Do you love dinosaurs? Are you an evolution buff? Does history fascinate you? If so, you really need to visit the Royal Tyrell Museum in Drumheller, Alberta. I have been several times and absolutely love it. The exhibits are amazing and there are tons of creative, interactive activities available for people of all ages.

With nine different programs, some running several times a day, there is something for everyone from children to seniors. EnCana Badlands Science Camp offers the experience of an overnight summer camp in a safe and friendly environment for youths ages 9-14 and for families. The museum has something for both teachers and students from kindergarten to Grade 12 with curriculum fit programs that challenge and inspire. The Tyrell offers thirteen programs at the Museum, teacher's resource materials, outreach programs and, new this year, distance learning through video conferencing and the Alberta SuperNet.

Exhibits include the following:

Nexen Science Hall
Interact with exhibits demonstrating basic scientific concepts

Preparation Lab
Watch as museum staff prepare fossils for research and display

Extreme Theropods
Meet some of the smallest and the tallest meat-eating dinosaurs

Burgess Shale
Experience larger-than-life creatures living in a prehistoric ocean bed

Devonian Reef
View a giant recreation of underwater life from 350 million years ago

Cretaceous Garden
Walk through our living exhibit: a garden containing the plants dinosaurs ate millions of years ago

Dinosaur Hall
Visit our big attraction, featuring almost 40 mounted skeletons of ancient dinosaurs

Age of Mammals
Trace the evolution of mammals as they became more recognizable

Ice Ages
Travel back to a colder time not so long ago and not so far away

The Royal Tyrrell Museum is in the heart of the badlands, 6 km northwest of Drumheller, Alberta, in Midland Provincial Park.

Prices

Hours of operation

Summer 2007

May 19 - September 3, 2007
9:00am - 9:00pm daily

Fall 2007

September 4 - October 9, 2007
10:00am - 5:00pm daily

Winter and Spring 2007-2008

October 10, 2007 - May 16, 2008
10:00am - 5:00pm Tuesday through Sunday
*closed Mondays, except for public holidays
*the Museum is also closed December 24 & December 25, 2007 and January 1, 2008

For more information, go to www.tyrellmuseum.com.

Monday - Sunday: 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Thursday: 9:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.

Adult                 $12
Student/Youth    $8
Senior                $9
Family                $37.50
(two adults and up to four children)

The museum offers tons of exhibitions for you to look at year round and new ones are added all the time. Temporary exhibits that are now on display include:

June 30 to September 30, 2007 Celebrate Canada with five exhibits showcasing our country's rich cultural diversity.

May 2006 - ongoing Photographer Niru Bhatia has travelled off the beaten track to record the glorious temples, sculptures and art of the many regions of India.

August 18, 2007 to June, 2008 This exhibit features amazing original artwork created by 15 top children's illustrators from five countries.

October 27, 2007 to January 27, 2008 One of Canada's most recognized artists, Emily Carr is best known for her paintings of First Nations' villages and landscapes of the northwest Pacific coast. Featuring 150 works of art.

Permanent exhibitions include the following:

1.      Glenbow's Asian Gallery Many Faces, Many Paths: Art of Asia, comprises over 80 world-class religious sculptures from Asia  located on the 2^nd floor.

2.      The dynamic gallery tells Alberta's history through the stories of 48 mavericks - adventurous, hard-working and spirited men and women located on the 3^rd floor.

3.      Journey through the Blackfoot Gallery: Niitsitapiisinni: Our Way of Life. Uncover the traditions, values, and history of these people, who have lived for thousands of years in the northwestern plains of Alberta and Montana located on the 3^rd floor.

4.      Discover the stories of Canada's first inhabitants located on the 3^rd floor.

5.      Treasures of the Mineral World is located on the 4^th floor.

6.      Where Symbols Meet: A Celebration of West African Achievement explores how achievement is recognized and rewarded in five major cultural groups from over a dozen West African countries is located on the 4^th floor.

7.      Warriors: A Global Journey Through Five Centuries compares cultural approaches to war and to the people who do the fighting. First Nations of the Plains, Maoris, Samurai, Medieval Europeans, and contemporary society are featured on the 4^th floor.

8.      Illustrating a range of subject matter and styles, the art exhibit includes historical works, figurative pieces, landscapes, and abstract works located on the 4^th floor.

There are tours available for groups. For more information, please email glenbow@glenbow.org or phone: (403) 268-4100.
To book a group tour, please call (403) 268-4110 or e-mail bookings@glenbow.org.

The Calgary Zoo is home to more than 1100 animals and 289 species and is the only facility of its kind to contain a zoo, botanical garden and prehistoric park. Kids can ride the zoo train and utilize the playground with animal-themed slides, tunnels, mazes, and more. When you get hungry you can dine at the Kitamba cafe for a variety of hot food, beverages and confection items including pizza, burgers, hot dogs, fries, chocolate bars, chips, Nestlé novelties, sandwiches, salads and more. There are also various kiosks on the zoo grounds. When you're done absorbing the sights, sounds, and smells of its denizens, you can shop for souvenirs on one of three gift shops.

Group tours are available and the zoo informs and entertains their visitors through formal, scheduled, interpretive programming (led by the naturalist staff) in several amphitheatres on the grounds and throughout the Zoo. There are also tons of educational programs for kids, adults, students, and families as well as opportunities for teacher professional development.

Upcoming special events:

Easter Eggstravaganza Good Friday, April 6 & Saturday, April 7 9:00 am to 4:00 pm

Singles Safari Vegas Baby! Saturday, April 14 6:00 pm to Midnight

Party for the Planet! Sunday, April 22 - Earth Day 10:00 am to 3:00 pm

Singles Safari Cinco de Mayo Saturday, May 5 6:00 pm to Midnight

Super Spider Weekend May 12 and 13, 2007 10:00 am - 3:00 pm each day

Mother's Day Brunch Sunday, May 13, 2007 3 seatings left: 9:00 am 11:30 am 2:00 pm

Father's Day Brunch Sunday, June 17, 2007 2 seatings available: 9:00 am 11:30 am

An Evening at the Devonian Wildlife Conservation Centre August 5, 2007 6.30 PM to Dusk

Other reasons to visit the Calgary Zoo are that Maharani and Ganesha (aka Spike) are expecting a baby in July or August, 2007. Also opening this summer, the newly expanded Elephant Crossing exhibit! Plus, Shirley and Lorenzo, two amazing Andean Condors, made their debut on March 15 2007. Or how about seeing Richard, Mardi's calf who was born on November 15, 2006 at 2:25 am; Richard is the 14th giraffe born at the Calgary Zoo. You could visit the Musk Ox in the Canadian Wilds; the River Otters in Cequel Energy Lodge; the gorilla troop in the Rainforest of Destination Africa in the African Savannah; the snow leopards or Siberian tigers in Eurasia or take in the wonderful orchids and butterflies in the Conservatory.

For more information about the zoo go to http://www.calgaryzoo.org/ or (403) 232-9300 and have a wild time!

The Remembrance Outreach Program involves veterans sharing their war experiences to those in school followed by an optional power point presentation.  Or, school classes may come to the museum for a half-hour tour, a half-hour presentation, and a half-hour drama segment for $2 per student.  Classes include the meaning of remembrance, Canada's tie to the Netherlands, keeping the peace, and from Flanders' fields.  The program is run from October 22 to November 17 and is available weekdays, evenings, and weekends.

The other program available is the educational segment, which may be interpretive or curriculum based.  These programs are offered throughout the school year from September to June and some are bilingual.  There are seven interpretive programs including name that symbol, heroes among us, more peach, what does it mean, real Canadian heroes, keeping the peace, and the Grade 9 self study option.  Curriculum based programs involve teacher's activity booklets that are used to teach students about war and how it affects them.  Approximately 100 bookings are made each year educating 22,000 people.  In 2000 the program received the award of merit for best program.

The Military Museums Lectures & Cultural Events offers visitors an opportunity to hear dynamic speakers on military-related topics from the past and present.  The 6th season of the lecture series explores topics that relate to the navy, army and air force.  All lectures follow the following format, unless otherwise noted:

Cocktail Reception: 6:30 pm
Talk begins: 7:30 pm

Light Snacks
Beer & Wine: $5.00
Admission: $10.00

Please RSVP: cdunit@telus.net or call 403-240-9723

Upcoming lectures include Thursday, April 5, 2007 (The Rwanda Genocide 1994/1995), Thursday, April 19, 2007 (2500 Years of Secret Writing with Derrick Harrison), Thursday, May 10, 2007 (Fleeting Glory, The Tragedy of WWII's most successful bomber aircraft), and Thursday, May 31, 2007 (The Evolution of the Canadian Corps: Battles of 1917).

Located at 4520 Crowchild Trail S.W. in Calgary.

Museum Admission: Adults $6, Seniors $4, Youth 7-17 $3, children 6 and under free. Serving personnel (past and present) and their families are free. Legion members are free. Serving military members and their families are free.

The museum is open seven days per week from 9:30 to 4:00.

For more information phone (403) 974-2850, email the museum at moradmin@telusplanet.net, or visit their website at http://www.museumoftheregiments.ca/. For group tours call 974-2869.

The butter chicken and lamb vindaloo were average with nothing to complain or rave about either, but the okra was a little too old and fibrous and the gravy that the okra came in was a little too bland. The garlic naans were deliciously sprinkled with chunks of garlic and drizzled with ghee and the rice was cooked to perfection, but who could go wrong with rice? Heaven arrived in the form of their rice pudding, by far the best rice pudding I've ever had in Calgary, and I've had a lot of rice puddings.

Even if you don't particularly enjoy Indian food, go for the rice pudding. For the love of god, go for the rice pudding and save some for me.

The restaurant itself seemed well-maintained and the warm lighting created the ideal environment for a good family meal, however the food was a little overpriced and at times jarringly different from the normal Pho fare. If, like me, you are used to prices well below $10 for large bowls of noodles and hearty amounts of beef, chicken or pork then you’re in for a surprise at Trong Khanh. Expecting gargantuan sizes that are oddly normal in Vietnamese restaurants, the bowls that arrived at our table were small as were the portion sizes, however each meal was close to $10, more expensive than the average Pho on 17^th Ave.

But my largest disappointment in Trong Khanh were the spring rolls. Who could go wrong with spring rolls? They’re usually crunchy, deep-fried, and stuffed with savory bits of bean sprouts, carrots and little bursts of pork. Trong Khanh's spring rolls really shouldn’t be called spring rolls because they were solid pork sausages covered with a dumpling-like dough that was slightly too oily as opposed to the usual crispy phyllo-like pastry.

My verdict of Trong Khanh is that Pho Thanh Long and Co Do on 17th rated much better, they're closer, tastier and cheaper. But give it a shot, perhaps sausage-like spring rolls are your cup of tea.

Each year Jubilations puts on five musical theatre projects that spoof popular movies, television shows, and musical groups. There's usually a talented cast of about six to twelve young performers who sing, dance, and act each night for three hours. Sometimes the time seems long, but there's breaks between meal courses and moments of audience participation that help pass the time.

The choreography leaves a lot to be desired, but I really enjoy the singing and humour throughout each performance. The talent originates from all around Canada, each with impressive resumes.

I've been to three shows to date including spoofs on Gilligan's Island, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and Cheers (my personal favorite of the three). The 2007-2008 roster includes, Gerry Steinfeld Show (Feb. 9-Apr. 15), Magical Mystery Tour (Apr. 20-June 17), Granny Ghost Whisperer (June 22-Aug. 26), Greedy Rotten Scoundrels (Aug. 31-Nov. 11), and 29 (Nov. 16-Feb. 9).

Each show runs nightly starting at around 7 p.m. and costs $53.95 for an adult on Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday and another $10 if you go on Friday or Saturday. Children and seniors are cheaper of course and there are passes available if you plan on going to more than one show in a given season.

While you're being entertained on stage, you're served a four course meal consisting of soup, salad, entree, and dessert. The menu choices are limited (chicken, prime rib, fish, and a vegetarian dish each served with the same vegetables and potatos). The soup comes in a tiny bowl the size of a tea cup. You get a free bread basket of white and multigrain buns, which are tasty and the salad is not bad at all. There's plenty of alcohol to choose from and the dessert is yummy (cheesecake, chocolate cake, and one or two other options). I find the food and coffee regularly tepid, but the service is terrific. The staff are quite friendly and highly enjoyable as they take on animated characters along with the performing cast.

At the end of the entree, audience members who are celebrating a birthday or anniversary are invited up on stage to be congratulated and sang to by the staff. At various moments in the performance, audience members are infused into the show, adding an extra thrill to the evening. I've participated a few times and had a lot of fun.

You can dress however you prefer and all ages are welcome. The show is highly entertaining without the use of unnecessary profanity or gratuitous sex. It's a great atmosphere and not a bad seat in the house.

For more information, call 403-249-7799 or visit the Jubilations website at www.jubilations.ca.

Some of the exciting activities available include the ferry ride, train ride, amusement park rides (swings, ferris wheel, etc.), and the horse and carriage ride.

If you just want to walk around and see the sights, there's an entire historic village to amble through. There's the post office, one room school house, blacksmith's, jail, doctor's office, and a number of other turn of the century businesses. There's also a farm full of swine, chickens, sheep, cows, and the like for the kiddies to squeal over. For those interested in antique cars and machinery, there's a warehouse full replete with detailed descriptions outlining specs, use, and technological adaptations. For those of you interested in living accomodations, there are plenty of modest homes for display furnished in hand made appliances, quilts, toys, and soaps. You can watch the ladies at work in the tradition of old while perusing each room on squeaky wooden floors.

When you get hungry, there's a bakery full of decadent daily baked breads, tarts, and cookies. Or, you can dine in the local eatery on hotdogs, chips, and pop. A favorite for young and old alike is the reputable candy shop which is rarely seen without a lineup to enter. Transparent glass containers house dozens of old fashioned and newly invented sweets for pennies a pound. There's not much to eat in terms of real food, but my favorite is the candy shop anyway.

The park's atmosphere is enhanced with staff dressed in turn of the century apparel. At each location there are knowledgeable staff eager to share the history of the lifestyles of those who lived long ago (and still do). Heritage Park is an excellent educational resource for students and teachers and serves as a reminder of how fortunate we are today with the technology that surrounds us and the medical advancements that keep us healthy. It serves as a lifeline to the past for seniors wishing to reminisce about the good old days. 

There are two souvenir shops located at the park's entrance as well as an ice cream and fudge shop.

There are special events posted throughout the season, including the Twelve Days of Christmas, Festival of Quilts, and Winterfest Senior Follies.

The park is open May 19-September 3 every day and September 8-October 8 on the weekends 9 a.m.-5 p.m. There's daily admission rates for kids, adults, seniors, and families as well as annual passes. I personally think the prices are high and they seem to be getting higher every year, but I still love going.

For more information call 403-268-8500 or go to www.heritagepark.ca/park. Heritage Park is a definite must do activity whenever you're in Calgary.