A view of downtown Edmonton looking across the North Saskatchewan River, which winds through the center of the city. The park system that runs along the river is the biggest in North America. William Hawrelak Park which is directly across the river in this picture is bigger than many of the towns in Alberta.

Now on its third name, the Edmonton Space and Science Center is located in Coronation Park. The center has an Imax theater and one of the largest planetariums in North America. The center  opened an expansion in July of 2001 which doubled its size.  They added four new galleries including a brand new Universe gallery. At the time of the expansion  they changed the name of the center to "Odyssium." To me it sounded like the name of an amusement park ride or a clothing store. A few years ago they changed the name again to Telus World of Science. I can live with that one.

Commonwealth Stadium. Home of the CFL's Edmonton Eskimos.  Even though the Esk's have had a less than stellar seasons recently there is reason to hope. After four seasons of Danny Maciocia coaching, I think the management of the team knew the fans had had enough. So even though they kicked him upstairs instead of firing his ass out of town which is what most wanted, the thought of no more Maciociaball has been popular with just about everyone. Richie Hall comes in as the new head coach and I'm pretty excited for the 2009 season.  

Fort Edmonton Park. The Hudson Bay Company established the first Fort Edmonton as a fur trading post on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River in 1789. Fort Edmonton Park was opened in the late 1970's. The park is divided into four time periods, 1789, 1865, 1905 and 1920 and many of the buildings in it are original, moved to the park and restored, The fort itself is a re-creation.

The Alberta Aviation Museum. Located at the Edmonton City Center Airport, the museum has several aircraft from WW 1 to the 1980's. Outside the front door a Bomarc missile stands guard while a CF-101 Voodo seems ready to leap of its pedestal toward downtown Edmonton.