They zipped up to Winnipeg and stayed with Ms. Kate Quinn for
two days. Kate’s a Cape Bretoner; a frank, no-nonsense kind of gal; a teacher
they used to work with at CLLC in Ottawa. She’s now married to her man Matt,
who is a bag-piper in the Canadian military. They live on a bleak base in bleak
Winnipeg, but hey! Winnipeg builds character! Mark lived there for two years
and look what it did to him….
Well, those two globetrotters Meg’n’Mark did a lot of
catching up in Winnipeg over brews and met a coworker of Matt’s named
Miguel/Mike; he’s a pianist in the Canadian military. It was interesting for
them to interact with non-military types who are in the military. The arts are
typically about the individual; the military about the collective; an
interesting juxtaposition. Kate (fiery as always) had recently given her notice
as an ESL Teacher at the University of Manitoba; she’s retiring from teaching
grammar, vocabulary, etc! Who knows what the future will hold?
Goodbyes are always inevitable. M’n’M left Winnipeg early in
the morn where they said theirs to a sleepy-eyed Kate and Matt and where Mark accidentally
let out their new pup Alba. Matt had to chase her down in his skivvies. Mark
was deeply apologetic about this that he secretly left them all his Busch beer.
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| Kate, Matt and Meg |
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| Matt retrieving Alba
Saskatchewan was their next stop. They visited the small
village of Fenwood, population 32, where Mark’s grandmother Evelyn Higham spent
a good part of her life. In that gusty Saskatchewan wind, Meg and Mark searched
the cemetery high and low, but finally were able to find her gravestone, as
well as Mark’s grandfather’s, in nearby Melville – with the help of Mark’s
intrepid mother via texted directions. Cemeteries should have more of a directory,
onethinks.
Please let me, the narrator, pause for one moment; Mark
wants to share a few words: “I spent many a summer of childhood in Fenwood
staying at my grandmother’s. Many a good memory there. It’s strange to see her
place turned into a storage shed for the neighbor. Her garden, which she
gardened in until she was 95ish, has been covered with a new house. Her whole
house has been gutted from the inside and her porch removed. I played on the
ole’ merry-go-round at the ole’ schoolhouse in town; it made me feel ill just
like it did when I was a kid getting spinned on it with my brother by our
father. Ah, the memories! I was happy to share them with Megan.”
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They continued their way down to Moose Jaw, Sask. where they
stayed at a nice B’n’B overlooking the town. Moose Jaw has a very interesting
history, which they hadn’t known anything about. During the era of Prohibition
in the USA, Moose Jaw was nicknamed Little Chicago and it was the launching
point of illegal bootlegging into Chicago. Moose Jaw had been the railroad hub
in wet Saskatchewan that supplied dry Chicago with alcohol to the south. Al
Capone, aka Scarface, set up the illegal smuggling operation and was known to
frequent Moose Jaw in a secret sort of way.
Moose Jaw was also the birthplace of Mark’s aforementioned
Grandmother; she also grew up there. Back then, Moose Jaw was the red light
capital of Saskatchewan (have no idea where it is now!). There were brothels,
gambling joints and bars all downtown along River Street. Mark’s grandmother,
being a good girl, never went to that side of town. Now, it’s a tourist area. Meg
and Mark did an amazing tour at ‘The Tunnels of Moose Jaw.’
Here’s Mark again: “In the tour, we were bootleggers that
explored the speakeasies (secret saloons) in the escape tunnels underneath
Moose Jaw. Al Capone needed a quick escape sometimes and these tunnels were
definitely labyrinth like. Megan kept waiting for someone to jump out at us, so
naturally I bravely went first. The tour guides were fun; they made you apart
of the action; there was a hostess of a speakeasy named Fanny who had to sneak
us out through the tunnels where we met Gus, a local gangster, who helped us
escape. Definitely recommended! One of the best tours we’ve been on! It got me excited
to re-explore the 1920s: Al Capone, The Untouchables, John Dillinger, Elliot
Ness, that whole era! Our plan is to return to Canada via Chicago, so maybe
there’ll be a similar tour there.”
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| Our Moose Jaw B'n'B Room |
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| Moose Jaw B'n'B |
Presently, our heroes are crossing the wide, flat prairies
to Calgary, Alberta. That is where they are now in the midst of their epic journey.
They’re due for an oil change, so hopefully they can find a Mr. Lube in Calgary
somewheres. Cross your fingers for them, dear readers. After Calgary, they’re
bound for Banff and the great province of B.C.! Will they make it? Stay tuned!
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