Mom and Dad T made the long trek to Yellowknife in June; just in time for the longest day of the year and the anticipated “Midnight Sun”. Since Yellowknife is located below the Arctic Circle, it’s more of a midnight twilight rather than full sunshine but still a pretty strange experience – it’s amazing how quickly midnight can sneak up on you when the sun never seems to set!

Our first day together we spent touring around Yellowknife on our bicycles. The weather was absolutely beautiful so it made for an awesome, relaxing tour. We cruised into Old Town, checked out the Woodyard, Houseboat Bay, had lunch at the historic WildCat Cafe, climbed up Pilot’s Monument, and made our way back home for some patio beverages to recharge. We sat out and soaked up the sun on the patio while we watched our “foxy” neighbours scurrying around all evening.

The next morning we had another blue sky so we decided to take advantage of it and hit up Ingraham Trail to do a bit of hiking. We went on a beautiful and leisurely hike to Cameron Falls and we had the whole trail to ourselves! On our way back to town, we stopped at Madeline Lake for a picnic lunch to enjoy some more natural beauty. That evening, we treated ourselves to a delicious dinner at one of our favourite spots in town, The Woodyard restaurant at NWT’s first and only brewery.

On Saturday, we learned more about the ‘then and now’ of the North at the Prince of Wales Northern Hertiage Centre Museum. Going along with the historical theme, that evening we strolled down to Old Town for the NWT Mining Heritage Society’s 7th Annual Beer Barge Festival! Before Yellowknife had highway access, most freight coming into the city came in on barges across Great Slave Lake. This means that in the winter when the lake was frozen over, supplies were diminishing in the city so spring breakup and the arrival of the first barge of was kind of a big deal. Although it carried various important materials (such as construction material, furniture, vehicles, mining equipment, etc.), arguably the most important cargo was the town’s supply of alcohol. Hence, the first barge was affectionately named the Beer Barge and was certainly cause for celebration! So that night, we took it to the dock for food, drinks, live music, and (of course) dancing!

The following Sunday, it was Dad’s turn to be celebrated – it was Father’s Day! We went out to our favourite brunch spot, Twin Pine Diner, and then drove out to Prelude Lake. We figured what could be a more appropriate Father’s Day activity than floating out on the lake on a pontoon for some fishing and BBQing! We were lucky to have another absolutely gorgeous blue sky which made for the perfect day out on the water.

Monday was our ‘tourist day’. We went to the Buffalo Airways hangar which, of course, is the subject of the popular reality TV show, Ice Pilots. We snapped some pics at the giant Yellowknife sign and hiked up to the historic Bristol Monument. Then we went for another walk down to Old Town where we treated ourselves to the “the best fish and chips in Canada” at Bullock’s Bistro – YUM! As luck would have it, Yellowknife’s only car show just so happened to fall on the same week that Dad T was here – what are the chances?! So after dinner, we “cruised” over to the

Dinner at one of our favourite spots

Dad won a prize at the Beer Barge

Mom and Dad left their mark at Bullock’s Bistro

Fresh baked bread at Bullock’s Bistro

The line up through Somba Ke Plaza for the free Aboriginal Day fish fry.

Cultural displays in Somba Ke Plaza for Aboriginal Day

Free Aboriginal Day fish fry.

Enjoying the delicious fresh fish, corn, bannock and beans at Somba Ke Plaza for Aboriginal Day.

Somba Ke Plaza for Aboriginal Day.

Somba Ke Plaza for Aboriginal Day.

Street Festival for Aboriginal Day

Street Festival for Aboriginal Day

Our neighbour gathering goods for the fam just outside our condo.

Our final day together in the Knife, we decided that all this trip needed was some more amazing weather and relaxation so we put on our sunglasses and walked over to Somba K’e Civic Plaza for some Aboriginal Day celebrations. The North Slave Metis Alliance was serving up a fresh fish fry and homemade bannock for the whole city to enjoy! The festivities also included vendors with homemade crafts and goods, performances by jiggers and musicians, and more family fun. Once we got our fill of delicious fresh fried fish and soaked in some traditional performances, we decided to load up our rods and ride our bikes down to Old Town to try our hands at some fishing from the dock in Back Bay. In the evening, Franklin Avenue was closed off to traffic to host a Street Festival with street food, live music, street art, and downtown store sales. We wrapped up our night together relaxing on the patio and watching our furry neighbours scurry about.

It was such a beautiful week to experience some Yellowknife summer fun!

Adam & Amanda