5. Manitoba
Manitoba was the fifth province to join the Confederation. More relevantly, it was just north of my home state of North Dakota. The capital of Winnipeg is a scant three hours north of my hometown. When I was a kid, the close proximity, cultural attractions and an extremely favorable exchange rate led us to taking many long weekends up to Winnipeg. I'm not sure I've been to any other part of Manitoba besides Winnipeg, and I don't recall having been there at all since elementary school, but I have a lot of fond childhood memories our family trips north. It seems pretty likely that I've spent more total time in Manitoba than in any other province.
Due to the favorable exchange rate, we typically stayed downtown. Downtown Winnipeg is interesting because there are tunnels connecting most of the downtown areas. Some are second story exterior tunnels, but there are also subway style tunnels underneath the buildings. Winnipeg being Winnipeg, these were nice clean tunnels and not disgusting like your average subway platform. I say subway style tunnels because I don't remember Winnipeg having a subway. These tunnels all existed to minimize the number of times your average downtown worker needed to go outside in the winter. That tells you pretty much all you need to know about winters in Winnipeg, which were basically like the winters in North Dakota but three hours north and subsequently colder and darker.
Here are a few of the things we did in Winnipeg over the years:
- For a few years I had a poster from the Living Prairie Museum on my wall.
- We visited the Manitoba Museum, home of the replica Nonesuch, several times. One of those times there was an exhibit about movie special effects featuring the queen from Aliens.
- The museum had an attached planetarium. At least once my maternal grandmother came north with us, because I remember her falling asleep and being woken up by a loud bang during the planetarium show.
- We went to the mill a few times.
- We also went to the zoo and nearby botanical garden.
- We toured the mint a time or two as well.
- I believe we also saw the ballet few times.
I feel like we made at least a yearly trip during most of my childhood, because we certainly didn't do all of those things on a single trip.
Because Winnipeg was much bigger than any city near my hometown, it had much better ethnic food options. I seem to recall Korean and Italian and a much better grade of Chinese food. In addition, the hotel we usually stayed at had a really fantastic buffet brunch (at least in the my memory). And it wasn't in Manitoba, but we often stopped at a restaurant in Pembina where my father usually got a reuben sandwich.
Although I haven't been back in a long time, my parents went to the Winnipeg Folk Festival many years running after I had moved out.
Despite what the Weakerthans might say, I can't say that I hate Winnipeg.
Introduction
1. Ontario
2. Quebec - Never Visited!
3. Nova Scotia
4. New Brunswick
5. Manitoba
Due to the favorable exchange rate, we typically stayed downtown. Downtown Winnipeg is interesting because there are tunnels connecting most of the downtown areas. Some are second story exterior tunnels, but there are also subway style tunnels underneath the buildings. Winnipeg being Winnipeg, these were nice clean tunnels and not disgusting like your average subway platform. I say subway style tunnels because I don't remember Winnipeg having a subway. These tunnels all existed to minimize the number of times your average downtown worker needed to go outside in the winter. That tells you pretty much all you need to know about winters in Winnipeg, which were basically like the winters in North Dakota but three hours north and subsequently colder and darker.
Here are a few of the things we did in Winnipeg over the years:
- For a few years I had a poster from the Living Prairie Museum on my wall.
- We visited the Manitoba Museum, home of the replica Nonesuch, several times. One of those times there was an exhibit about movie special effects featuring the queen from Aliens.
- The museum had an attached planetarium. At least once my maternal grandmother came north with us, because I remember her falling asleep and being woken up by a loud bang during the planetarium show.
- We went to the mill a few times.
- We also went to the zoo and nearby botanical garden.
- We toured the mint a time or two as well.
- I believe we also saw the ballet few times.
I feel like we made at least a yearly trip during most of my childhood, because we certainly didn't do all of those things on a single trip.
Because Winnipeg was much bigger than any city near my hometown, it had much better ethnic food options. I seem to recall Korean and Italian and a much better grade of Chinese food. In addition, the hotel we usually stayed at had a really fantastic buffet brunch (at least in the my memory). And it wasn't in Manitoba, but we often stopped at a restaurant in Pembina where my father usually got a reuben sandwich.
Although I haven't been back in a long time, my parents went to the Winnipeg Folk Festival many years running after I had moved out.
Despite what the Weakerthans might say, I can't say that I hate Winnipeg.
Introduction
1. Ontario
2. Quebec - Never Visited!
3. Nova Scotia
4. New Brunswick
5. Manitoba