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?

Learnin’ Twitter

 Well hello hello adventurers!

Just a quick update on what’s going on with Where I Roam! While I am definitely not a social media guru, I’m trying my hand at twitter. Where I Roam’s twitter will be filled with updates of my adventures and reminders about what’s bumpin’ in Edmonton!

Where I Roam’s twitter is @Where_I_Roam, and our feed is looking a little bare! Only one tweet so far, bear with me for now though 🙂 feel free to follow and I’ll follow you back, I want to hear about all of your adventures!

You can find the Twitter widget on my sidebar!

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?

Country roads, take me home…to Boyle?

Every summer, my family and I go camping at our lake lot out near Boyle, Alberta. We’ve been doing this for almost 10 years, and what an adventure it’s been. Unfortunately, it looks like this might be our last year enjoying the beautiful Alberta weather out at Skeleton and Amisk beaches, so I want to try to take full advantage of the opportunity I’ve been given.

For 10 years, we’ve passed signs for the Boyle Rodeo and always joke about going, but my boyfriend and I decided to finally make it a reality. The Boyle Rodeo is put on by the Boyle AG Society and is apparently pretty legit. My friend and I dropped in one year as a joke, thinking it was just going to be like a teeny tiny petting zoo and maybe a horse, but it’s more like a mini Stampede! Since we were only there for about an hour, I never felt like I got to have a full experience of the rodeo so I was pretty excited to be there this year!

The rodeo lasts all weekend, but we decided to take a day trip out for the Saturday festivities. The rodeo portion of the day was from 1pm-6pm, and although we arrived a little late we did miss much! The day was full of bull riding, barrel racing, sheep riding, chicken chasing, bronco riding, calf wrestling, and calf roping. My favorites definitely were the bronco and bull riding!

On top of all that, the weather was gorgeous! Couldn’t have asked for a better afternoon!

Being out in the area made me realize how much I’ve missed the lake and camping this summer. I think I’m going to try to head out there for a few more day trips and maybe spend some time out at the beach to even out the tan I got at the rodeo!

Any local rodeos near any of you explorers? What’s your favourite event? 

Roaming Edmonton: Jurassic Forest

Ok ok, so it’s not technically in Edmonton, but it’s about a half hour out which is close enough for me! And if you’re a dinosaur fan then the drive is totally worth it.

Jurassic Forest is a 40 acre prehistoric preserve. It has life sized automated dinosaurs that move and make noises, which is pretty entertaining. To be completely honest with you, some are amazing, while some are a touch cheesy and are in need of some touching up (I’m looking at you giant sloth…).

The entrance to the forest is super reminiscent of the Jurassic Park movies, so from the second we got there I was impressed. The pictures online don’t really do it justice, so I was expecting the park to be a little lame, but boy was I wrong! From there, you buy your tickets and follow the boardwalks through the forest. In the lobby they have a couple of small dinosaurs that move and roar and get you hyped for the actual park itself. 

As you walk through the forest, you can hear different dinosaurs roaring and moving in the distance. My favourite was the Tyrannosaurus rex; he was massive and suuuuuper loud!! The section with the flying dinosaurs was pretty interesting as well, as the park tries to stay pretty true to the textures and materials of the dinosaurs. 

There was also a pretty strange, but interesting nonetheless, section with what I would call “misfit dinosaurs”. It basically was a whole section with dinosaurs you didn’t even realize existed. 

Definitely an interesting date! Maybe next post I’ll tell all of you dinosaur lovers about my trip last summer to Drumheller and their dinosaur museum. Basically, if you want dinosaurs, you want to go to Drumheller. 

Any of you dino fans ever been to Jurassic Forest or the dinosaur museum in Drumheller?

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!!

Ridin solo part 2

I’m back and feeling so much better guys! Just getting everything off of my chest helped me clear my head and now everything is looking up 🙂 now I’ll regale you with my Calgary tales!

Ok so by Saturday I wasn’t really riding solo anymore. But the drive home on Sunday was looming which was a total bummer because I’m a chatty bitch and hate driving alone.

Anywho… We got up early-ish Saturday and made our way to Banff! Not a bad drive, it’s so close to Calgary.

Once we got there, we explored the shops a little and then decided to follow the Bow River down to the falls.

I’ve never been before, despite being in Banff countless times. It was super beautiful. I love any kind of falls. It surprisingly wasn’t very touristy, which is strange for a Saturday. I guess we lucked out!!After the falls, we wandered into the Legislature grounds and walked through the not yet planted garden. I’ll go back and get pictures for ya’ll later in the summer when it’s not just dirt there haha I’ve been before during the July/August weekends, and man do they ever go all out. It’s beautiful and a must see. It’s free and easily accessible, so if you’re shopping down the main drag you have no excuse not to go!

Basically, the garden is beautiful and that’s where I’ll be married. Beautiful flowers and a mountain view, what more could a girl ask for?

Unfortunately we couldn’t spend all day wandering Banff, since we were going back to Calgary for a bbq/party that my sister’s friends were throwing.

Despite being Recruitment Chair, VP Membership Educator, and then President throughout my time in the sorority, I’ve got social anxiety like you wouldn’t believe. I think I’ve just gotten good at hiding it though. Wine helps, not even gonna lie.

So Saturday night was basically us getting pretty drunkypants. And me finding a new Game of Thrones buddy to talk to and tell my lame theories to. Good night had by all!

Drunk Kelsey is such a gem though. She updated the iOS on my phone for me so now I have new emojis (something I’ve put off doing for 6 months). But she also set my alarm for 8am so I won’t give her too much credit.

Sunday wasn’t too crazy, slept in, got up to go get some pho. Went to see Captain America (Sebastian Stan and Chris Evans, good lord you have my heart). 

Then next thing you know the day was over and it was time for the dreaded drive home DUN DUN DUUUUN. It rained, which kept things interesting. I think I’ll download an audiobook next time! I actually don’t mind driving in the rain, I’m a good driver (but I’m sure everyone says this about themselves) and there’s something very peaceful about being able to watch the rain. 

What keeps you guys entertained in the car?

Ridin solo part 1

Ok guys I’m posting a little late here from the weekend, but it’s been a crazy week!
So I drove myself down to Calgary to visit my sister last weekend. It was my first time driving there alone, and man was it lonely. The beginning of the trip wasn’t too bad, and the Edmonton radio stations still came through pretty strong. Once I hit Red Deer and decided to stop for a bathroom break (and milkshake from Peter’s Drive In, because if you skip that then you’re gonna be sad), my radio stations cut out and I got a huge wave of loneliness. Usually my boyfriend/copilot is with me to talk to (usually about conspiracy theories), so I definitely missed having him with me. The radio stations just weren’t familiar and mostly country, so I had to opt for my aux cord and phone.
I’m pretty proud of myself for making it to the Calgary University in once piece. Usually I’m awful at directions and end up completely and totally lost. But I made it! Once there, my sister and I grabbed dinner and decided to head to bed because we were going to hit up Banff on Saturday. 

I think I’ll save Saturday and Sunday as a separate post, since Saturday was more eventful and will make this post be massive!

Preview?

Moral of the story: riding solo sucks, someone come be my copilot.

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!