The Adventures of Big White: Ten Things to Experience in Blackie

Mural downtown Blackie

Blackie, Alberta, a great place to rest and enjoy at least ten things among others, is located forty minutes or forty-one kilometres south-east of Okotoks.

We park Big White in the downtown area and walk around this unobtrusive town.

We introduce ourselves and speak with a woman on Railroad Avenue who is washing her 100-year-old home and her modern car with a power hose.

“Mostly what the locals do here is restore cars”, she says.

Frank in front of Fargo truck

We assign her general impression of Blackie as number 1 and her heritage home as 2.

3. We take pleasure peeking through the windows of a number of abandoned buildings. Each one has a unique aspect to it. The largest building is the lumber yard, another has two distinct doors and is made of stucco and brick.

Abandoned lumber yard building

4. Our strole includes sitting for a short time on a dedicated bench in the Blackie Hill Playground. We are reminded of the extraordinary fun you can have as carefree children. Here, they romp up and down a mound, sticks in hand, shouting with glee.

Dedicated bench

Blackie Hill Park

Blackie Campground

5. Our search for a safe, quiet place to rest overnight takes us to Blackie's Lion’s Club campground. The area is clean and well-cared for. The $10.00 overnight payment is rewarding.

6, 7. Along our way, we stop to contemplate graffiti-covered rail cars set to a background of towering grain elevators.

Rail cars and grain towers

8. The telephone hanging on the wall of one of the buildings catches our attention and we share a conversation about how fast our world is progressing.