Summer in Saskatchewan

Who goes to Saskatchewan you may ask?  Well, in this case, me.  My brother and sister-in-law moved to Regina last year and I was due to a trip over the Memorial Day long weekend.

After a layover in Minneapolis, the flight landed at the Regina airport Friday afternoon.  A ride around the city left me surprisingly impressed.  In my head, I assumed the middle of nowhere Canada meant a small town with nothing around.  Turns out, Regina is a city with lots of buildings, restaurants, shopping centers, etc.  It reminded me of a typical mid-west city in the US.  Sprawled out and absolutely mandatory that you have a car. 

Outside the Royal Saskatchewan Museum 

My top priority for this trip was visiting with my family, my second top priority was shopping at Roots.  After that, food and culture.  I ended up visiting Roots twice that weekend and definitely ate some poutine.  Saturday we visited the Royal Saskatchewan Museum.  The building was beautiful, but the inside did not blow me away.  At the time we were visiting, the special exhibit was called "Snakes Alive.  It featured several snakes of Saskatchewan and was an interesting, albeit small exhibit.  The rest of the building was mostly dioramas highlighting the landscape and animals in Canada.  To be honest, it was underwhelming.  

The next day we had brunch at Willow on the Wascana. It was delicious and the view over the lake was nice on the slightly-chilly day.  After brunch, we went to the RCMP Heritage Centre.  Shortly after we arrived, a driving tour was ready to leave, so we jumped on the trolly and went along for the ride.  We drove around the Depot and learned about the academy and steps involved in training.  We made a pit-stop at the chapel to admire the stained glass.  I definitely recommend the driving tour since it put everything into perspective and there were plenty of opportunities to ask questions.  After the tour, we spent some time in the museum going through each exhibit.  The virtual reality experience was pretty neat and I also really enjoyed the training movie.  The whole place was very nicely organized. 

The Chapel at the RCMP Heritage Centre

Our last night in Regina was spent getting food and drinks nearby and enjoying the good company of family.