Sunday, June 14, 2009

Day Off in Winnipeg, Manitoba

Made it to the border around 10:30 this morning. Took the better part of two hours to get all five buses of personnel through Immigrations. On any rock tour, there are always a couple of guys with (minor) criminal records that require thorough examination by the Immigrations folks.

Got away clean and made it to the hotel by sometime around 1 or 1:15pm. We're staying at the Radisson in central downtown Winnipeg. Last time I was here, I stayed at the Fairmont, about 5 blocks away. There's a cool minor-league baseball park nearby, too. I went to a game there one year.

As luck would have it, we're here on Sunday, which is the night that all the classic car aficionados cruise the downtown area, specifically Portage Avenue, the main drag, where our hotel is located.

Before I even went to dinner, I saw nothing less than 30 cars I'd love to own. I'm talking pristine-condition pieces from the 60's and 70's.

I went to Hy's Steak Loft for dinner, probably the best steak house in Winnipeg. Had a great shrimp cocktail appetizer and a blackened tuna steak for my entrée. Service couldn't have been better, but maybe that's because I had the entire bar area to myself.

Spoke to the sommelier for about 20 minutes about Canadian wines. He was very helpful and educational. One of the waitresses overheard our conversation and I wound up talking to her for another 15 or 20 minutes about Charlotte, of all things. She had friends in Huntersville, NC, (just north of Charlotte) and knew plenty of North Carolina.

After dinner, I hit my hotel bar for a beer and went to stand outside to watch all the vintage cars go by. Think I'm gonna have to buy another convertible at some point…

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