Goodday buzzzy Beez!
Years ago I made a post displaying the RUST MAGIC mural festival that invites many world renowned and local muralist each year. I lost track of how many they have decorated our city with or how long they have been running their magic for but I had to return and had been planning it for a while but had been too lazy about it, the writing was on the wall...Literally!
Well, most of them are scattered all over the city (like my brain!) but I did have to do business early this morning in the Whyte Ave (82nd) area and I thought maybe today is a good day to go on a little camera adventure right after. I was all dressed up and nowhere to go, nobody wants that!! I need some pictures of myself with my new "do" now that it's grown a little since the great hair massacre of 2023 where I left the salon feeling like I looked like one of the Stooges, not something I have much of since I'm always on the opposite side of the camera. I do enjoy taking selfies in front of all of these instagramable walls. Some of the paintings are pretty large and have to separate them into multiple pictures to make them fit in a visually appealing way. I will do my best to keep such all in one place.
Since I'm trying my best to write more often rather than having a bunch of cool posts that never was, I might as well post right away. A little unusual from my normal nature travel posts but I think this belongs on the map, I'm sure urban tourism is a thing too, not everyone likes to be bit with bugs and encounter bears. Here is to the more city minded folks. I'm sure to get my fill of selfies for the next few years! Hehe. The walls are not in order we found them, plugging holes where one fits. We found more than I can even fit in this post but The downtown and Blues on Whyte will be displayed appropriately.
I come from a really small town in New-Brunswick and moved to Edmonton in 2006 and never looked back. My heart has been here from the beginning. In my original hometown, graffiti was a taboo and considered unsightly, they may have changed their stance since but here they pay to draw on walls 😊, as long as one has talent of course. Part of Edmonton's charm is the vibrancy along with the people within it, with a strong mix of all cultures flocking to our city for a chance at a better life and $$. Don't get me wrong, this place is kinda sketch, well...Not kinda but it has it's charms.
Now spending the evening on Whyte after dark gets way to weird for me but it's where the best bar and the best food can be found. I prefer going during the day and visit some of the many shops but that wasn't my quest today, with my high heals I didn't want to spend more that 2 hours walking in them, I really wasn't equipped for more, my dumb self forgot to pack my runners for after my business appointment.
We Started from the public Parking lot at 103 st and 82 nd ave, right across the street from Hudson's (a good bar to visit at night). The price to park was around $2 per hour so somewhat manageable compared to other paid lots around the city. We walked around for about 6 blocks total and mostly did the murals on one side of the street before my feet were killing me and parking funds were expired. Time just flew by like nothing! We did find quite a few visuals with many being new since my last graffiti venture.
Just 2 blocks into our walk, we had tons of colorful walls under our belt already. We encountered the POPO Oh No 5-0!! Lol, it's ok they were really nice and offered to move their vehicle so I could get better access...Only in Canada! I worked around them with ease so them being parked there between calls was no bother but nice of them to offer just the same, I suppose I don't quite look like the local homeless population they normally have to deal with in back alleys and we all had a good laugh, probably not their first encounter with photographers trying to capture the wall art.
Starting with the 4 pack of photos below and the fifth one are in order to display the panoramic mural of our downtown core and the newer Walterdale bridge along with the old water processing plane that is being kept as a historical monument. The view from the southside of the river.
The wall they were parked in front is a newer mural, I'm not sure when it was painted but it's a panoramic of our downtown core (Jasper Ave). The Walterdale bridge was replaced in 2017 with the old one having been completed in 1914 and was becoming a little unsafe. A new more modern design now connects both hemisphere of the city that is divided by a river and a green belt since the great flood in Edmonton's early history. It's no longer allowed to have any buildings since and has been turned into a trail network made up of over 30 different urban parks interconnected all along the North Saskatchewan river.
The North Saskatchewan river is glacier fed originating in the Rockies part of the Columbia icefield watershed and is our fresh drinking water supply. The river travels all the way thru Saskatchewan, Manitoba to finish in the Hudson's Bay for a 1,287 kilometer journey, providing fresh water for all other provinces and major cities along it's path. Not that remarkable to look at but it is a prized green space to explore for all city dwellers looking for a natural refuge for a few hours and quite an important Canadian river for the daily life of many across the land.
Continuing our walk for an other block, we hit the jackpot but we didn't know it yet! A local popular bar called Blues on Whyte generally has some pretty bad ass murals beginning on the back side of the building leading us thru a maze of fencing that led us to a new one being painted since my last time here that is now also occupied by a patio. During covid and the lockdowns, the bars were closed and they took advantage of the situation and completely overhauled their live entertainment establishment, like the name suggest having may live Blues band. A large outdoor patio was added and it looked pretty inviting.
we only planned to stay outside but a customer informed us that there was so many more inside and the bar was open for business. What? It's only 10 am! I felt awkward going there just to take photos but I had to see for myself so we took a break for a little bit of day drinking, nothing crazy with just one drink but I suppose it justifies me being there taking photos of the place without guilt although the bartender was fine with us just looking around anyway. I just think it's proper etiquette to consume something and I was a little thirsty.
The walls were covered in the most colorful glittery Blues stars past and present with an equally decorated stage for their live performances. A wall of stars had been signed by many who played including Stevie Ray Vaughn in the year I was born! 😍 Obviously, the niche venue gets a few big names. Good to know, perhaps I can keep an eye on that and see if I can bring my camera for live bands, something else to expand my photography with. I do enjoy concert photography but larger venues do not allow my gear, only cellphone photography.
When I first moved to Edmonton, I applied at that bar for a bartending position and did get the job but I lived so far, all my tips would have been burned with cab fare to get back home safely after my shift so I settled for something closer to home. Did the place ever change since! If in the area, recommend checking it out even if it's just for a little bit of day drinking. I was informed that they have live shows on Saturday afternoon and the place is packed. Perhaps old time concert hour to be tucked in by 9 and leave the night life for the new kids on the drinking block. My camera will have to make our way down there one of these Saturdays for some old timer fun!
When we started our walk, it was pretty early and a bit cool for the morning, it allowed me to take out my badass leather jacket I love so much. I swear that thing was fitted just for me and had gotten it at half price over a decade ago but still my favorite piece of clothing I own and always looking for an opportunity to show that bad girl off! By the time we came out of the bar, the sun warmed up the day and it was getting pretty warm. This time of year we typically have to dress for all 4 seasons, never know what to expect and it changes fast.
We continued our walk following along a map that has many of the murals tagged as an added tool o find all of them since many are on side walls and back alleys. We did find quite a few within a few blocks from each other until we got to the part where the nightlife ends and more business aspects begin and started walking on the other side of the street. Our little app map told us we hadn't seen nothing yet.
We came across Jackpot #2 with a series of art going from wall to wall, building to building all in one corner one after another like the spray paint factory had exploded all over the place in a tasteful manner. In the back alley of course but not disappointing! I DIG! There is many more on the way back but our parking was about to expire and my feet were killing me. I don't remember who wrote the song "These boots were made for walking" It was a lie, don't believe them!! These boots were definitely not made for walking!
We didn't look around the back for more, perhaps that's a trip for another day. I did remember there was a pair of runners in the truck hiding someplace and I did find them to finish our journey in the near-by Muttart Conservatory outdoor garden for a few more selfies and see if they had any cool flowers left now that fall in fast approaching. It's free to visit the outdoor garden, the indoor garden shaped into 4 glass pyramids displaying various climates can be visited year round for a fee, I advise visiting, it's a nice activity and worth it.
There are benches inside to admire the flowers or to just go read a book along with the pathways lined with exotic vegetation that wouldn't otherwise grow in our area, they offer day pass and year round pass. The feature pyramid gets an overhaul quarterly and is another one of Edmonton's great selfie location for some classy photos.
In other news, Lake Louise got it's first snow last night so the writing is on the wall for winter and flower season is just about done...Why sooooo soon!!! It will take a few more weeks before we get hit with a dump of white cold glittery stuff, it always starts sooner in the mountains. For those of you who might still doubt my Ladybug146 identity, I had a fun idea. I saw one of my oldies but goodies I hadn't worn in a while, actually was the shirt I had on in my previous account's profile photo, thought it would be cool to do a comparison, and now the doubters, no more excuses, you got the proof I'm not an impersonator(jeepers I can't believe I spelled that correctly on the first try)! She still fits 🤣 Who wore it better?
On the left is today, on the right was taken 12 years ago.
I had to stop for this dude as he was yelling at me, then I turned around to pay him no mind and he tried to lick me. I said but sir, we hardly know each other, surely this sort of action is kind of impolite and maybe a little gross, I don't know where that tongue has been! I kicked him in the teeth to make him stop (don't worry, I didn't touch the art, it's way too cool). I'm surprised I could kick that high in the first place, I guess my Tae Kwon Do days are over. (I was 7 when taking lessons). A little selfie story fun.
All images taken with Nikon Z6 paired with 18-55mm lens
I'm rather shy, I had enough of this selfie business, peace out! xox
I forgot to post in the community tag OOPSY! Can I cross post it instead? Please don't hate!