The Alberta Aviation Museum is located at what used to be the Edmonton City Center airport (I know it as the Edmonton Municipal Airport). I still remember it as an airport, so seeing that a bunch of houses had popped up near what was one of the runways was an interesting sight.
Alberta Aviation Museum
I happened to see it on the map, and decided to go check it out on my trip to Edmonton at the end of July. Two airplanes and a missile outside makes the museum pretty easy to find. The museum is in a giant hangar, and there’s lots to see.
One of the neat things about all the planes on exhibit is that they all have some element of Canadian history, and in many cases Alberta and Edmonton history as well. While some of the planes are models or reconstructions, most are actual aircraft. One particularly nice example is a Cranwell CLA.4 built by Alf Want in his basement. He ended up having to cut a hole in his basement wall to get the plane out (something that might sound familiar to NCIS fans).
During my trip back to Edmonton last week, I was looking around in Google Maps to see what I wanted to do and came across Fort Edmonton Park. It’s a place I hadn’t visited since elementary school, probably around 3rd or 4th grade which puts it at close to 50 years ago.
Needless to say, the park has changed a lot. It’s definitely a lot bigger than I remember.
You can walk around, ride the steam locomotive, hop on the electric trolley car, or do all three to get around the park. There’s lots to see and do as you wander the park going back through Edmonton’s history.
Inside the park past the train station, there’s the Midway and Exposition area with games, a ferris wheel, and other rides for the kids to enjoy.
Keep wandering through the park, checking out the various historic buildings. Most are original and transplanted to the park, some are replicas.
1920 StSt Paul telephone exchange building1905 StSanderson & Looby blacksmith shop1905 StFirkins House (L) and Rutherford House (R) on 1905 St1905 StTent City
Interact with the park staff dressed in period outfits.
Tent CityBlacksmith at work
Eventually you’ll reach Fort Edmonton, the fur trading outpost that eventually became Edmonton.
Walking up to the 1846 Fort1846 Fort EdmontonRowand HouseFort Edmonton courtyard
Inside the fort, you can get a glimpse of what it was like to live in the fort. People seem to have been a lot shorter back then, and there are a few places where tall people might have to duck down a bit.
Food prep area in Rowand HouseA bedroom in Rowand HouseFort Edmonton courtyard
It was fun revisiting a place I hadn’t been in a very long time. There are a few other places that I’ll have to revisit on my next trip.
We got back from spending the past week in a slightly cool but still pleasant Edmonton last night after a long day of flying.
Had a great trip out there, and Connie got to meet mom and dad. It was a busy and full week of driving around to visit people and seeing places.
On this trip, we also discovered that since our phones are on Sprint’s CDMA network (via Ting), they no longer roam while in Canada like mine did on my last trip (even then it was spotty). Future trips means we’ll have to pick up pre-paid SIM cards from somewhere for our stay if we want to stay in touch.
Didn’t go for dim sum quite as much as on my last trip in August, but we did make it out for dim sum at least once. My sister Sandi was able to join us in Edmonton for the weekend and Connie got a nice picture of us after we all went out for dinner Saturday night.
Dinner with the family
We made a couple of visits out to West Edmonton Mall, which we both enjoyed. It’s big, and while there are a few things that I remember, a lot of the mall has changed since I was last there.
I even went skating at the Ice Palace which was probably the first time I’d been on skates in over 20 years. Even though the skates I rented could have used a good sharpening, it was still a lot of fun being on the ice again. Wasn’t exactly the most graceful of skating, but I managed to stay on my feet. Connie got some pictures of me on the ice.
Ice skating at West Edmonton Mall
Ice skating at West Edmonton Mall
Ice skating at West Edmonton Mall
While we were walking through the mall, we spotted a penguin walking around checking things out.
Penguin encounter at West Edmonton Mall
Penguin encounter at West Edmonton Mall
The penguin is part of WEM’s Marine Life aquarium exhibit and is named Taz. Cool random encounter.
We made stops at Tim Horton’s (maybe a few), A&W (mmm, Mozzaburger), a donair place and had a couple of lunches at The Old Spaghetti Factory in WEM. Made it out for beer and wings with the guys, and showed Connie some of the city. We didn’t get to see or do everything I was thinking about doing, but we managed to cram in a fair bit during our week there.
Also, Alaska Airlines might be my new favourite airline. They’ll be starting non-stop flights between Charleston and Seattle soon, which means it will be easier for us to make it out to that corner of the country to visit my sister and brother and their families. It also gives another alternative route home (CHS-SEA-YEG). Plus they still offer snacks.
It’s a little sad that a 14g packet of dried fruit and pretzels is something to get excited about when flying.
Today is my last full day in Edmonton, and it’s been a great trip, but it seems like it just flew by. Took the Basic and Advanced Canadian Amateur Radio certification tests yesterday and passed both of them. Met up with a couple of friends from my grad school days and had a good lunch with them.
Spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the U of A campus looking at all the changes. So many new buildings popping up among the old familiar ones that I know. It’s a very different place from when I was a student there.
A couple more errands today, and it will be time to wrap things up and get ready to head back to Charleston. Flight leaves at 8AM tomorrow, and I’ll be back in Charleston late afternoon.
Sad to be leaving, but it will be good to get back to Charleston.
This year I’ll be skipping Dragon*Con again to make a trip back home. Flight and car rental are booked. The plan is to be in Edmonton September 19-26. Hopefully if there are no flight hitches, I’ll be going CHS->DFW->YEG and the reverse going back.
I’m looking forward to the trip. I think this time I’ll be able to spend more time playing tourist in my home town.
