As part of the program, we take two extended weekend excursions, one in June and one in July. Our June trip was to Winnipeg, Manitoba. About a 9-hour drive from Eau Claire, we left early on Friday June 22nd, and returned late on Monday, June 25th. While there we stayed at the HI-Winnipeg Ivey House Hostel. This was conveniently located to downtown, and a redeveloped area called The Forks which has been a meeting place for over 11,000 years at the confluence of the Assiniboine and Red Rivers.
The Red River flows northward from North Dakota all the way to Hudson Bay. The Forks has lots of shops, restaurants, a skateboard park, an ampitheater, and is close to Union Station. It was a very interesting place to hang out. Some of us took a river boat tour and rode up to where the provincial legislative building sits on the banks of the Assiniboine. The rivers were running so high from the spring rains and melt that the steps leading from the grounds of the legislative building down to the river were flooded. In the picture, at the top of the building is a statue of “Golden Boy,” a gift from the French at roughly the same time they gave the Statue of Liberty to the United States. The building was built extremely large because at the time (late 19th century), Winnipeg had the largest railyard in the world, and the thinking was that it would continue to be a major continental shipping city in North America. However, when the Panama Canal was built, the importance of Winnipeg as a major transportation and shipping hub began to diminish significantly. It still boasts one of the three largest railyards in the world, with only Chicago and Moscow being larger.
Running across the Red River is a very impressive foot bridge with a restaurant in the middle overlooking the river. Our Sunday dinner was enjoyed there as we wound down our trip.
On Saturday we drove up to Winnipeg Beach on the shores of giant Lake Winnipeg. Although the weather was’t perfect, we did enjoy swimming in and gazing at the huge body of water, and enjoying the local small town Canadian culture.
We arrived in Winnipeg during the annual Jazz Festival. Headliners included the Josh Redman Trio, Herbie Hancock, and the Dave Brubeck Quartet. We were able to get discounted tickets for Josh Redman on Saturday night.
On June 16th we took a day trip to the Apostle Islands on Lake Superior. Off the coast of Bayfield, WI is Madeline Island, reachable by Ferry. The day was beautiful, and the islands were very interesting.
