounds are best on beautiful days! I’ll post later in the summer about the Legislature, but for now welcome to my first post of my Roaming Emonton series. Whyte Avenue is literally a treasure trove of cool shops, restaurants, and bars. I’ve walked up and down it probably a million times and never saw this shop before until my boyfriend pointed it out. We’re always on the hunt for some good books!

Back to my shopping adventure: this little book shop, the Edmonton Book Store. It’s on 10533 82 Ave, smack dab in the middle of Whyte Ave. Literally the coolest book store ever. I was so blown away by how cool the shop was I didn’t take any pictures. Guess that just gives me another reason to visit!! Next time I go, I’ll take some pictures to show you guys. If I go in again I might not come back out though! 😉

Every book that you could ever imagine. Everything looks so vintage, so in order, I think I’m in love. It resembles an old comfy library, you could wander for ages and probably spend almost every dollar you’ve ever made without even realizing it. Used books are my jam. 

  
The boyfriend and I have been puzzling over where to take our next adventure. We tossed around the idea of Calgary, Kananaskis, Banff, and Jasper. Buuuuut, realizing how much time I’ll have off between my exams and summer job we may as well make it a far far away adventure! Now we’re considering heading out of good ol’ Alberta and into British Columbia. Such a treat considering that we’ll be road tripping it in my trusty Honda Civic so it’ll be a long drive there!

In the Edmonton Book Store, there’s a whole section dedicated to one of my true loves: mountains. Ok, well I guess it’s supposed to be more of a nature section but there’s an entire wall of books about mountains, I could barely drag myself away.

  
So, I found a great book The Mountains of Canada by Randy Morse. This book is kind of what sparked my realization that I had a ton of time off and could probably make it all the way to British Columbia for a vacation to see some of these gorgeous peaks!

Still running ideas past my boyfriend, I’ll update y’all as we make more decisions!

I need some advice though! I’m not as familiar with the British Columbia side of the Rockies as I am with the Alberta sides. Where do you guys like to visit?? Let me know where and what I should see over there! Help me convince the boyfriend on BC 🙂

For my into to the Roaming Edmonton series, click here!

Where I Roam: Edmonton

As I’m from Edmonton, what better place to start than here! Edmonton has a ton of great areas to explore, so I’ll be starting a series for it. Expect the first post within the next few days, featuring Edmonton’s lovely Legislative Grounds.

What’s your favourite place in Edmonton? Leave me a reply and let me know!