US and Canada in winter - Ice Pilots NWT Yellowknife geek

[Justinf]

After a while it was time to refuel and I popped into the Newsroom pub for brunch.
Believe it not, this is eggs Benedict.



It was cold out, about -11 so I decided to just keep walking around and save the Mall of America for tomorrow.
I walked up to US Bank Field, where just a week before, the Philadephia Eagles made history by winning the Superbowl.

 

[Justinf]

As I said, Minneapolis in February isn't the prettiest place I'd been to.
It was eerily quiet, which must have been a complete opposite to the week before when the Superbowl was on.
Still, there some nice sights and some not so nice sights.
The one thing I did find was a complete lack of visible homeless. Not once did I get asked for anything on the street.






It was getting towards dusk and I was hanging in there with jetlag, although really tired.
I decided to search for a pub and grabbed these shots while on the to Erik the Red bar, which is right opposite US Bank Stadium.


And this was probably one of my favourites for the entire trip.

 

[Justinf]

As you can tell by the last pic, it was dusk and I had a couple of pints at Erik the Red. It was pretty quiet, but then it was a Monday.
I decided to do a google search and the Crooked Pint came up, which is on Washington St, just a 10-minute walk away so I headed there. Terrific bar. Really busy, although very much a middle class white crowd. They had Alaskan Amber on tap, which pleased me greatly.





After an hour or so there, I ventured to Bar Zia on 5th Ave which was on my way home. I had one beer there, grabbed some fish tacos for take away and headed back to my apartment, where I fell asleep fairly quickly.

 

[Justinf]

I slept way too long and woke around 10am again.
With a forecast of -1, it was noticeably milder although with a breeze it felt slightly colder.
Was really feeling the pinch. Decided to head out to the Mall of America. The light rail station was only a short walk away and it cost $2 for a ticket. They say the trip takes 50 minutes, but it's closer to 40.

Once at the mall I was gobsmacked at how big it is. I knew it would be big. But an amusement park inside? It was impressive.









At the end of the day, though, it's still a mall.
In hindsight, I'd made a mistake. I should have gotten the light rail out to St Paul.
Still, you live and you learn.

 

[love_the_life]

......

At the end of the day, though, it's still a mall.
In hindsight, I'd made a mistake. I should have gotten the light rail out to St Paul.
Still, you live and you learn.

Next time

 

[mmchow]

Have truly enjoyed the last few trip reports so following on with interest. Loving your travel style

 

[Justinf]

To be honest, I was looking forward to the next part of my adventure.
I was keen to get up into Canada and had an 11.45am flight up to Edmonton the next day.
The light rail trip back into downtown Minneapolis was reasonably interesting with a giant cemetery in sight and I always enjoy seeing the burbs and where people live.





Jetlag was only a slight issue now, but I decided to head back to the Crooked Pint for a while. While you're on a good thing hey?



I woke reasonably early after a nice night's sleep and grabbed an Uber out to the airport.
Check in and security were pretty cruisey and fairly soon I was airside at MSP.
For some ridiculous reason I had a mushroom burger for breakfast. It was literally a mushroom burger...as in the mushroom was the patty and the mushroom was filled with cheese. It was actually pretty good. Not the healthiest of choices, but hey, holidays right?



I was looking forward to flying on another aircraft that I hadn't travelled on before - a Bombardier CRJ900 on Delta flight 4771.
I picked seat 2A when booking and had a seat to myself on the left-hand side of the aircraft in 'First' Class.
I can't be 100% certain as my memory is a bit hazy looking back through the photos, but I think this was it.



Flight was on time (hooray). Edmonton here I come.

 

[Justinf]

The flight up to Edmonton took a tad under three hours.
The leg room in 'First' wasn't that great so I shudder to think it was like in coach.
There was no overhead storage space. And by that I don't mean that it had been taken up by other passengers. It was literally closed off to store other stuff the FAs needed. Hence I needed to put my carry on under the seat in front. Not happy Jan.



The meal service was only just passable. The mushroom burger didn't really hit the spot and this offering did little to whet the appetite.



This was a FULL packet of potato chips. FULL.



Was the FA's name Delta or did I just get lucky, or were these given out to everyone on this 14 February day? I guess we'll never find out.



Take off out of MSP was fairly smooth and I would be treated to some nice views coming in to Edmonton a few hours later.

 

[Justinf]

Edmonton was in sight.






And touchdown!





Canadian security was actually tougher than the US. Got asked a heap of questions, but eventually made my through and Delta's form of having Sky Priority bags out first continued in a positive manner.
Temperature in Edmonton was around the -8 mark which was chilly, but not disgustingly so.

 

[Boca68]

After a while it was time to refuel and I popped into the Newsroom pub for brunch.
Believe it not, this is eggs Benedict.

View attachment 119478

Looks closer to Eggs Florentine, even so looks good

 

[Justinf]

Bag grabbed off the carousel and into a cab. Into the cold air of Edmonton which was hovering around the -9 mark.
Funny. It didn't seem cold. Maybe I was better prepared this time time after my trip to Alaska this time last year.
Some shots from the cab window.





The cab ride was sooooo long. Edmonton airport is away from the CBD. Ended up costing around CAD$60 with tip.
The Matrix Hotel would be my home for the next few nights and I was not disappointed.
Superb place to stay. Room was fantastic and the hotel had a great vibe. They had wine and cheese tasting each night and a terrific downtown location. I'd urge any Aus FFers to consider this place.

 

[Justinf]

The first thing I did was take a shower. The 'shower' in the old brownstone at Minneapolis was a lottery. Had to fiddle with the taps for an ice age to get a good water temperature and when I did, it would need tinkering with.
How nice it was to finally stand under some good, reliable hot water.

after my shower it wa late in the afternoon and with not much of the day left, I decided a cold beer was in order and found a really place in The Pint Public House which would suffice my needs nicely.



Obligatory goofy pic for those who are familiar with my trip reports. Gotta have the water close by when you get to my age.

 

[Justinf]

After a good night's sleep I decided I needed to work some of the calories I had acrrued over the the short journey so far.
I headed to the hotel fitness centre where I pumped out 7km on the treadmill in about 40 minutes and did some token weights.
I was ready for the day even though by the time I had showered and changed, it was around midday.
I decided that I would head to the West Edmonton Mall.
I Ubered it out there and it was around $25 with tip.
This place put the Mall of America in Minneapolis to shame.
It had a wave pool, beach, sea lion show and pretty everything else including an ice skating rink.
I spent up big in the Roots store (I like their gear) and wandered around in comfort when outdoors it was around the -9 degree mark.









The mall was pretty cool, but with another flight tomorrow (up to Yellowknife) I couldn't help but realise I had wasted a bit of time. Firstly I was waking up way too late compared to my usual between 5am and 6.30am back home and secondly, I felt I was rushing things too much in order to squeeze in as many places as possible.
Hopefully five nights in the NWT would fix that.
Edmonton was a nice place, but a bit limited in things to do at this time of year.

 

[Justinf]

I ventured back to the same bar for a few pints and saw a weird sight. It was called a 'table pint' where you could a giant beer pint that would be enough for seven pints, hence the name table pint I guess. It was ginormous. This pic doesn't do it justice.


I'm not a huge drinker back home, but I do enjoy a beer while on holidays.

I went for a walk just out of the CBD after a couple of frothies. I took a pic of the outside of the bar I had been at. I love snow.



The inner suburbs of Edmonton.

 

[Justinf]

My flight up to Yellowknife wasn't until 7.45pm. I managed to negotiate a 3pm check out while doing my initial booking with the Matrix Hotel for an extra $70.
Upon checking in I was told that becaue it was a long weekend (Family Day on the Monday) they could not honour it. I politely pointed out that I had already paid and was told that it was my 'lucky day' as it was not supposed to happen but since I had booked and paid, it would be honoured.
I woke around 8am to snow falling. I sat mesmerised at the window of my hotel room for ages. I should have gone outside, but didn't need to.





I ventured down to the gym for another 7km on the treadmill and walked about town for a bit, but once again, I felt I had rushed things.
I just wanted to get to Yellowknife where I was most excited to go.
At 2pm I started packing and showered and by 3pm I had checked out on the dot and Ubered it out to Edmonton airport, which ended up being roughly two-thirds the cost of the cab on the way in.
I got there way too early. I was checked in and through security all by 4pm.

I decided to have a big feed with a Pepsi.
Edmonton airport is really quite big, but it was eerily quiet even for a Friday afternoon before a long weekend.



After my meal I went to the far end of the terminal where my 2 hour flight to Yellowknife would depart from.
They have some pretty comfy couches there so had a nap for a good hour.
My flight to Yellowknife would be on an Air Canada DH4, which many of you would know as a Qantaslink Dash 8.
Funny thing was I was on a low economy fare and was meant to pay CAD$26.45 baggage but for some reason I didn't need to pay a cent.

I chose seat 1B and then after my nap, decided to head to the...you guessed it...bar for a preflight frothie.
While having a beer or two I decided to watched the last quarter of the AFL 2017 grand final. Apologies to Crows fans reading this. As a long-time Richmond tragic and a few pints in, with some Valium thrown in (I am a nervous flyer) I was in tears (not sobbing, but visibily crying). The bar girl came around and put her arm around me and asked if I was OK. Oh yes, you very kind human being, I was OK. It took a bit of explaining, but I felt foolish.



The sun was setting and the scenery from the terminal was quite brilliant.

 

[lakeman]

Like the safety green luggage.
Not likely that someone would get away with taking it

 

[Justinf]

Departure was delayed from 7.45pm to 8.05pm so no huge dramas.
Pretty soon those propellers were throttling up and it was time to leave Edmonton behind.
The old plane was showing its age. Still, I had some decent legroom.




Flight time was a fraction under two hours. it was fairly unremarkable given it was dark outside so there was nothing really to see.
I spent most of it asleep given that there was no meal service as it was buy on board and I'd had my fill at the airport. managed to doze quite successfully for a lot of the flight, which was handy because there wasn't much else to do. No IFE here.

After landing in Yellowknife we embarked from the aircraft via the forward door and onto the tarmac where it was a fairly crisp -27 degrees.
Inside the terminal and there was just one bag carousel. It was clear that this airport doesn't handle a lot of passenger aircraft each day.



After my bag arrived, which was after quite a while, I jumped into a cab and it is a short trip into downtown. CAD$20 with tip included.
I was staying at the Days Inn & Suites and the room (VERY pricey at just over CAD$200 per night) was a bit like the aircraft I'd just flown on - showing its age. Still the room was large and would be perfectly fine.









By now it was fairly late (around 10.30pm) but I wasn't tired in the slightest due to napping both at the airport in Edmonton and on the plane.
I asked reception if there was anywhere close by where I could grab a drink and something to eat and being a Friday night, thankfully the Black Knight pub was open. I got a cab there given the cold but it was literally only a few blocks away. Thankfully the cab drivers here don't mind and with a $6 fare I handed him a tenner and told him to keep the change.
I had a couple of pints at then started feeling tired.


I ordered some take away and with a limited menu at that time of night, decided on some buffalo wings.
For CAD$15, it was pitiful. Thumbs down

.

 

[love_the_life]

Departure was delayed from 7.45pm to 8.05pm so no huge dramas.
Pretty soon those propellers were throttling up and it was time to leave Edmonton behind.
The old plane was showing its age. Still, I had some decent legroom.


View attachment 119775

Flight time was a fraction under two hours. it was fairly unremarkable given it was dark outside so there was nothing really to see.
I spent most of it asleep given that there was no meal service as it was buy on board and I'd had my fill at the airport. managed to dose quite successfully for a lot of the flight, which was handy because there wasn't much else to do. No IFE here.

After landing in Yellowknife we embarked from the aircraft via the forward door and onto the tarmac where it was a fairly crisp -27 degrees.
Inside the terminal and there was just one bag carousel. It was clear that this airport doesn't handle a lot of passenger aircraft each day.

View attachment 119776

After my bag arrived, which was after quite a while, I jumped into a cab and it is a short trip into downtown. CAD$20 with tip included.
I was staying at the Days Inn & Suites and the room (VERY pricey at just over CAD$200 per night) was a bit like the aircraft I'd just flown on - showing its age. Still the room was large and would be perfectly fine.

View attachment 119777

View attachment 119778

View attachment 119779

View attachment 119780

By now it was fairly late (around 10.30pm) but I wasn't tired in the slightest due to napping both at the airport in Edmonton and on the plane.
I asked reception if there was anywhere close by where I could grab a drink and something to eat and being a Friday night, thankfully the Black Knight pub was open. I got a cab there given the cold but it was literally only a few blocks away. Thankfully the cab drivers here don't mind and with a $6 fare I handed him a tenner and told him to keep the change.
I had a couple of pints at then started feeling tired.
View attachment 119781

I ordered some take away and with a limited menu at that time of night, decided on some buffalo wings.
For CAD$15, it was pitiful. Thumbs down

.View attachment 119782

Glad to see you are keeping up the beer comparison work.
You're right - those buffalo wings look pretty poor, especially for the price.

 

[cjd600]

I think my favourite part of your Trip Reports are the random beers at local bars.

 

[Justinf]

Glad to see you are keeping up the beer comparison work.
You're right - those buffalo wings look pretty poor, especially for the price.

That's why I jog on the treadmill practically every day when on holiday. Otherwise it would get nasty.