MANITOBA
FOR FOODIES, FAMILIES AND FRESH AIR FANATICS
Manitoba’s unique mix of founding peoples— the indigenous First Nations, and then the descendants of early French, British, and Scottish explorers—has been spiced up over the centuries with waves of newer immigrants, eager both to embrace their new culture and to celebrate their roots. The result is a province that is a kaleidoscope of culture: Vietnamese, Japanese, Ethiopian, Filipino and dozens more.
There is no better showcase to sample them all than through Folklorama, the early August celebration of Manitoba’s people, where immigrants and their children create pavilions that showcase their food, history, and culture. Visit some four dozen countries all in the span of two solid weeks (www.folklorama.ca). But visitors who don’t make it to Folklorama can drop into city neighbourhoods and traditional ethnic communities anytime; they all offer their own mini-cultural immersions: Corydon Avenue’s Little Italy; the city centre’s tiny, vibrant Chinatown; the Filipino stretch along Ellice Avenue; and a sprinkling of tiny, family-run southeast Asian eateries, from Japanese to Vietnamese.
Winnipeg is the province’s dominant city, sitting just west of the precise longitudinal centre of Canada—30 km (19 mi.) east of the city, on the Trans-Canada Highway at 96 degrees, 38 minutes and 45 seconds west. But the entire province, smack in the middle of Canada, is a playground for more adventurous souls seeking the beauty and solitude of unspoiled nature. Rugged Precambrian Shield granite, lush with forests and thousands of lakes to the northeast, gives way to rolling hills and vast, rich,
agricultural prairie to the southwest. Dead centre are three massive lakes: Manitoba, Winnipegosis and Winnipeg (Canada’s 13th, 11th and 6th largest, respectively).
GOING, GOING, GONE WILD
With all that wilderness, it’s no wonder many of the province’s more than ten million annual visitors are recreational hunters and fishermen headed for remote lodges and small towns tucked away in thick lake or riverside forests. As well, paddlers, hikers, photographers and wildlife viewers love these natural areas, and families can pitch tents or park campers in one of dozens of provincial parks, or settle into hotel rooms from two to five-star rated. In Riding Mountain National Park, campsites and hotels abound around crystal clear, icy cold Clear Lake and the historic townsite of Wasagaming (www.parkscanada.gc.ca/riding).
The three big lakes are fringed by summer-oriented towns and villages, and an October or November visit to far northern Churchill virtually guarantees sightings of increasingly-endangered polar bears in their natural setting (www. churchillwild.com; www.lazybearlodge. com; www.frontiersnorth.com), and probable displays of aurora borealis. In summer, hardy adventurers can go snorkelling with more than 57,000 white beluga whales that calve and raise their babies near the mouth of the Churchill River (www.everythingchurchill.com).
But while nature’s the big draw for much of Manitoba, there’s a whole lot more to be discovered in this varied province.
WHAT’S NEW?
Celebrated chef Scott Bagshaw has closed Deseo on Osborne Street in favour of the new small-plates Máquè on Stafford Street. His Enoteca, on Corydon Avenue, is still going strong.
RAW:almond, a pop-up fine-dining restaurant at the confluence of the frozen Assiniboine and Red rivers, returns annually to the Forks area of the city on weekends in January and February. A satellite version launched in 2016, RAW:churchill, is expected to be reprised near Churchill. Enjoy an extraordinary experience travelling across the Churchill River in a Tundra Buggy to dine in a heated pop-up restaurant with a transparent roof, under the northern lights within the historic Hudson's Bay Company’s Prince of Wales Fort.
Neechi Foods, the province’s first Native co-operative, stocks Aboriginal foods like fresh bannock, wild game meats and wild rice. It boasts a crafts shop on the second level.
CITY LIGHTS
Foodies alert: Manitoba’s culinary scene is a rising gem, from haute to heavy-duty chowing down. Outside the city, Jennifer’s Picnic, a long-loved local spot on Highway 307 near Seven Sisters Falls, has become a food truck favoured by gourmet palates— kangaroo soup, anyone? The local epicurean website (www.pegcitygrub.com) keeps track of new hotspots and old favourites like the Salisbury House with its Mr. Big Nip burger, the Goog ice cream sundae at the Bridge Drive-In, and the latest Broadway Avenue noon-hour food trucks. Manitoba’s famous fall supper circuit offers home-cooked hearty, community hall family-style fare all autumn long, with listings at Travel Manitoba (www.travelmanitoba.com).
Summer brings the Goldeyes AAA baseball to Shaw Park (www.goldeyes.com). The MTS Centre, the winter home of NHL hockey’s Winnipeg Jets, mounts concerts and special events year-round (www. mtscentre.ca), while the city’s south end CFL Blue Bombers’ Investors Group Field tackles big blockbuster concerts (www. bluebombers.com/stadium). In July, the four-day Winnipeg Folk Festival at Birds Hill Provincial Park, north of the city, is familyfriendly (www.winnipegfolkfestival.ca), as is the Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s “Ballet in the Park” at Assiniboine Park’s outdoor Lyric Theatre (www.rwb.org).
Winnipeg warms up winter with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra (www.wso. ca), Manitoba Opera (www.manitobaopera. mb.ca), the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, Tom Hendry Warehouse Theatre (www. mtc.mb.ca) and Prairie Theatre Exchange (www.pte.mb.ca). Year-round, Thermëa by Nordik Spa in the city’s south end (www. thermea.ca), and Ten Spa at the Hotel Fort Garry (www.tenspa.ca) provide sybaritic pleasures.
THE GREAT OUTDOORS
Provincial parks provide groomed hiking trails and offer summer campsite bookings by computer, and most are near small towns where local motels appeal to family-oriented explorers (www.gov. mb.ca/conservation/parks/popular_parks/ map.html). Whiteshell Provincial Park (www.whiteshell.mb.ca) is a handy hour’s drive east of Winnipeg, and further afield, wilderness wanderers can take to lakes and rivers in canoes, kayaks, or fishing boats. Cosy resort communities like Grand Beach, Gimli, Winnipeg Beach, Victoria Beach, Sandy Hook, Matlock, and many more lay claim to wide, sandy beaches. Gimli is a favourite weekend hangout with its charming marina and beach-town atmosphere (www.gimli.ca). In Spruce Woods Provincial Park, a day tripper’s
hiking trail covers forests, hills, a genuine desert, and the eerie, deep-water blue Devil’s Punch Bowl (www.gov.mb.ca/ conservation/parks/popular_parks/western/ spruce_spirit.html).
HERITAGE AND CULTURE
Winnipeg’s historic Exchange District offers tours of the largest collection of terra cotta and cut stone architecture in North America, and Hollywood filmmakers frequently film here. Outside the city, historic gems include Brandon’s Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum and its stories of World War II air fighter training (www.airmuseum.ca); Thompson’s Heritage North Museum’s tales of the area’s Aboriginal Peoples (www.heritagenorth museum.ca); and, in far western Manitoba, the Inglis Grain Elevators National Historic Site (www.ingliselevators.com) is the best remaining example of an “elevator row” in Canada. Winnipeg’s Manitoba Legislative Building, the Tyndall limestone-clad Beaux Arts Classical seat of government, opened on July 15, 1920, on the 50th anniversary of Manitoba’s entry into Confederation (www. gov.mb.ca/chc/hrb/prov/p040.html). Architectural historian, Dr. Frank Albo, leads small groups on “Hermetic Code” tours of the building (www.frankalbo.com/ the_hermetic_code/tour/). In May, the Manito Ahbee Festival in Winnipeg showcases Aboriginal culture and spectacular powwow performances (www. manitoahbee.com). February’s French Festival du Voyageur, centred in St. Boniface, focuses on Franco-Manitoban history and culture (www.festivalvoyageur. mb.ca).
MUST SEE, MUST DO
Lower Fort Garry, the national historic site just south of the city of Selkirk, shelters an historic fur-trading fort. It is also the site where Treaty 1, the first treaty between colonial explorers and Aboriginal tribes, was signed, and where the North-West Mounted Police—the precursor to Canada’s Mounties—were first trained (www. parkscanada.gc.ca/fortgarry).
The Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada, near Winnipeg’s international airport, houses Canada’s second-largest collection of vintage planes, including bush planes and a real flying saucer—the Avro Avrocar (www.royalaviationmuseum.com).
The Canadian Museum for Human Rights, adjacent to The Forks National Historic Site, is the only national museum located outside of Ottawa, and honours human rights around the world with technicallyinnovative and highly interactive exhibits (www.humanrights.ca).
The 2017 Canada Summer Games are coming to Winnipeg, just in time for Canada’s 150th birthday. The games run from July 28 to August 13 (www.2017canada games.ca/en/content/winnipeg-2017).
QUICK FACT
THE ST. BONIFACE MUSEUM, ORIGINALLY
BUILT AS A GREY NUNS CONVENT, IS WINNIPEG’S OLDEST BUILDING AND NORTH
AMERICA’S LARGEST OAK LOG STRUCTURE.
SCENIC DRIVES
Bunk in at Riding Mountain National Park’s Wasagaming townsite, and take the next day to drive to the park for early morning wildlife-spotting, a visit to the resident bison herd, selfie stops all around beautiful Clear Lake and ups and downs in the park’s unique topography. Return to Winnipeg via Highway 5 and McCreary and the selfproclaimed world lily capital of Neepawa, then the scenic Highway 16 Yellowhead route through vast farmland
clearlake.com).
(www.discover
From north Winnipeg, take River Road along the Red River to Selkirk and the Marine Museum of Manitoba (www. marinemuseum.ca), with Lower Fort Garry National Historic Site about two-thirds along the 60-km (37-mi.) route. Tiny Lockport, an historic catfishing spot (rent a boat and gear) and hot dog stand heaven, lies between the two. From Selkirk, return to Winnipeg via pretty Henderson Highway.
For a longer day trip, take Highway 44 east from Lockport, through the Agassiz Provincial Forest and all the way to Seven Sisters Falls and the classic hydro station there, then onto Pinawa for a visit to Pinawa Dam Provincial Park and the picturesque town and lake. Stop to walk the suspension bridge and hiking trails (www.gov.mb.ca/ conservation/parks/popular_parks/eastern/ pinawa.html).
FAMILY FUN
Kids go wild at FortWhyte Alive, where bison roam on prairie grasses near a pioneer sod house, teepee encampment and prairie dog town (www.fortwhyte.org), and at Assiniboine Park’s Nature Playground and Polar Playground (www. assiniboinepark.ca). Journey to Churchill is home to eleven polar bears, including Nanuk and Siku, two cubs rescued this past winter from the Churchill area.
For history and fun, families can ride the vintage steam train Prairie Dog Central Railway from north Winnipeg to the villages of Grosse Isle and Warren and back (www.pdcrailway.com).
En route to Gimli, Oak Hammock Marsh Interpretive Centre welcomes thousands of migrating geese in the fall (www.oak hammockmarsh.ca); and, at the Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre in Morden, see monster fossils from prehistoric Lake Agassiz and the new 15-m-long (50-ft.) life-sized replica of Bruce, the world’s biggest publicly displayed mosasaur (www.discoverfossils.com).