Cruising the Downtown

It's my 13th full weekend here and, I have to admit, I'm running out of things to do. There's one last trail I wanted to hike, Prospector's Trail in Fred Henne Park, but I'm told even the visitor's bureau admits it's not well marked. Given my experience with the so-called marked trails, that's not a good sign. And the fact a bear was sighted in the park this week, convinced me to stick to the downtown. It's not extensive, but here's a bit of a pictorial tour. First up is the Diamond Plaza, one of many government buildings in this government town.





Across the road is this dental clinic, festooned, with flowers, and one of the low rise buildings between the towers that have sprung up since my last visit. Just behind this building is another new highrise, home to Canadian North, the aboriginal-owned airline, and to Javaroma, the coffee spot in the city. It's very popular, but they're desperate for help, as are so many other service industries here.







The downtown a study in contrasts--as is all of Yellowknife. Among the spanking new office towers are some old-time buildings that maintain the capital city's frontier look. The Gallery is a bar that I haven't had the pleasure of frequenting. Though I did have lunch at Surly Bob's, a sports bar just down Franklin Avenue, with the host of the morning show. It has that beery smell of a well-frequented bar, with over-priced, uninteresting food and yes, Bob, is truly surly.

The Greenstone building is yet another government edifice, a federal one, that you may have seen in TV footage when Prime Minister Harper flew through the north last week. And this is the front entrance to the Centre Square mall, home to everything from Reitman's to the upscale By George women's clothing store, as well as a music store, Hallmark, jewellery and a dollar store--as well as the library. The mall was built around the Yellowknife Inn (I've blogged about the once thriving Mackenzie Lounge there), which clearly is past its prime. The mall may not be pretty but, along with many other new stores in the city, it provides a lot more options than the days when the Tog Shop was the only place to buy women's wear. And, so, my retail therapy sessions have continued, unabated.

I started my day by helping to judge photos for the SPCA calendar. Now that was an interesting exercise. Not as many cat photos as dog pix had been submitted and there was a strong anti-feline contingent among the panelists. However, I'm happy to report that a cat made the cover, and a rat photo did not get selected for any of the months.