A Weekend in Edmonton

Last weekend my husband and I planned a little weekend away in Edmonton.  Why Edmonton you ask?  You’ll see in a second!

We drove up to Edmonton on Friday after work and we opted to stay downtown at the Westin.  It was perfectly located near where we planned to hang out.  The Briar was happening that weekend and apparently we were staying where some of the teams were too?

There was a YMCA just a few blocks away from our hotel.  I really wanted to get in a swim while we were there, and with a Y so close by there were no excuses!

I recently sent a video of me swimming to my coach so she has given me some things to work on.  I really need to work on improving my feel of the water and increasing the efficiency of my stroke.  I’ve been given a lot of sculling, fist drill and paddle work to help out.  I had a really great swim that morning.  The pool was fairly quiet which is always nice!

For brunch/lunch we went to a restaurant we heard about on You’ve Gotta Eat Here – The Sugarbowl.  The chicken and waffles and the cinnamon buns looked amazing on the show so we barely needed to look at the menu.

The cinnamon bun was practically the size of my head!  The food did not disappoint.  There was also no way we could eat all that food and that cinnamon bun tasted just as good the next day after getting wrapped up in some Saran wrap.  If you are in Edmonton I highly recommend going here!

After lunch it was on to the main reason for our trip to Edmonton – to take in the Star Wars Identities exhibit at the Telus World of Science.  The exhibit was amazing!  It was based on the different aspects in our lives that make up our personality, from culture, our family, our parents, our mentors, to our major life experiences as we grow up.  It all tied back in to Star Wars and as we answered questions we built our Star Wars identity.  There were also a ton of props and costumes from the movies as well!I was a Togruta from Naboo who became a senator.  It was a great exhibit and I’m glad we were able to check it out before it leaves Edmonton on April 1st.

Later in the afternoon it was time for something completely different!  Diana: A Celebration is at the West Edmonton Mall until June 9th.  Since we were going to be in Edmonton at the time I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see that iconic wedding dress in person.

I grew up in England in the late 1980s/early 1990s so I remember the fascination with Diana.  The exhibit was fairly small but really well done.  It was a great experience to see some of her famous outfits up close!

In the evening we took another suggestion from You’ve Gotta Eat Here and grabbed dinner at Tres Carnales where they are serving up authentic Mexican tacos.  Holy yum, this place was good!  I wish a place like this existed in Calgary (maybe something similar does, so if so please let me know).  These were the best tacos I’ve had since I lived in South Texas 10 years ago!  Again, if you are in Edmonton definitely check this place out.  The food is yummy, very reasonably priced and they serve pitchers of sangria!

Despite the pitchers of sangria and the time change I managed to get my husband up and out for a run on Sunday morning.  Runner’s World teamed up with Westin to suggest some running routes from the hotel which was pretty handy!  We ran towards the river valley.

It wasn’t all that sunny or warm out unfortunately!  There was also a whole lot of ice on the pathways that made running fairly treacherous.  Because the pathway is so hilly I don’t think they Edmonton is able to clear their paths as well as Calgary does in the winter.  I wish I had my Yak Trax with me!

It was a pretty slow going kind of run and as we prepared to make our way back across the river we encountered a bit of a road block.

Luckily this was about halfway into our planned distance so we just opted to turn around rather than figuring out the detour.  While it may not have been the best run I was happy the both my husband and I made a commitment to include our workouts on our short weekend away.  And because I had promised my coach that I would fit in two bikes that week I got on the trainer in the garage as soon as we got home for a workout filled with liquid awesome.