124th
Finally.
For over 20 years I have wanted to walk down 124th street in Edmonton.
“ Well, what was keeping you from doing it ?” you say.
There has always been something physical that kept me from doing it : I was needing an operation, I had an operation, I was too sore, we were just busy, the weather was rough, and on and on and on.
Summers would end and I would end up lamenting, “ Ugh, another summer without being able to explore the interesting looking 124th street.”
124th is just as interesting to walk as many touristy areas in other Canadian cities but here it is just about 15 blocks from our own home and I had never been able to check it out.
The other day, Terry and I saved the day to be together and when I did my usual lament he said, “ Let’s walk it right after breakfast!” And that’s exactly what we did!
124th street runs north-south and is a funky little area that hosts many restaurants, art galleries, and sweets shops too.
I noticed that all along the sidewalks there are engaging quotes . Loved this.
Good thing we just ate because those sweets in the window displays were inspiringly mouth watering.
I certainly didn’t imagine that we’d do any shopping when we were window shopping but we did actually end up purchasing quite a few unique Christmas presents for our family. We found SUCH funny cards at this delightful card shop called “Parcel and Prose”. We passed a couple of mural painters/artists just working on a brand new mural too.
At the corner we passed by the brand new Roxy Theatre which had been destroyed by a fire and is finally newly rebuilt.
We found a second hand men’s shop and a really nice sports jacket for Terry. He will bring it into a tailor to shorten it a tad but it was in excellent shape! The day was cloudy and always seemed to threaten rain but then the sun would break through and it almost felt too hot…ha ha.
When we were in one of the shops the owner told us that the Queen had just died. Ironically, we passed a massive painting of her in one of the art gallery windows. I have always been a ‘royal watcher’ so I am saddened by this passing of an incredible icon, world leader, and all around great lady. And now we have a King!
Before long my body told me it was enough slow walking for one day…and besides our date day wasn’t over….it was time to drive to a matineé called,“3,000 Years of Longing” , which was an excellent ‘feast for the eyes’ fairy tale about a genie (djin) in a bottle. We really liked it!
If you ever come to visit me in Edmonton we will go to 124th street. And I haven’t even told you about Duchess Bakery!