We arrived in P.A. around dinnertime, and after a quick stop at the visitor centre, decided we wouldn't be spending too much time here. The museums were ridiculously small (and frankly, at that point, uninteresting), and there wasn't much else to do. But because it's such a small place, we were able to get a "honeymoon suite"at one of the hotels for cheap! So we spent the evening enjoying leftovers, the bottle of cider we'd bought at the Crossmount Cider Company in Saskatoon, and the heart-shaped hot tub. I have to say though, the leaky ceiling, outdated decoration and crappy coffee machine didn't make us want to stay much longer than needed.
Our impression of P.A. so far wasn't that great. Fortunately, the next day, we opted to go to the only eating place I'd taken note of beforehand. It's The Rusty Owl, a steampunk-themed cafe with all kinds of food and drinks. And they were amazing! We had crepes, a macaroon and a smoothie, and everything tasted like heaven. Not very expensive, either! It redeemed the city a little.
We were then once again on the road to adventure, and for the next 2 hours, we tried to find the La Colle Falls Dam, an abandoned dam close to P.A., but we never found it... We had a lot of fun with our truck in the trails, though!
Our next obscure destination, the Crooked Bush in Alticane, wasn't much easier to find (as you can figure from this sign we found in Mayfair), and the GPS brought us on sand routes so badly maintained (think "4-inch high grass" on the road...) that we weren't always sure they were actual streets! Fortunately we were in the SUV, and after a while, the signal got through and we were able to use Google Maps for the last stretch of road. Even when we got to our destination, the sign was so small that we laughed our heads off. How ridiculous! But once we stepped out of the car and into the Crooked Bush, a sense of awe and eeriness crept over us. It is a botanical mystery, since nobody is able to explain why these aspen trees grow like this. And it's only this small "bush": all the other aspen trees around are perfectly straight and normal. Some of the crooked trees even looked like they were bleeding! It was creepy and amazing at the same time.
Some time after dinner, we crossed the border into Alberta, and we ended up sleeping in an overnight parking lot for truckers that night. The next morning, we saw an intriguing sign on the road and decided to exit the highway at Vegreville, where we saw the world's second largest pysanka, or Ukrainian decorated Easter egg! It also spun around at times, and it was very impressive. Definitely worth the 2-minute drive from the highway!
Then it was back in the car to reach Edmonton! Stay tuned, folks! 💜
TL;DR: We were definitely disappointed by Prince Albert and would not recommend it, even though we were able to enjoy a honeymoon suite at a hotel. The only cool thing was The Rusty Owl, a steampunk-themed cafe. The Crooked Bush in Alticane was really hard to find, but so creepy and awe-inspiring that it was worth it! The Vegreville Egg was also a nice break on the road.
Comments