A Museum Day
The weather prediction for today was cloudy and rainy. Anticipating this, we made today our “museum day” and tried to do indoor things. The Royal Tyrrell Museum was the main focus of this day. This Museum is Canada’s only museum dedicated exclusively to the science of paleontology. The Tyrrell houses one of the world’s largest display of dinosaur fossils and bones, and is highly respected worldwide for its research and collections.
The Museum didn’t open until 10:00AM, so we had quite a bit of time this morning. We got up at about 7:45 and set out on foot for the Yavis Family Restaurant, where hearty breakfasts are on the menu, located in the Valley Plaza Shopping Centre. Vince ordered the Skillet breakfast and I had the Breakfast Special. The food was ABSOLUTELY delicious… what a pleasant surprise! As we left the restaurant, we saw this in the window of the shop next door:
With breakfast literally under our belts we walked back to the hotel, got our day bags and set out in the trusty Santa Fe for The Royal Tyrrell Museum on the North Dinosaur Trail. We easily found the Tyrrell and went in just minutes after their 10:00AM opening. We spent the next 2.5 hours exploring this fabulous place. Absolutely incredible in every way:
We left the museum and hiked up the lookout point the Museum had installed; it gave a fantastic view of the Museum itself and the surrounding Badlands:
We left the Tyrrell at about 1:15 and made our way back to Drumheller. It was lunchtime so our destination was Bernie & the Boys Bistro, as we’d heard so much about the place and were looking forward to a visit. We found the restaurant but there was a sign on the door that said: “Gone fishing and to the car show. Have a great September”. WTF????!!!! Nice way to keep your customers, Bernie. Very disappointed as I had been looking forward for months to trying this place. Undaunted, we found a place nearby called 249 Pizza and decided to give it a go. The inside looked a little dodgy but we ordered anyway. When the pizzas came we tucked in, and they were absolutely delicious – a pleasant surprise. Very nice people working here too – so friendly and kind. Highly recommended if you’re ever in the area.
Leaving the pizza joint, we headed out on the Dinosaur Trail again, our destination The Homestead Museum. We paid our $11.00 and went in to the museum, which was basically an enormous Quonset hut with hundreds upon hundreds of amazing items from the Alberta Homesteading era of the late 1800s/early 1900s. So much time, care and effort had been put into all the displays. An amazing place. After moving through the interior we went outside and photographed a lot of the Homesteading harvesting equipment. All in all, a very interesting experience and a glimpse into how homesteading life was in the early days when prairie farmland was first being broken:
Getting back into the trusty Santa Fe we made our way out of Drumheller on the number 10 highway to see the famous Drumheller Hoodoos! It had been raining very lightly off and on all day, but by the time we reached the site the sun had come out and helped make the Hoodoos an impressive sight:
Here’s a short video of the area:
After exploring the Hoodoos we headed back to our vehicle and returned to our hotel in Drumheller. Just after 6:00PM we walked over to O’Sheas Restaurant beside the Boston Pizza. We had tried going there Sunday night but they were closed for a staff appreciation event. We went in and were seated (and served) by yet another friendly and good-natured Drumheller native. Vince had the Savoury Mango Chicken and I had the Sriracha Chicken Wrap. Both were absolutely delicious of course – could there possibly be a bad meal served anywhere in this town?
After our delicious meal we walked back to the hotel in the setting sun. It may have been a rainy and cloudy day but it was a lovely and clear sunset.
It had been another wonderful and enjoyable day in old Drum. Off to bed early tonight in preparation for our last full day in Drumheller tomorrow!
Who or what made the Hoodoos?
I am really enjoying your blog
Hi Neville: These things are awesome. They are naturally shaped by nature’s force over millions of years. Basically, they are columns made of sandstone which over time have been shaped into an unusual form by the force of the powerful wind in the area, plus erosion from water and frost. They are topped by a “caprock”, which is the solid stone which sits on top of the column. The caprock protects the rest of the column. They are indeed amazing to look at.