Winnipeg Trip–Day 5 Winnipeg (Wednesday, October 1, 2014)

Learning our lessons about rush hour traffic the day before, we had a more leisurely start to the day.  Our first stop was the Winnipeg Legislative Building.  There wasn’t a lot to see as the legislature was not in session but the building had some beautiful architecture and flowers were still in bloom in the gardens.  Here are some photos:

From there we walked past the Canada Revenue Agency which is of obvious interest to my husband.

Lunch was at Thidia’s Authentic Thai Restaurant.  The server was very knowledgeable about gluten free options and was very willing to look into dairy and egg free options as well.  I had a rice roll with a very good peanut sauce and asked for no spice in my dish and it was made that way.  My husband who loves Thai food enjoyed something a bit spicier and really enjoyed his food.

We left behind the camera in exchange for a notepad and pencil and headed to the Winnipeg Art Gallery.  Their feature exhibit is Up Close Dalí.  The exhibition included one of his most famous works of art, The persistence of memory.  The painting below is courtesy of Lucid Practice.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Inuksuik 1989 by Canadian artist Manasie Akpaliapik (1989) – Inuksuits are landmarks made by natives to help navigating the woods and finding good hunting spots.  The one below is in the shape of a person which I have since learned is not a traditional Inuksuits but an artists interpretation.

Bacchanalian Piece Sir Thomas Samwell and Friends by Philippe Mercier  (1733) – I really liked this piece as it showed the casual and humorous side of people in this time period which is very different than typical paintings from this era which were very formal.

The Story by George Agnew Reid (Canadian Artist) – This painting captures a memory that we can all relate to across cultures and across time.

Merrymaking 1860 by Cornelius Krieghoff (Canadian Artist) – This is a painting I tried sketching out the basics which made me realize all the unique features of the image, a setting sun with changing clouds contrasting both the light sun and dark sky, the staircase from the second story balcony, horses pulling sleighs, and how each celebrated the freshly fallen snow.

Grey Day, Les Éboulement, by AY Jackson (Canadian artist) (1935)– I can’t find an image of this painting which is unfortunate because it was one of my favorites.  The artist used curvy parallel lines to show movement of the snow, sky and landslide (les éboulement).  The painting is of a house in a village west of Tadoussae on the north shore of the St. Lawrence.

The art museum had a lot of diversity in its collections and really was the perfect size to feel like you have seen a lot yet not so much your eyes have glazed over which can happen at bigger galleries.

We finished up at the art museum shortly after 1:30 p.m. and seeing that we had enough time we decided to head over to the Manitoba Museum and catch the 2:30 p.m. Planetarium show.  With 40 minutes to kill before the show once we had purchased tickets we did a quick walk through of the Manitoba Museum which was really interested. 

They have a full size shipping sailboat that you can walk on and through which is extremely impressive in size and grandeur.  The ship is a replica of the Nonsuch, a 17th Century English ship.  The replica was made about 40 years ago with tooling from the period and has sailed 14,000 kilometers before being “docked” at the museum.  Here you will find some more information on the original and replica ships from the Manitoba Museum; you will see there are ties to Wisconsin. 

The Museum seemed to have a lot of interactive exhibits and a great variety of things to see.  If we had more time (and energy), we may have enjoyed spending a bit more time. 

The planetarium show was very good (well, at least the parts I was awake for).  After the full day we had, I really struggled to keep my eyes open once they turned the lights down.

After passing by the Giant Tiger many times in these days in Winnipeg, we decided we had to know what it was all about.  Their logo had the statement "Your All Canadian Family Discount Store".  It definitely was a discount store but I'm not sure any of it is made in Canada.  We learned that they buy the inventory of companies going out of bankruptcy.

The rest of the evening we spent relaxing in our hotel room.  I enjoyed a Canadian wine (Winnipeg Blue Bombers Cabernet/Merlot by Strew Inc. from Niagara on the Lake in Ontario).

Winnipeg Trip–Day 6 Winnipeg (Thursday, October 2, 2014)

We started the day with a trip to the Assiniboine Park Zoo which is a beautiful zoo with some really interesting exhibits.  The owls were a unique exhibit as you don’t normally see owls at zoos.  There was also a really neat exhibit where the badgers were active.  As our state animal, I was ashamed to admit this was the first badger I had ever seen in person.  They also have a polar bear exhibit (part of which was closed due to maintenance) that seems to closely resemble the exhibit at the Detroit Zoo.  And like many zoos these days it seems, they had an Australian Walkabout with emus and red kangaroos.  A joey about 8 months old was so much fun to watch.  Here are some pictures:

Also, like as is often the case at zoos, the animals not in captivity that wander the zoo can be just as interesting.  Winnipeg has an abundance of red squirrels (as opposed to the much larger grey squirrel we are used to) one of which had dug its way into the butterfly exhibit (which only had a few butterflies left as it was the end of the season).  There were also a fair number of prairie dogs in random exhibits.  It’s funny how they make up an exhibit at the Minnesota Zoo but roam free at this zoo.  I also enjoyed the birds athough a few less Canadian geese might have been more enjoyable.  At one point, we looked at an exhibit and had to figure out which actually belonged as there were Canadian geese, peacocks, and cranes.  Here are a few of the highlights:

I got a good chuckle out of this weather station:

It may be hard to read the sign so here is what it says:

Weather Station

If the Rock is wet
…it’s raining

If the rock is swaying
…it’s windy

If the rock is hot
…it’s sunny

If the rock is cool
…it’s overcast

If the rock is white
…it’s snowing

If the rock is blue
…it’s cold

If the rock is gone
…tornado

Up to the minute

For a late lunch we headed to the Polo Park Mall which is a very nice mall but nothing special to a tourist and then spent the rest of the afternoon at the hotel.

We stayed at the Fairfield Inn & Suites (a free night from a promotion of staying at Marriott hotels previously).  This one came with a little waterpark that was so much fun.  There was no one else in the pool area and so we had it to ourselves.  There was a tube slide, water fountains, a zero depth pool, and a donut shaped area that had quite a strong current.  When we swam against the current, we really couldn’t move forward and with very little effort it would float us around in a circle.  We laughed like little kids as we enjoyed it all.  Here are some pictures.

Winnipeg Trip–Day 7 Travel to Twin Cities (Friday, October 3, 2014)

This morning we headed to the Twin Cities and saw our first snow flakes of the season.  The Canadian border was quite quiet and so was pretty quick to cross.  We did stop at the duty free store to get some last minute souvenirs and some Canadian rum.

We had lunch at the Mexican Village in Fargo.  This Mexican Village was just as I remember the one in Grand Forks that we visited often with really good salsa.  Besides the chips and salsa Mexican food has not been a favorite of mine since my new diet restrictions and cheese being one of my favorite parts of Mexican food.  But a bean enchilada (although quite confusing to explain) isn’t too bad.

We made it to our hotel TownePlace Suites by Marriott in St. Louis Park and after dumping off our stuff, headed to the Mall of America for some food and shopping. 

We ate at Kokomo’s Island Café which had always been a favorite but found it is not very gluten friendly and they messed up my husband’s order enough that we had to send it back and wait for a replacement.

We managed to walk the 3rd and 1st levels of the Mall completely as well as part of the 2nd level.  We got quite a head start on our Christmas shopping and hope we can fit all the purchases in my little bug. 

We also walked through what we have always known as “Camp Snoopy” (I think it is now called something related to Nickelodeon).  I can’t believe how much they have packed into a relatively small space.  Roller coasters intertwine with each other and every bit of cubic footage is used to the max.  They have also added a Hard Rock Café right in the midst of it all. 

Since we were last were at the Mall, they have added a Radisson Hotel and are in the middle of new construction of some sort.

We averaged 39 miles per gallon at our fill up in Fargo which included all of Winnipeg city driving and then our trip down I-29 in North Dakota where the speed limit is 75.  I should also mention that the wind was strong, it was in the mid to low 30s, and snowflakes were dancing on the pavement.  We are on pace to get 46 miles per gallon on this next tank which is I-94 (speed limit 70), Twin City driving, and the beginning of our trip home on Sunday.

Winnipeg Trip–Day 8 Twin Cities (Saturday, October 4, 2014)

We took our time getting up this morning with a goal of being at the Minnesota Zoo at 9:00 a.m. when it opened.  It was a very cold morning but the sun spent a lot of time out and although my husband won’t agree, I think it was a beautiful morning.

We focused on our favorites, the Grizzly Coast, the tigers, and the Minnesota Trail and walked a few other parts.  My tigers weren’t very photogenic but considering the thousands of pictures I have of them from previous visits, I guess we can give them a day off. 

I really enjoyed the birds (both wild and in captivity on the Minnesota Trail the beaver family (parents and one kit were all out), the otters and the baby lynx.  It was also neat to see the black bear add on to the Minnesota trail which was new.  The bear was hibernating in his den unfortunately.  Here are some pictures:

Then we went to the Mall of America again for a quick lunch,  to finish walking the mall, and make last minute purchases.  We were home by mid-afternoon to relax in the hotel and visited Mongo’s Grill in Maple Grove.  I wish there was one closer.  I love the concept!