From time to time I love to go on little mini trips to satisfy my need to explore. The best thing about living in Edmonton is that I can travel in any direction and within a few hours there is a great weekend getaway. I never get bored traveling through this province!
Last week I headed northwest to Grande Prairie. I actually lived here for a short while as a child so it was great to visit my school and one of my childhood homes. There’s lots to do there too and it is a big dinosaur town so if you liked Drummheller, you’ll like Grande Prairie too!
Every local will tell you you have to visit Muskoseepi Park. It’s right in the centre of town and has great views and walking trails. At the north end of the park is the heritage centre which has free admission. The basement has a little museum and the top floor has a 360° Panoramic view of town.
We also travelled west to Wembley which was about a 20 minute drive from our hotel to the Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum. Fun displays and lots of interactive activities. There is one part on the top floor with a clear glass circle in the floor you can stand on and see down to the floor below. I had the hardest time standing on it, lol! But I eventually got the nerve 🙂
There’s also a mall in town, Prairie Mall. It’s right on 100 Street, which is one of the main steeets there. It has all of the basics covered with an RW&Co and Boathouse for clothes, The Body Shop for soaps, Ardenes for cheap flip flops and jewelry and a Moxies restaurant plus a food court complete with a Tim Hortons.
We stayed at two different hotels over the three nights. Both were on 100 Street coming in front Edmonton and easy to find. The first night was at the Motel 6 which was only $79.00 for the night and it was a comfortable room but it didn’t include breakfast and the walls were thin. The second night was at the Pomeroy Hotel and Convention Centre a little closer in town and everything there was great. A little more at $127.00 per night but it included a hot buffet breakfast, pool and hot tub, and a Keurig machine complete with Starbucks kcups, which alone is a huge feature for me!
We booked using Expedia but did you know that Expedia is listed on Ebates? By going to Ebates first and then clicking through to Expedia, I got back 8% of the hotel fees. I use them everything I book a trip and there are so many online stores there now that I always check first before buying anything online. Sephora is 8% cash back on your purchase and they also have stores like Saks Off Fifth and Chapters Indigo are some others I frequently purchase from. If you haven’t signed up for Ebates yet, you can do it here!
Lastly, we also made the 2 hour trip over to Peace River while we were there. There’s a great park along the river in the downtown area called the 12 foot Davis lookout and an awesome bridge we drive across in the way there.
I had a great few days in Grande Prairie and definitely enjoyed seeing it again after 25 years away! Well worth the trip for a long weekend getaway! I’d love to hear about where all of you are heading for your upcoming trips, leave it in the comments!
Till next time,
Lindsey xoxo