The Beach at West Edmonton Mall

They arrived in motor coaches from all over windswept central Canada - young and old, housewives and students, waitresses, drug store clerks, grandmothers and construction workers. In winter and in summer they came to the West Edmonton Mall to go to the beach, to sit under palm trees and sip umbrella drinks while waves broke on the sandy shore and heat baked their chilled bodies and warmed their spirits.

I was in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada on business, hosted by the Edmonton Convention and Visitors Bureau. The West Edmonton Mall, one of Edmonton’s most significant assets, is a shopping mall spanning the equivalent of forty-eight city blocks under one roof. At the time I was there it was the largest shopping mall in the world. It housed more than 800 stores and restaurants, a full-size hockey rink where the Edmonton Oilers NHL team practiced, an amusement park with a fourteen-story triple-loop roller coaster, a fantasy hotel where you could sleep in the back of a pickup truck or on a raft in a lagoon, and a beach.

The beach was fashioned after Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, Hawaii. Long and curved, it was covered with soft white sand and real palm trees waving in a gentle breeze. Waves lapped lazily against the shore, unless there was a surfing contest scheduled. Then wave machines under the water produced six-footers and teenagers paddled out on their boards and rode the waves in. Tanning lights replaced the sun, and there was never the disappointment of a rainy day. The beach was surrounded by glass.

On this day I peered through the steamy glass wall of the beach. A motor coach began to unload and a stream of people wearing heavy coats crowded through the door, kids running and yelling and women shouting at them to slow down or they would slip and fall. I spoke with an older woman in a parka wearing sunglasses and carrying a plastic beach bag and a pillow.

“How do you like this beach?” I asked her. “Have you come here before?”

She nodded, a little cautious about talking to a stranger. “It’s a nice place, and a bit of sun does me good.”

“Is it just as good as a real beach? I guess we’re a long way from a real beach here.”

“Well, I know about real beaches, I can tell you! I flew the airplane to Mexico once. The sand fleas bit me to pieces and I got sick from the food. Never again! Here I can just get on the coach and I’m here in a couple of hours. I have friends on the coach and we play cards. It’s a break from the cold.”

“Do you stay here at the Mall then?”

“Yes, I’m going to sleep in the back of a pickup truck tonight!” She smiled, excited. “You know, they have those rooms in the hotel. Haven’t slept in a pickup truck since, well….since I was a young girl.”

Her smile was suddenly embarrassed and her shyness returned. She hurried through the door into the beach. Apparently the pickup truck brought back fond memories.

I chose to sleep on the raft in the lagoon, another illusion that was accomplished with mirrors and lavish creativity. Indeed much of the floor and the entire ceiling in my very large room were covered in mirrors. There was a six-foot waterfall into the rock hot tub next to the mirror lagoon my king-size bed sat on, with ferns and the sounds of tropical birds. No birds, though, just the sounds. It appeared it was going to be tricky getting into bed, but once I reminded myself that the water was a mirror I just “waded” in. Alas, I was there alone.


The next day, after buying more than I had intended, I went to the beach myself. As I settled under my palm tree, I noticed no one there was quite as white-skinned as I was – the tanning lights were on the job. A lovely young woman in shorts and a bikini top took my drink order and the strains of a slack-key guitar wafted through the air. The high notes of children on the waterslides at the far end of the beach tinkled in the distance, and added to, rather than disturbed, my tranquility. I sat back, looked around and said to myself, not bad. Not real, but not bad. An illusion of Hawaii, bringing some warmth to the windswept plains of central Canada.

Travel Tips: Airport Insider Tips

We all know that airports can be a hassle these days but a little planning, preparation and common sense can make a big difference. Try these tips to help you breeze right through.

Be Prepared
1. Arrive early. Beat stress and arrive at least 90 minutes before your flight departure, 2 hours early if traveling international. Airport check-in lines and security lines can easily eat up an hour and most airlines require you to be boarded 20 minutes before scheduled departure time in order to hold your seat reservation.

2, Allow extra time during holiday periods.

3. Bring state-issued identification, like a driver’s license or valid passport.

4. Bring a valid passport if you are traveling to an international destination. Yes, Mexico and Canada are international destinations.

5. Carry a photocopy of your driver’s license or your passport (the page with your name and photo on it) in your baggage. Wallets get lost or stolen, and a photocopy can come in handy if you need proof of identity to get ID replaced or just to get back into the airport to get home.

6. Be sure you’ve checked well ahead of time with your travel agent or airline to find out whether you need a visa to go to your international destination.

7. Use electronic ticketing whenever possible. You have no tickets to lose, misplace, or forget.

8. Check in online. You will need your reservation confirmation number, the one you got when you confirmed your reservation. Print your boarding document at home so you can go right to the security line rather than stand in the check-in or kiosk line. This works for U.S. domestic destinations only.

9. Pack light. Then take things out and pack lighter. Checked baggage costs money these days and the size of allowable carry-on baggage is limited. Besides, why hurt yourself?

10. Don’t put urgently needed items in your checked baggage. Examples are tickets, passport, cash, medicine, glasses, contact lenses, the only copy of your novel. Lost baggage happens.

11. Don’t take valuable jewelry or large sums of money, particularly in your checked baggage. It’s best to leave your good jewelry home in a safe deposit box.

12. Put your name and phone number on the outside, and on the inside, of your baggage. Do this for both checked and carry-on baggage.

13. Be reasonable about your carry-on baggage. Most airlines allow one MEDIUM roller-bag and one SMALL bag like a purse, computer bag, or small backpack. If you have a roller-bag, a computer bag and a purse, you will have to be able to put the purse into one of your other bags. See Item #9. Pack light.

14, You will be allowed to bring 3.5 oz containers of liquids, lotions and gels through Security, nothing larger, and the containers must be in a sealed quart-sized plastic baggie. The container must be 3.5 oz or less, whether or not the container is full is irrelevant. Don’t bring larger containers of liquids, lotions and gels unless you plan to put them in checked baggage.

15. Bring food. In general, airlines don’t feed you anymore and your food is better anyway. Sandwiches and fruit work, smelly food and foods with liquids don’t work. Food can be taken on the airplane in addition to your carryon baggage allowance.

16. Do not bring drinks. Buy water or other drinks at the airport, once you’re past Security screening (see item #14).

17. Bring a good book or something fun to do, just in case your plans are disrupted and you have to amuse yourself for while.

At the Airport

18. Pay attention. As you’re standing in line to check in, keep up with the people in front of you who are moving forward.

19. If you check baggage, keep your claim check in a safe place where you can find it. Lost baggage happens.

20. Don’t lock your checked baggage. If Security personnel need to check your luggage enroute, they will either break the lock or refuse to allow your bag to go.

21. As you’re standing in line for Security, have your ID and your ticket ready and listen for airport personnel who screen for passengers trying to make soon-to-depart flights. You might get to speed ahead.

22. Wear shoes that are easy to take off and put on. This will help you get through the security line faster.

23. Don’t joke or make any comment about anything having to do with Security, or explosives, or anything like that. Going to jail will cause you to miss your flight.

24. Smile. Relax. Attitude is everything, particularly when others around you are anxious or annoyed. Lines, and especially Security lines, make people anxious.

25. Wear shoes. Airlines require that you wear sandals at minimum in order to board.

26. Listen closely for announcements at the gate. It might be important stuff.

27. Stay with your carry-on bag.

28. If you see an unaccompanied bag sitting around, tell an airline employee or a Security person.

29. Don’t joke or make any comment about anything having to do with security, or explosives, or anything like that at the gate either.

30. Stay out of the bar. Or, if you have hours to wait, limit yourself to one drink and have something to eat. Drunks can be refused boarding. Equally lame, you could sit in the bar and miss your flight departure.

31. If your airline offers departure screens at the gate, read them.

32. If you don’t have an actual seat assignment (like 27A), check in with the gate agent.

33. Stay at the gate and listen to the announcements. It could be something important, like an offer of money for getting off an oversold flight.

34. If your flight is oversold and you are flexible, in other words you don’t have to be somewhere at exactly the time you scheduled, it can be worth your while to volunteer to get off and take the next flight. The airline will give you free money and/or a free ticket for future travel. Be sure they have space on a later flight that works for you before you commit.

35. Board when your row or zone is called.

36. If you wait until the last minute to board, the airline can give away your seat to a standby passenger.

Getting Onboard

37. Put your carryon on your seat and step in out of the aisle to let others pass if you can.

38. If you can’t step out of the aisle, stow your larger bag overhead as quickly as possible and step out of the aisle so others can pass. Wait until you’re out of the aisle before taking off your coat and stowing your small bag under the seat.

39. Do not change seats without asking a Flight Attendant if all the passengers have boarded.

40. Do not get up to take one more thing out of your stowed luggage until after takeoff.

41. Sit down, buckle up and stay down. The pilot is not allowed to back the airplane out of the gate until everyone is seated.

42. Don’t put anything important in the seat pocket in front of you, like your ticket/boarding pass. It’s too easy to forget when you leave the airplane.

43. Put open-top carry-on bags under the seat in front of you with the open top facing you. Many a treasured item has been lost falling out of an open bag either in the overhead rack where you can’t see, or under the seats ahead on takeoff or landing. On second thought, don’t take open-top bags that don’t zip shut.

When Things Go Oh, So Wrong

44. Pay attention. If the gate agent says your flight is delayed, listen to her entire announcement. Possibly she will tell you whether it will be a short delay or whether it’s going to call for action. Maybe she’ll even call your name to give you information about your connection.

45. If your flight is cancelled, listen carefully to the announcement at the gate. If arrangements have been made for a new flight, the agent will say so.

46. If your flight is delayed or cancelled and there is a long line in front of the agent, call your airline’s reservation office either from your cell phone or from direct lines in the gate area if your airline provides them. Reservations personnel can tell you what new arrangements have been made for you.

47. Stay calm. Panic and hysteria won’t help. Something will work out.

48. It’s usually better not to go back through the Security checkpoint to talk to an agent at the front check-in counter.

49. In the case of a delay, stay in or near the gate area unless other specific arrangements have been made for you by the gate agent. Sometimes a delay is not so long as anticipated, and if the plane is suddenly ready and you’re not there, it may leave without you.

50. Know what you need, but be flexible. When you talk to the agent, offer suggestions if an alternate destination airport will work. Cooperation is often reciprocal.

51. Communicate your situation calmly and clearly. Perhaps you are meeting your unaccompanied 10-year-old child at the other end. Perhaps you are giving an important presentation tomorrow morning. Don’t lie or exaggerate. Sometimes excellent ideas and solutions come out of chaos when the real bottom line concern is known.

52. Smile. Relax. Remember, Travel is an Adventure! Right?