Hello family and friends, sorry for the delay in posting, but the internet is making posting blog episodes very difficult. The campgrounds have limited wifi or it cost extra. Please let us know you are enjoying the blog by posting comments or dropping us a line on FB. Thanks!!
The trip from Brandon to Winnipeg was farmlands with a few small towns sprinkled through, but no crazy attractions worth stopping for. The directions took us around the city, which was good and we made it to the campground by about 2 pm. Time to relax and settle in for a home cooked meal. I took out a steak this morning and we would be grilling for the first time in a while.
Those of you that know us, know that Curt is the cook/chef of the family. Not that I can’t cook, but he enjoys it more, he was home more often to prepare the meals and he also thinks my cooking is bland. No worries, I enjoyed his Pinterest recipes! Well now with him doing all the driving (he hasn’t let me drive even though I ask every day, he says, he’d be bored sitting there with nothing to do), and not liking the limited space in the camper for cooking extravagant meals, the roles are reversed. I am now the cook/chef. I’d call me more the food preparer. I am not one to look up recipes on line or spend a lot of prep time—I grew up in an Irish family where every meal consisted of meat, potatoes (my parents would buy them by the 50 pound bag, no lie), vegetable and bread with a spaghetti dinner thrown in there once a week or so, usually on Tuesdays! So in other words, my meals are simple but filling and tasty. So whenever I am cooking the meal Curt will provide guidance from the recliner: Did you salt the water? Are you going to put some pepper in that? You are going to boil them? Are you sure you want to do that? Did you set the timer? And on and on and on….It’s all good, because most of the time I haven’t done or didn’t think to do the things he suggests. Anyway, the steak dinner (courtesy of the Fritz’s—we helped clean out their fridge before they packed out in Spokane) was perfectly cooked pink in the middle with just the right seasoning (even though I didn’t marinate it 30 minutes like he suggested–I was too hungry) baked potatoes and frozen veggies…but I forgot to make the mushrooms—you have to have mushrooms with steak—another Meg Fail!!
Knowing we had a lot of options tomorrow, we decided to stay in for the night and get our rest. Our campground host at Arrowhead RV Park gave us as much information as if we went to the Visitor’s Center. She spent a good 15-20 minutes telling us all the things to do in town. Curt and I looked at each other—maybe we need another day!! She loaded us down with maps with routes highlighted and coupons for CityPass’s. We had some work to do tonight to figure out where to start our Winnipeg adventure.
Right out back of the campground is a beautiful green space for long walks with Daisy. Check out these pics.
As everyone knows, Canada is cold and snowy in the winter, so when the summer rolls around, they try to fit as much as they can into their summers. There are so many festivals and events planned and Winnipeg did not disappoint. We already knew the Summer Games were going on; this is like Summer Olympics for Canada. We looked it up on line, however the only place we could find tickets for the days we were in Winnipeg was for soccer and Curt was not in for sitting in the sun watching soccer—he’s not a fan. Beach volleyball, basketball and diving were all sold out—darn! But that didn’t stop us, there was a Summer Games festival going on downtown so off to The Forks we go.
We were headed down to The Forks for the Summer Games festival, unfortunately the festival did not start until 530 pm and it was only 1 pm. But there was still a lot going on down there. The Forks is an outdoor mall area that has history, food court (reminded me of 30th Street Station in Philadelphia, only this building used to be an old horses barn, according to Capt. Dan). There is also a Marina here, where the Assiniboine River and the Red River meet.
We walked around and found a boat tour called Splash Dash River Boat tour. It cost $11 (which is $8.67) per person. That is what we keep saying, oh it’s cheap because it’s Canadian money, like its Monopoly money or something…NOT!! The exchange rate has been helpful for our budget, but the taxes are a killer…Provincial sales tax is 8% and the Goods and Services tax is 5% that equals 13% total…UGH!! So I digress, back to the Splash Dash River Boat tour. Our Captain was Captain Dan, of Forrest Gump fame (oops, not really, that was Lt Dan). Anyway he was a fantastic tour guide. The boat was a small pontoon boat and the tour had only 10 people on it, plenty of elbow room and Curt and I had our own seat – highly recommend it!! Capt. Dan loved history and told us so much about the city of Winnipeg and its rich history—reminiscent of the San Antonio River Cruise with less people and faster speeds. He was very proud of his city.
Our first stop on the cruise was the flood wall. Because Winnipeg is at the meeting of the two rivers: the Assiniboine and the Red and their proximity of the mountains and the amount of snow and freeze they get, they are prepared for flood every year. On the wall he showed us the blue line was a normal thaw and what happened most years, the yellow line is the one that happens every 10 years or so and requires some planning such as sandbagging, but the town can survive. But the red line shows that “once in a century flood”.
Winnipeg was hit by the Great Winnipeg Flood of 1950; a natural disaster was declared when the river remained over flood stage for 51 days. Many lost their homes and livelihoods—see red line on the wall. So after this flood, one of Winnipeg’s leaders, Dufflin Roblin, worked with local and federal officials and was able to secure both provincial and federal the funding to develop a flood control system including digging a 26 mile long ditch circling the city, building a 25 mile long dike across the river to act as a retaining lake, adding gates and control systems and raising most roads to above the flood levels. Many thought he was crazy and this project due to the cost and effort that it would take to complete was nicknamed Duff’s Ditch or Duffs’ Folly. However, the system was fully tested in 1997, dubbed when the “flood of the century” where the water flows was forecasted to be 50% greater than the 1950 flood. This Flood of the Century is the one that devastated and destroyed Grand Forks downtown with flood and fire and it was headed right for Winnipeg (the Red River runs North) and would be the first true test of the flood control system. According to Capt. Dan the city was an island for about 3 days as they waited for the flood waters to recede. So the city survived, but I am sure some of the farm lands were wiped out, but the infrastructure and most of the population endured.
Our next stop was the legislature building, this is a very pretty building. By the way, today was August 7, a civic holiday and in Manitoba, it was Louis Riel Day. According to Capt. Dan, Riel was a lawyer and political leader of the Metis (one of three recognized aboriginal people) and he was responsible for negotiating the Manitoba Act with the Canadian government which established Manitoba as a province and protected rights of its people. Despite being a hero to the Metis people, others across Canada considered him a villain for his role in several rebellions. He was sentenced to death and hanged, but he is still known as the “Founder of Manitoba”.
The legislature building has a Golden stature of Hermes atop of it, see picture
Capt. Dan took us further down up the river and brought us to a stop in front of a big house and went on to tell us about a man who made his fortune back in the beginning of the 1900’s and decided to take his family on a family vacation to Europe and Egypt for a month and they booked a return trip to the US on the Titanic. He never made it off the boat—his family (wife and children) did survive. The last they saw him he was standing on the deck of the boat with his favorite Winnipeg Buffalo Coat and in one hand he held a large cigar and in the other a glass of whiskey and he was telling his family how much he loved them. Sad story, the rich man’s name was Mark Fortune…no lie, google him.
Next stop on our tour was to position us to take a picture of the famous Winnipeg tourist attractions. It is the view you see on many of the postcards: the Esplanade Riel (named after Louis) which is a pedestrian bridge that has a restaurant in the middle and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.
Next photo op was the St Boniface Cathedral Façade, which is located in Winnipeg’s French Quarter. The Cathedral was built in 1894, but was destroyed by fire in 1968. Most of the Cathedral was made of wood and burned completely to the ground in ashes, but the stone façade survived the fire. According to Capt. Dan the round stained glass window exploded and stained glass was found clear across the river. The new cathedral was build next to the façade. Check out these pictures. After the boat ride we walked over to the French Quarter and stopped in the cathedral and said a prayer thanking God for the blessings he has given us and also for the opportunity to enjoy this fantastic trip of a lifetime!
The Capt. Dan’s tour was enjoyable, entertaining and educational. It was also a great escape from the heat of 85 degrees. After the tour we decided to walk over the Esplanade Riel and stop in for a drink at Mon Ami Louis restaurant for a Sangria and a great view of the river. Had some munchies and waved to the boats as they rode underneath us.
We walked over to the Cathedral like I said above and during that walk we received a FaceTime call from my family who was visiting with Mom and Dad in Philadelphia. It was great to talk to everyone especially my nieces and nephews. I think about them when I’m writing this hoping to not only show them pictures of the places we traveled, but to also to give them some fun facts about these places so they can win big on Jeopardy.
Our parking was about to expire so we headed back over the Esplanade and through the Forks. We were leaving just as the festivities were about to begin, but we had to go home and rescue Daisy. Our dinner consisted of a romantic dinner of left overs and sandwiches at Meg’s Diner!