Candy, candy, candy!

There's a new sugar shack in town!  Sundre is home to "The Candy Shop"... a sweet-filled little gem with shelves stocked with sugary goodness!  Ahhh... this place truly speaks to my heart!

Fuzzy peaches, green frogs, big feet, sour cherries... it has all of the classics from my childhood. 

But it doesn't stop there!  Oh no.  They have chocolates that have been imported from Belgium as well as Canadian-made fresh treats.  So cool!

For our wedding (Happy First Anniversary to us today, btw), we gave out green apple and blue raspberry Jelly Bellies.  I love this Jelly Belly-dispensing unit.  Very cute!

They make candy gift baskets as well.  Hint hint, Blaine!  ;)

And tastefully (pun intended) located at the back corner of the Candy Shop is "Sugar Mama's".  Locked so that little candy shoppers don't wander in, this little secret has all sorts of goodies for adult taste buds!

Speaking of little candy shoppers... Back in the Springtime, a friend of mine was teaching elementary school and she was explaining a craft that the kids were preparing to make for Mother's Day.  One of the students suggested, "you could get some edible panties from the new candy shop to put on top for your mom!"  My teacher friend misheard the young girl and replied, "why yes, edible pansies would be a lovely addition!"

Oh dear.  I wonder if this girl's mother received edible panties for Mother's Day? 

Summary
ambiance - excellent!  Clean, new, well-organized.  I love the bubble-making-machine by the door!
value - mediocre  (specialty shoppe type prices, to be expected. If it was cheaper, I might buy candy there TOO OFTEN, if you know what I mean!)
flavour - excellent, sugary and chocolatey!

Tracks Pub, Olds

Located right by the train tracks (near the Scotia Bank) in Olds is a great pub/live music venue! According to their website, they have been open since August of 2009 and have hosted many Canadian musicians including  Bend Sinster, Michael Bernard Fitzgerald, MAD COWBOYS, Joshuas Habit, Billy The Kid, Locomotive Ghost, The Rocky Fortune and illScarlett.

I was surprised to find a full menu!  I had heard that they had pizza and I expected them to have burgers and nachos, but surprised to see steaks, salmon, meal-sized salads, sandwiches, etc! After much deliberation, I ordered a pint of Keith's and the BBQ chicken pizza.  I had heard that the pizza was good and I saw on the menu that they made their own crusts, so I was excited to try it.

It was definitely enough to feed one very hungry dude or two not-so hungry dudettes!  Luckily, I was pretty famished.  The pizza had lots of flavour, the crust was crispy and it wasn't too greasy.  Really good!

Yummy!

Anyways, Blaine ordered the halibut fish and chips.  I'm not a fish fan and he couldn't convince me to try a bite, but he said it was good.  Maybe not quite as fresh as he'd like, but good.  Nice and crispy.  And the fries looked hand-cut, which was cool. 

The waitress was lovely and the atmosphere was good (we went on a quiet Monday early-afternoon).  Tracks won lots of awards last year, which is quite impressive considering it had only been open a year (or less) before receiving those awards!

I was especially impressed with these two:

Best live music venue (I can definitely vouch for that one) and best place for a pub night (agreed).

Now for the constructive criticism.  I'm holding nothing back, as stated in a post below.  I don't mean to hurt the business or hurt anyone's feelings.  This is just an observation.  If you don't want to read it, then don't scroll down.  There.  You've been warned.




Tracks has been open for almost 2 years now and I think it's time for a major clean-up job!  Although it is mostly kept clean and tidy, it could use a dusting on the window coverings and some touch-ups on the paint here and there.  I never noticed before (probably 'cuz I usually go at night, when it's dark), but during the day it's really noticeable.  Not a big deal.  Just an observation.  :)

Summary
ambiance - good! There always seems to be new stuff on the walls to look at!  Love it! (but, needs a thorough cleaning/touch-ups)
value - very good!  (about $14 for a 11" pizza)
flavour - excellent! I love the homemade quality to the traditional pub-style food.

PS> They are starting up BEER PONG on Mondays in September.  Not sure about the rules for Beer Pong?  Check here.

My experiences, my opinion!

Wow, I have had A LOT of comments about this blog in the past few months!  I took some time away because of some of these comments.  I've been accused of dividing the community, tarring the oil rig camp business, and have been called a busy-body!  Wow, calm down everyone.

I originally started doing this blog because I think there are a great number of excellent small town restaurants in between Red Deer and Calgary!  It seems that a lot of people drive into the city for a nice meal instead of supporting their local establishments.  I wanted to promote these local restaurants.  I wanted to provide citizens with a place to get new ideas for good restaurants in their area.

I will continue to eat at local restaurants and report on my experiences.  I will continue to tell it as it is.  I will not hold anything back.  If you are an owner of a restaurant who receives less then stellar reviews, then maybe take it as constructive criticism.

If you can't take the heat, then get out of the kitchen!!