Weekend in Winnipeg

When we toured all 30 hockey arenas from 2008 to 2010, Atlanta still had a team, so that's where we went when we were making our way around the NHL.  Since that time, the team has relocated from Atlanta to Winnipeg (which is in Manitoba, Canada) and the Thrashers became the Jets.  Of course, there already was a team called the Winnipeg Jets, but that franchise was relocated to Arizona in the 1990's and was renamed the Coyotes.  Confused yet?  I know. 

Regardless, this change took place in 2011, after we had visited the 30 arenas, so we kept telling ourselves we needed to take a trip to Winnipeg to see a game.  It would also serve the secondary purpose of adding to our list of provinces we have visited; C had been to Winnipeg for work, but I had never been to Manitoba, so now we are tied with eight of the ten provinces visited.  I am sure we’ll make it to Saskatchewan and Newfoundland someday.

There were two factors to consider when planning the trip: 1) tickets to Winnipeg Jets games are extremely hard to come by, meaning we had to go when we found tickets, regardless of who the opponent was (when we were going around the league, we tried to attend games where we rooted for at least one of the teams); and 2) the game needed to be early on in the season to avoid potential winter weather.

After much research, C found us tickets and flights for the last weekend in October.  We lucked out because one of the teams C likes is the Colorado Avalanche, so when he found game tickets for when they were in Winnipeg, he was pretty excited.

Our flight to Minneapolis was at 6 am on Saturday morning, and with it being so early, I was asleep before takeoff and did not wake until we were almost landing.  Upon our arrival, we picked up our rental car, grabbed some breakfast, and embarked on a seven-hour drive to Winnipeg.  C did all of the driving while I read in the car.  Not fun, leisurely, bestseller reading, mind you.  Pages and pages and pages of textbook and research article reading.  (You will quickly identify this as a theme of the weekend.  Occupational hazard.)  I have no problem reading in the car, but highlighting is a different story.  Case in point:

Our trip was only a few days after the tragedy in Ottawa, so when I spotted the Canadian flag at half-mast at the border, I made C pull over so I could snap a quick photo:

When we arrived in Winnipeg, we did some decidedly Canadian things that we can't do at home:  shopping at Roots, eating at Harvey's, and getting coffee at Tim Hortons.  We also found an awesome building with some of the elements of the periodic table on it - so naturally I tried to make the "Breaking Bad" logo.  Unfortunately, the lighting was terrible, I was using my phone's camera, and the two elements were on different levels and at different ends of the building, so the angles and lighting do not match.  However, this did not stop me from immediately texting it to my brother, a fellow rabid fan of the show!  After that, we had a quiet evening hanging out at the hotel, filled with several hours of homework (me) and hockey-watching (C).

The next morning, we checked out of the hotel and headed over to Assiniboine Park. 

Some of you may not know this, but "Pooh Bear" has been my nickname for my entire life.  On the day I was born, my grandma gave me a stuffed Winnie the Pooh.  That bear was my best friend.  He went on every adventure with me and we had grand conversations.  You know how people always say that if their house caught fire, they'd grab their photo albums?  Not me.  Once C and our dogs were safe, the only material possession I would run back in to save would be my Pooh Bear.  He is my Hobbes.

My Pooh Bear - ragged and matted from many baths - but so very loved!

So imagine my surprise and delight when C found this gem as he was planning the trip.  Assiniboine Park is home to the Pavilion Gallery Museum and housed in this museum is an exhibit about Winnie the Pooh.  It was so wonderful.  There is also a statue of the bear who was the inspiration for the A. A. Milne character.

From Wikipedia:

Winnipeg, or Winnie, (24 August 1914 – 12 May 1934) was the name given to a female black bear that lived at London Zoo from 1915 until her death in 1934.

She was bought as a small cub for $20 (probably from the hunter who had shot her mother) at a stop in White River, Ontario, by Lt. Harry Colebourn of The Fort Garry Horse, a Canadian cavalry regiment, en route to the Western Front during the First World War. The bear was smuggled into Britain as an unofficial regimental mascot. Lt. Colebourn, the regiment’s veterinarian, named her after his home city of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Before leaving for France, Colebourn left Winnie at the London Zoo.

Winnipeg's eventual destination was to have been the Assiniboine Park Zoo in Winnipeg, but at the end of the War, Colebourn decided to allow Winnie to remain at the London Zoo, where she was much loved for her playfulness and gentleness. Among her fans was A. A. Milne's son Christopher Robin, who consequently changed the name of his own teddy bear from "Edward Bear" to "Winnie the Pooh," providing the inspiration for his father's stories about Winnie-the-Pooh.

What a great story - except the part about the hunter killing Winnie's mother - that I didn't know before this trip!

After spending time at the park, we drove downtown and stopped at Hudson's Bay Company (another favorite Canadian must-do for us) before heading to the game.  The final score was 2-1 in overtime in favor of Winnipeg, but we did not stay to watch the overtime period because we had a seven-hour drive back to Minneapolis after the game.  The fans were very passionate and brought a great energy to the game.  As for me, I brought a textbook to the game and read/highlighted during every down moment.  I know some of the fans sitting near us were not impressed with me.

The drive was pretty uneventful.  I was annoyed with myself because I usually bring a book light with me on car trips so that I can read in the car, but I failed to do so this time.  So I had to use my phone's flashlight which was a challenge, trying to hold the phone and keep the textbook open with one hand, and trying to highlight as I read with the other hand.  On a very bumpy road.  I doubt I'll forget to pack a book light again any time soon.

sunset we witnessed on our drive back to Minnesota

We checked in to what was possibly our shortest hotel stay to date – it was less than seven hours from check in to check out.  Our flight home was great and we are proud to say we've now been to games in 31 NHL cities.  :-)

Minneapolis-St. Paul airport - couldn't pass up a photo of rainbow lighting

Happy Tails to you!