Edmonton

Visiting with Mr. Goalie

/ Greg / 1 Comment

On every trip with my dad, something kind of crazy, something memorable, always seems to happen. As we were doing a road trip through the mountains, while we were having an amazing time, we hadn’t yet had that “you’ve gotta be kidding” kind of moment.

Until Edmonton.

Dad and I met a family friend for lunch at the West Edmonton Mall and at one point the conversation drifted to my dad’s time as a goaltender in northern New Brunswick in his younger years. A few minutes later we had a proposition for our afternoon. Did we want to drop in on his friend outside the city? His friend? Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender, one of the greatest to ever play the position in the history of the game, Glenn Hall.

We left the mall, drove west of the city, picked up a six pack and casually dropped in on a hockey legend. As you can tell by the photo, he’s a pretty gracious hall offamer.

In Glenn Hall's basement

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Family on the prairies

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When Jodi’s parents visited us this past summer, there was one place they were itching to get to… the West Edmonton Mall. While the idea of visiting a mall normally induces dread akin to an upcoming visit to the dentist, the idea of a prairie road trip with family to a city that’s really grown on me sounded like a great way to spend a weekend. Another plus for me? You can’t really road trip in Canada without pulling over somewhere beside a roadside attraction, so on the way to Edmonton, here we are in Vegreville in front of their famous pysanka. Unbelieveably, at three and a half stories high and more than 5,500 pounds, it is only the second largest pysanka in the world due to some deft one-upmanship from Kolomyia, Ukraine.

Vegreville Pysanka

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A day in Edmonton

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What to do with a day in Edmonton? After arriving the afternoon before, having a meal, then heading to a Tragically Hip concert, our first ever full day in Edmonton was wide open for anything we wanted. My wife knew she’d be putting up with dinner in a craft beer bar that night, so to even the score, we started the day at a 100% gluten-free restaurant for breakfast. We had the GF Diner in the Strathcona neighbourhood all to ourselves and enjoyed a lovely and delicious breakfast. My wife’s french toast was outstanding, and my breakfast hit the spot. I even liked the gluten-free toast.

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Alberta beer sampling

/ Greg / 1 Comment

With the move from Halifax to Saskatoon and all that entailed, this has been a year of shorter trips and vacations. One of those was a July road trip to Edmonton to see the Tragically Hip play on their last tour. Like all my trips this year, and owing to Saskatchewan’s limited selection of craft beer, I managed to find a way to sneak in some sampling and tastings over a couple of days in Edmonton.

On the afternoon before the Hip show, I noticed an interesting beer and wine store in the downtown and grabbed these two to put on ice back at the hotel. The Blindman Session ale was very tasty post-concert. I should have been smarter and grabbed more to bring back home.

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Courage and Grace, Too

/ Greg / 5 Comments

As the last strains of “Ahead by a Century” were just fading into the rafters of Rexall Place in Edmonton, Gord Downie walked to the front, his Tragically Hip band members fading quietly off stage. The spotlights centred on the Canadian icon, alone.

I can’t imagine Wayne Gretzky himself ever received an ovation the likes of which Gord was soaking in. I looked around the arena, and through my own teary vision, couldn’t see another dry eye. Yes, we all knew there was an encore to come, but in our own way we were all saying our thanks to Gord and his band. His was the music most of us in attendance had grown up to. The soundtrack of road trips, of summers, of that girl you just met or the girl who just left you. In that moment in Edmonton, we were all taken back to those indelible memories that have been woven into the fabric of our lives. We were saying thanks, but also saying goodbye. And we were all in awe of a man dealing with a terminal brain cancer diagnosis and his desire to tour one last time.

This was no dress rehearsal, it was his life.

Gord Downie alone on stage

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