1072: Road Trips Pull-out

VUEWEEKLY.com | MAY 12 – MAY 18, 2016

ROAD TRIPS 15

ROAD TRIPS // FARMS

ROAD TRIPS

// Alberta Culture & Tourism at Prairie Gardens & Adventure Farm

Road tripping to Alberta farms Discover where your food comes from on an agritourism trip

I

t's strange that agritourism isn't a bigger industry in Alberta, given the huge number and variety of farms here. For those unfamiliar, "agritourism" refers to agricultural tourism, and it's exactly what it sounds like: promoting farms and other agricultural operations as a place for people to visit, from ranches to grain farms to fruit wineries.

Even though they often don't advertise it, many Alberta farms welcome visitors—but it's always a good idea to call ahead and confirm your visit. For inspiration on which places to try, stop by one of the city's farmers' markets: that will give you an idea of the different producers out there, and you can ask them firsthand about visiting.

Several Alberta farms host annual events, usually over the summer months. The following is a collection of some of the most popular.

Alberta Open Farm Days Alberta Open Farm Days is the big-

16 ROAD TRIPS

gest agritourism event in the province. The two-day event (held this year on August 20 and 21), marks the fourth-annual Open Farm Days in Alberta—the concept started in the Maritimes over 10 years ago and has moved west since then. The event has locations throughout the province, with host farms from north to south. In addition to tours and events at all types of farms, Open Farm Days also features culinary experiences like farm-to-table dinners.

The list of this year's host farms and culinary events hasn't been announced yet, as the deadline to apply is May 31. Check the website at albertafarmdays.com in a few weeks to find out what's happening this year.

Rootstock Combining local food and drink with music, the second Rootstock will be held on August 13 at Fallentimber Meadery in Water Valley. Hosted by the Food Water Wellness Founda-

tion and Fallentimber, Rootstock will feature a four-course dinner (held in a tent) showcasing some of Alberta's finest ingredients, prepared by chef David Cousineau. Signature cocktails from Eau Claire Distillery (Alberta's first craft distillery), mead from Fallentimber and local craft beer will make up the liquid refreshments of the evening. After dinner, enjoy music performances by Reuben and the Dark, Gabrielle Papillon and Folk Road Show. Visit foodwaterwellness. org/rootstock for more information and to purchase tickets.

Prairie Gardens RGE RD Farm-toFork Dinners No list of Alberta's agritourism spots would be complete with Prairie Gardens Adventure Farm. Located near Bon Accord, Prairie Gardens has embraced the concept wholeheartedly: it is one of the province's largest agritourism operations, and it's hosted over one million visitors.

If you name it, Prairie Gardens probably has it: at the centre of its 35-acre farm is U-Pick produce, including various greens, potatoes, strawberries, tomatoes, squash and heirloom pumpkins. Prairie Gardens also offers garden tours and a garden centre, and dozens of other family friendly activities, from a petting farm to corn mazes.

This summer, Prairie Gardens is hosting five farm-to-fork dinners in partnership with RGE RD, which will feature a variety of seasonal local foods, BC wines and cocktails. The dates are June 26, July 13, July 24, August 28 and September 11.

Other upcoming events at Prairie Gardens include the Fairy Berry Festival on July 30, 31 and August 1; Sweet Corn Fest on September 3, 4 and 5; and its annual Haunted Pumpkin Festival every weekend in October. The farm also hosts numerous other events throughout the year, as well as day camps, school field trips,

VUEWEEKLY.com | MAY 12 – MAY 18, 2016

seniors outings, youth groups, corporate events and weddings—so it's a good idea to check in prior to planning your trip to find out what will be happening during your visit. Visit prairiegardens.org for more information.

Chinook Honey Company Viking Village: Horde at the Hive Mead, or honey wine, is an ancient drink called "Nectar of the Gods" in Norse culture. With its bountiful honey farms, it's only natural that Alberta would be home to several meaderies as well. Chinook Honey Company near Okotoks has grown from a two-hive acreage to a full apiary and meadery. On June 25 and June 26, Chinook is hosting its annual Viking Village, a celebration of mead and honey, featuring apiary and meadery tours, sampling of meads and honey products, as well as liveaction Viking battle re-enactments.

MEL PRIESTLEY

MEL@VUEWEEKLY.COM

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ROAD TRIPS 17

ROAD TRIPS ROAD TRIPS // ARCHITECTURE

Philip J Currie Dinosaur Museum // Candice Popik

The road less travelled Discover Alberta's best architecture and design

A

lberta is known for many things: flat prairies, oil, frigid winters.

But the province is by no means touted as an architectural hub—that hasn't stopped some architectural firms from getting creative, though.

What the province might lack in quantity, it makes up with quality,

with a handful of buildings receiving national and global acclaim. Some of these structures have been around for decades, while others have only been standing for a couple of years.

The following is a collection of some of the top architectural structures around Alberta—all of which can be

different

in a good way.

Kelowna * Kamloops Victoria * Vancouver Airport * Burnaby 18 ROAD TRIPS

tackled during a summer road trip.

Edmonton We can't have an architectural tour without mentioning the capital city.

Your road trip will kick-off in Edmonton and proceed onwards.

Drive down to West Edmonton

Mall (stay with us here) and visit the La Maisons Simons department store (located in Europa Boulevard).

The store—a $40-million renovation designed by award-winning firm Figure3 and realized by Montréal's Lemay Michaud Architecture Design—involved the construction of

Rebels against the ordinary.

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Victoria & coming to Kelowna spring 2016 VUEWEEKLY.com | MAY 12 – MAY 18, 2016

a new glass-box extension in order to house a massive crystalline installation piece "Aurora" by Toronto-based architect Philip Beesley.

The sculpture, which takes inspiration from the aurora borealis, is composed of laser-cut acrylic, mylar glassware and custom computercontrolled circuitry that responds to human movement, creating a gentle rippling-ocean effect for viewers gathering below.

A short 12-minute drive northeast will take you to the Peter Hemingway Fitness and Leisure Centre (formerly known as Coronation Pool)— located on 13808 - 111 Avenue, beside Ross Sheppard High School—which to this day remains an internationally known facility in the architectural world. Built between 1968 and 1970, architect Peter Hemingway was tasked to design a new Olympicsized pool for Edmonton as a centennial project. Taking inspiration from the National Gymnasium and Pool in Tokyo, Japan, Hemingway created a structure that mimicked the crest of a wave and rolling landscape of Alberta's mountains and prairies through wood, concrete, steel, cables and glass.

Driving east towards Borden Park will take you to the Vaulted Willow, comissioned by the Edmonton Arts Council and created by Brooklynbased architect Marc Fornes and his experimental design studio

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TheVeryMany—whose work can be found throughout the United States and France. While the structure is more architectural folly than the aforementioned buildings, it makes the list for being a lightweight, self-supported installation composed of 721 aluminum shingles.

The 20-foot-tall pavilion is said to illustrate the "reciprocal relationship encompassing experiments in non-linear architectural typology (multiple entries, distributed feet with branching and spiralling legs), structural differentiation (bifurcation of structural download forces, tighter radii of leg profiles for rigidity) and programmatic possibilities for a winding playground (hide and seek)," according to Fornes on the project's website. The bright colours of greens, blues, purples and pinks are an extention of the park's environment, creating a two-way Cheshire scheme.

Wembley The fertile basin of Pipestone Creek, near Wembley, AB, has been dubbed a "palentologist's dream" as the area is the fifth-largest dinosaur bone bed in the world. But it is also getting acclaim from architects for the Philip J Currie Dinosaur Museum— located 19 km west of Grande Prairie—which was fashioned by Toronto's Teeple Architects. Completed in 2014, the building uses an A-frame

design to mirror the paleontogical process of reconstructing dinosaurs and the act of excavation within its unusual geometric shape. The 40 020-square-foot museum incorporates the bone bed and building through topographical changes that allow visitors access and views from both the inside and outside of the facility. Using locally sourced beetle-kill timber for the structural support provides an overall skeleton-like appearance at this paleontology museum.

Calgary No list is complete without a mention of a skyscraper, and luckily you don't have to go far to see The Bow, the tallest building in Canada outside of Toronto. Located in downtown Calgary, The Bow stands a staggering 58 storeys tall. The building—designed by Foster + Partners with Zeidler Architects Partnership and Sturgess Architecture—is a sustainable feat as its convex facade is faced towards the wind, which minimizes the amount of steel required for the diagrid system. The building's inward curvatures creates a series of atria that act as a climatic buffer zone by insultating the building and reducing energy consumption by as much as 30 percent.

JASMINE SALAZAR

JASMINE@VUEWEEKLY.COM

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ROAD TRIPS 19

ROAD TRIPS ROAD TRIPS // GHOSTS

Visit, if you dare

Drive to some of Alberta's creepiest destinations this area and one woman—Florence Lassandro, aka the "Mob Princess," who was executed in May 1923 (she was the last woman to be hanged in Alberta) for the murder of Constable Lawson, a crime she may or may not have committed. The Fort Saskatchewan Museum & Historic Site now sits on the land where the convicts were hanged, and visitors have reported seeing lights turning on and off, along with hearing whispers and footsteps.

More mysteriously, people have reported seeing the ghost of Lassandro wandering the historical grounds, as well as other ghostly figures.

The Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel // Image from Calgary Reviews on Flickr

H

alloween is five months away, but that doesn't mean you have to wait until then to go on a haunted ghost tour. Most ghost tours are relegated to the city limits and/or season.

A DIY ghost-tour road trip allows you the freedom to visit as many buildings as you please, with the possibility of venturing out in the daylight (most Halloween tours take place at night).

Plus, this method will save you the $10 to $15 cost of an organized ghost tour, which you can put towards gas

20 ROAD TRIPS

money or candy (after all, we're trying to recreate a Halloween vibe). We've rounded up a few places to get your tour started—visit at your own discretion.

North West Mounted Police Post, Fort Saskatchewan From 1875 to 1885, the North West Mounted Police ran its operations from a fort located on the edge of a terrace along the North Saskatchewan River. Many convicts were hanged in

Rose & Crown Pub, Calgary This historic pub ostensibly allows you to drink a pint alongside the dead.

The popular Calgary watering hole, located just off of the 17 Avenue strip, is rated one of the top-four haunted places in the city due to its past use as a funeral home. What's more, the living quarters of the former caretaker's family are still intact in the bar's attic, as well as the original wallpaper from its time as a funeral home. It's said that a boy died in the house, and he allegedly makes appearances in some of the photos taken at the bar, along with two adults who are believed to

be his parents. There have also been reports of glassware flying off shelves and electronic equipment turning on and off for no apparent reason.

Canmore Opera House, Canmore The Canmore Opera House functioned as a concert hall in the late 1800s/early 1900s, but it was turned into a morgue after a fatal mining accident killed 700 people. Eventually the building was donated to the Heritage Park Historical Village in 1966, where it stands now. The ghost of Sam Livingstone is said to haunt these premises—his homestead was built in the area where Heritage Park is now—where he has been seen sitting in on rehearsals in the third seat of the third row. But others believe it's the ghost of the one of the dead miners.

The Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, Banff The historic Banff Springs Hotel is the site of many rumoured hauntings.

There's Room 873, which has now been sealed off by walls that were built over the doorway. Legend has it a family was brutally murdered in there. Before the room was covered up, hotel guests would hear screams

VUEWEEKLY.com | MAY 12 – MAY 18, 2016

and find handprints on the mirrors inside the room. To this day, people have reported seeing the ghosts of the family members. One of the hotel's most famous stories involves a ghost bride.

She's said to roam the hotel and can be seen dancing alone in the Cascade Ballroom or ascending the staircase on which her death occured. As the story goes, the bride's dress caught on fire from one of the candles that lined the staircase, causing her to trip over her dress and break her neck. Guests have also reported seeing the ghost of Scottish bellman Sam McCauley, who died in the halls of the hotel during the late '70s. Before his death, he swore to posthumously return to his workplace.

Frank Slide, Crowsnest Pass On April 23, 1903, the town of Frank, AB was completely covered by rock in a massive landslide from the adjacent Turtle Mountain. Seventy-six people were reported dead in the incident, while many bodies remained under the mountain rubble. To date, it's reported that an eerie mist will cover the area, and apparitions have appeared.

JASMINE SALAZAR

JASMINE@VUEWEEKLY.COM

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ROAD TRIPS 21

ROAD TRIPS ROAD TRIP // DINOSAURS

The Royal Tyrrell Museum // Royal Tyrrell Museum

Three Great Stays in Seven Spectacular Days

Alberta Northern Rockies IN HINTON, YELLOWHEAD COUNTY & GRANDE CACHE

Everybody do the dinosaur

Alberta's fossil-rich history means tons of dino-related places to go

L

Hundreds of Spacious Campsites.

Dozens of campgrounds, B&B’s, guest ranches, hotels, and more.

Only a few hours west of Edmonton!

COME EXPLORE THE UNTOUCHED, RUGGED BEAUTY OF ALBERTA’S NORTHERN CANADIAN ROCKIES .

Each year, more and more Albertans are making Hinton, Grande Cache, and Yellowhead County in the Northern Alberta Rockies and Foothills part of their vacation plans – and it isn’t hard to see why.

Days 1-3

yELLOWHEAD COUNTY Some of the most majestic landscapes Canada has to offer.

Start day one at the Pembina Provincial Park and continue on to the variety of campgrounds throughout the county or choose from an abundant array of guest ranches and lodges in this historic area.

Ride along one of the many scenic trails on a guided horseback adventure and discover that the Northern Rockies landscape is truly unforgettable.

Days 4&5

HINTON & AREA Beaver Boardwalk, Switzer, & the historic Coal Branch.

Begin your morning with a bike ride at the Hinton Bike Park and pedal through the thick stands of trees that embrace the Happy Creek trail system.

After that, pack a picnic lunch and head to Kelley’s Bathtub or Jarvis Lake for a refreshing swim – or stop at any of the other viewpoints or parks in William A. Switzer Provincial Park.

Days 6&7

GRANDE CACHE ‘Scenic Route to Alaska’ on the Bighorn Hwy. 40

Escape into a land of sparkling lakes, rushing rivers, green valleys, and windswept peaks. Nestled on a mountain plateau, Grande Cache is located just north of Jasper National Park in the Canadian Rocky Mountains along the Bighorn Highway 40, the shortest, most scenic route to Alaska from the United States.

www. NorthernRockiesAreCalling .ca 22 ROAD TRIPS

Yellowhead County 2016 Vue Weekly Get Outdoors Ad Contact: Stefan Felsing

ook, just because the last two Jurassic Park movies were both totally bunk shouldn't mean your feelings about dinosaurs have fallen to match. Especially given that Alberta is such a fossil-rich place—considered right up there with the Gobi Desert in Mongolia in terms of the sheer volume of things that can be unearthed. Hell, a brand-new species of dinosaur—Regaliceratops peterhewsi, nicknamed "Hellboy" due to a similarity with the comic-and-movie character—was discovered and displayed as recently as 2015. You just paid taxes for that year!

With all of that in mind, when planning out your summer adventure schedule, why not honour your inner eight-year-old and scope out some of the dino-related places scattered across the province?

Royal Tyrrell Museum Well, duh: Drumheller's famous museum is an anchor in a list about dinosaur-stuff in Alberta. Its collection of fossils tallies up to more than 120 000, but there's a bevvy of things to do in the area—open seven days a week from May until the end of August, the museum offers tours of the Badlands (nearby Midland Provincial Park), a chance to dig for fossils, a few different interactive presentations and considerable amounts of other programming.

There's also suggested itineraries for both families and adults sans kids, which can be browsed at tyrrellmuseum.com.

Philip J Curie Dinosaur Museum Alberta's other dinosaur museum is a relatively new addition to the landscape—it opened its doors in September 2015 (and if you want to read about the architecture of

VUEWEEKLY.com | MAY 12 – MAY 18, 2016

the place, skip back to Page 18).

Located just west of Grande Prairie and named for one of Canada's most renowned palaeontologists, it offers its own trove of programming: museum exhibits, a speaker series and more, which you can peruse at dinomuseum.ca.

Dinosaur Provincial Park This UNESCO World Heritage Site sits two-and-a-half hours southeast of Calgary (near Brooks). Encompassing just under 74 kilometres of the Red Deer River valley, it's known as a hotbed of fossil finds, with some 40 specifies having been discovered within its borders. In terms of how you can use the space: there's a field station/visitor centre of the Royal Tyrrell Museum, both hiking trails and guided tours (on foot and by bus), plus year-round on-site camping. Also: In the same area sits John Ware's Cabin—a restored space once used by the legendary AfricanAmerican cowboy—which has a visitors centre. Go to albertaparks.ca/ dinosaur.aspx for more info.

Jurassic Forest This one's relatively close to home: a 40-acre prehistoric preserve, just north of Edmonton (Gibbons). It's an old-growth forest that's been dotted with dinosaurs. You can ride a triceratops, and while we're not talking a real, living, Jurassic Parklike triceratops, I still don't know what could be a more compelling reason to go. There's also mini golf, a scatter of kid-friendly activities, and flora-and-fauna based tours, if the plant-life is more your thing.

Full details at jurassicforest.com.

PAUL BLINOV

PAUL@VUEWEEKLY.COM

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