Mini Adventures in Prince George

Besides visiting the wonderful Ancient Forest, there is plenty to do in the city of Prince George itself. Let me take you with me on my wandering….

This isn’t a food blog, and I actually have a pretty picky palate (yes, I grew up in the former halibut capital of the world, but don’t like seafood! I’m just doing my part to leave enough for others to enjoy). That said, I did have several good meals during my time in Prince George, so I will sprinkle them in.

I wandered around downtown on a Sunday, which is a rather quiet day for the downtown core. After unsuccessfully searching on my own for a restaurant that was open, a helpful lady at the gas station pointed me in the direction of Nancy O’s for lunch.

By the time I got there, I was good and ready for some food as it was a hot day and I’d been walking for quite a while. A menu item that intrigued me was the Pakora Tacos, a fun fusion of Indian and Mexican. Thumbs up for it and the mulligatawny soup.

My hotel was located close to the Two Rivers Art Gallery – I could see it out my window – and I liked the architecture, so I decided to go have a peek.

Two of the friendliest young women I’ve met in ages were working at the gallery. One was assigned to the gift shop and answered all the questions I had. I fell in love with this series of crows by Annerose Georgeson, [www.annerosegeorgeson.com] an artist from the nearby town of Vanderhoof. The one on the bottom left kept giving me saucy eyes, but alas, he is the one that got away. After I left town, I phoned back to buy him. At time of writing, five of the six pictured here are still for sale, but my devilish orangey-red crow has flown the coop to some lucky person who was able make a decision faster than I was. So sad.

One thing I was able to make a decision on was a sweet greeting card for my husband. This is one of a series by Prince George artist Frances Gobbi [francesgobbi.com] (copyright, 2016). She poses toy figurines in natural settings and takes photos from a perspective that makes them fit in perfectly. This little guy looks just like my kayak-loving husband in his earlier bad beard phase. Somehow, he was less amused at the likeness than I was. Regardless, it’s getting framed and going up on our wall.

Just to the right of the main doors is an exhibit space showing works by Maureen Faulkner, none other than the former art teacher of one of the gals working there. The main gallery space when I attended was showing works by local Métis artist Kim Stewart and a travelling exhibit from Lawren Harris, a member of the famed Canadian Group of Seven.

I ran upstairs for a drink of water at the fountain and – as travel often sets you up for – stumbled upon something awesome. On the second floor were two art/craft instructors, part of the Sunday Open Studio, just waiting for me to come and try my hand at the activity they had prepared for the day. Since my visit was right before Mother’s Day, they had planned a card-making session in a 1970’s string art style. We used heavy paper, needles, embroidery floss with an innumerable choice of colours, thumbtacks to poke holes in the paper, and our imaginations.

I loved everything about this and stayed for well over an hour. The space was beautiful, light, airy and spacious; steeped in art. Around a huge table sat stools that were individually decorated.

The instructors were so good at explaining the example while allowing – encouraging – folks to create whatever was in their heart at the time.

I started with a birthday card for my sister Linda, (proud to say I’d actually sent my mom a card early!) and it wound up being a simple sewn line in a monogram style, rather than the attractive yet chaotic string art. While chatting, I noticed the gal across the table had decided to do a bookmark, rather than a card. That idea sounded good too, so I of course tried my hand at a mermaid theme.

Two of my young artist colleagues allowed me to share their creations here. One is a card in the string art style, with a loving theme. The other is a sign, presumably for the door to their room. I had to smile at how the differences in personality and age of these siblings is reflected in their snazzy art.

I wandered the downtown a little more and did some window shopping. Those of us in a certain age bracket will remember the old tourist t-shirt fad this harkens from. It made me giggle, all hidden amongst the branded shot glasses and other typical tourist souvenir wares.

After a short rest and a bit of work back at the hotel, it was time to head out for dinner. I had heard about a pizzeria nearby and decided to take a scenic route along one street I hadn’t yet explored. I turned down it, looking around at the sights. Oblivious. Foolishly oblivious. Sure enough, I wasn’t paying enough attention and rolled my ankle at a several-inch high uneven spot on the sidewalk that appeared out of nowhere.

Down I went onto the other knee. Hard. There was a wee bit of blood and gore. I won’t show a photo of that.

Pro Tip: Watch where you are going.

I laid there for a bit, gathered some dignity, and hobbled to a nearby pub to wash off my knee pouring water from a shot glass over it because the sink was too high and awkward to just put my knee under the tap. Glad no one came into the washroom to witness what probably looked like a middle-aged lady doing intimate yoga moves with the bathroom fixtures.

I limped on for another block and found Betulla Burning, a clay oven Neapolitan-style pizzeria, right next to Nancy O’s and run by the same folks. I sat right in front of the pizza preparation area with my ankle elevated and wasted some time watching the staff expertly work with the dough, add delicious looking ingredients and deftly move the pizzas in and out and around the wood-fired oven. It was Mother’s Day and they were busy. They kind of forgot about me there, but eventually, when the pizza came, it was worth the wait. And, they gave me a discount on the bill, so I forgive them.

The blobs of cheese in the middle, fresh basil and flavourful tomato sauce were so yummy. I can’t believe I ate the whole thing (I’ve said that far too many times in my lifetime). In my defense, it was a thin crust, and I had worked up quite an appetite creating art and dusting the sidewalks with my kneecaps.

After dinner my ankle was feeling a little better and I walked back to the hotel. I want to give a shout out to the amazing Beth who works the front desk at the Coast Inn of the North. She saw my gash and gave me all the first aid supplies I needed, as well as a kind smile and sympathetic ear for my whining. It was almost as good as having my mommy there. Almost.

After work the next day, I headed out again in search of a great meal, and I wasn’t disappointed. Cimo Mediterranean Grill was another short walk from the hotel and their sunshine-filled patio looked appealing – though the décor inside was very nice too – so I wandered in. I was greeted warmly and seated outside as requested. I was pleasantly surprised by the latest copy of Northword the hostess brought along for me because I was sitting alone. I loved that personal detail. Though I don’t feel that way (years of training as an only child taught me to entertain myself), I know many solo female travelers feel super awkward eating out alone, and this was a nice way to alleviate that feeling.

I had a Caesar Salad, which was quite tasty, but it was actually the soup that I’m left wanting to rave about. It was the soup of the day: cream of plum tomato and fresh basil, topped with a smoked tomato infused fresh crème. Best tomato soup I’ve ever had. I’d like to go back and try more menu items.

After dinner, I joined my friend K and we went hiking to L. C. Gunn park for a great view of the valley where downtown PG is nestled. This trail is 3.5km (2.2 miles) and goes through a treed area with a fairly wide path. The park is situated along the top of one of the high cutbanks (nearly vertical cliffs formed by erosion from the river) that overlook the city centre.

We headed here in the early evening and long shadows formed as the fading sunlight squeezed between the trees. This view from behind a protective fence shows where a previously ok but now no longer safe path led.

Next, we headed to Cottonwood Island. It’s a park located on the river bank of the confluence of the Nechako and Fraser rivers. K took me there for a quick peek, despite the ominous sign.

It was, indeed, slightly flooded in many areas, but a few were still of interest to us. One sidewalk in particular provided some silly fun. I didn’t venture any deeper as the water was cold and it seemed a good idea to keep my gashed-up knee away from whatever germies were floating along in the river.

This park is famous for the faces and creatures carved into the bark of the Cottonwood trees. Much of the trail leading through these carvings was flooded the day we visited, but here is a sneak peek of what can be found there.

My last night in town, I was picked up by J, another friend who cryptically invited me to “groove” with her. I love mysteries and so she whisked me off to the Recreation complex at Prince George’s University of Northern British Columbia for a fitness class to work off some of the good food I’d been eating. J signed me up at the front desk as her guest for the Groove It class, explaining to the clerk that I was from out of town, when I heard an excited voice from behind her. “You’re the mermaid blogger!” Turns out someone I had chatted up at the gallery two days earlier while doing crafts worked here and recognized my voice! Maybe PG isn’t such a big city after all!

While waiting to get my “groove” on, I reflected on what just happened. I didn’t think my voice was particularly memorable in tone, volume or accent. Still, it was my first ‘celebrity sighting’ with me as the celebrity. I’m still blushing.

Groove It was an amazing way to finish up my time in PG. The class was led by Lisa, a delightful gal who instantly made me feel at ease. Groove It is difficult to explain. I can only try by saying it is the love child of a music festival dance floor and traditional fitness class.

The music played and we were encouraged to move around while dancing. In any direction. All at once. Using the whole space, only making sure to not bash into the wall or someone else. It was random and free-form and wonderful. Lisa had ‘suggested’ moves for each song, which we were free to use, or not. It was ok to use any style or mishmash of dance that a particular song inspired in you. The freedom was intoxicating! No photos of all this unfortunately, as I was too busy grooving!

It took me all of one minute to shed the traditional fitness class imperative to line up like sheep, facing the mirrored front of the room to follow the instructor exactly while giggling nervously because you are new and you inevitably screw it up, and you want to see if anyone saw you mess up that overly choreographed move the group just did.

I don’t want to pooh-pooh fitness classes because I’ve been to a number of them over the years that have been fabulous. That said, I think it’s obvious I am a fan of Groove It, and wish it was an option for every person who has the music inside of them itching to get out.

“Opinions provided in this post are entirely my own. I was not paid or compensated by these businesses or organizations to provide a positive review. I only recommend products and services that I have personally tried and loved.”