By: Samie

Travel Dates: July 18th-22nd, 2024

Day 4

(The Forks Market, The Old Spaghetti Factory, Assiniboine Park Zoo, The Great Outdoors Comedy Festival)

After another restful evening in our Winnipeg Airbnb, we started getting up and ready the next morning a little before 9:00 am. After hearing about all the delicious treats and goodies at the bakery across the street from where we were staying, I decided I wanted to check it out for myself, so Luke and I made a plan to go on another breakfast pastry run together.

We got up, dressed, shared our game with the family, and made our way over to A l’Epi de Blé French Bakery. However, we quickly only discovered that on Saturdays, such as the previous day we had gotten baked goods from here, they open at 9:00. As you may have put together, it was now Sunday, and they didn’t open until 10:00. We didn’t want to be the weird people that stand outside an establishment, waiting for it to open, so we instead made our way back to the Airbnb to hang out and watch some morning television with everyone for a little while to pass the time instead.

Once opening time had approached, and even slightly passed for safety, we once again made our way from our cozy Airbnb, across the busy street nearby, and over to the bakery. Fortunately, we were not disappointed by the array of mouth-watering sweet treats and were able to successfully acquire and retrieve a box of our top morning’s top choices.

For the day, there was really only one large event on the docket, The Great Outdoors Comedy Festival. Since the festival was taking place within Assiniboine Park, we figured we would also head over early to secure a good parking spot and visit the Assiniboine Park Zoo as well. The show started at 7:30 pm, with doors opening for VIP and General Admission+ holders (we had opted for the GA+ tickets) at 5:30 pm, and the only time limit for the zoo was that it closed at 5:00 pm. This meant we had our whole day to fill.

After finding the most amazing antique mall at the very end of our time limit at The Forks Market the day before and having to cut the time I actually wanted to spend there short, I was interested in returning to The Forks. I also had thoroughly enjoyed the pecan bar I had gotten at the bakery inside the market from the day before, and was definitely interested in getting my hands on one or two more. Luke was on the same page and down for a double-back. The rest of the family didn’t seem quite as enthusiastic but were supportive and willing to let us drag them back for a little bit before heading to the zoo for the rest of the afternoon.

We arrived at The Forks Market around noon. Luke and I made our way inside while the others found some tables to relax at outside. Luke and my first stop here today was at the arcade, which we had ran out of time to try the day before. We got to exchange some of our money for a Canadian bill, and then exchange our bill for some Canadian loonies, which may have been my favorite part of the arcade, but that seems like a wild proclamation, so who’s to say.

My favorite arcade games are claw machines, as previously mentioned, so I spent most of my loonies at a little rubber duck claw machine that was play to win, so even if I didn’t get one on the first attempt, I got to try until I won a prize! Another plus was that there was a kid that had put a single loonie into the machine and then walked away when it didn’t work. This machine just so happened to take two coins, not one, so it cost me half the price. The same child came back while we were trying out another prize game and made the same mistake, so it was another half price game for me. Just for your peace of mind, we weren’t lurking and waiting for the child to waste their coins. We had simply seen them over at the machine and had long since walked away by the time we made our way over, where we noticed there was already one credit blinking on the machine.

The coveted prize that I was after was a little rubber dinosaur, as not everything in the machine was an actual duck. I had to pull a few other little plastic friends that were resting on top of him, but was finally able to claim my prize! We ended up leaving the arcade with a bagful of rubber duck friends.

Before making our way over to the other terminal where the vintage mall was located, we stopped at the bakery to collect my highly desired pecan squares! We then made sure to say hello to our family as we passed them on our way over to the antique mall. It was then time to make our way into the basement that housed some of the most spectacular glassware and vintage collectibles that I’d ever seen in person!

We now had a much less rushed and stressful amount of time to explore all the stunning pieces. By we, I mostly mean me, but still. In the past few years, I have, for some explicable reason, developed a fascination and draw to glassware and glass-blown decor. Around home, pieces that grab my interest and are calling to join my collection are a little more challenging to find. However, after just one walk-through of this entire area, there were countless pieces I would have loved to have in my possession.

While I could’ve easily bought a car-load of glass decor, it wasn’t really in the budget or the space we had, so my goal was to just find and pick one item. I technically had already purchased a gorgeous little cat perfume bottle during the quick sprint yesterday, but I was looking for something a little more substantial and elegant today.

I was able to eliminate some choices based simply on price. My original front-runner was the most gorgeous porcelain kitten that we actually had to have unlocked from a curio display case in order to view. However, the price was about $100 for a small little kitten, so I had to give it a melancholy farewell. Some I had to remove from my purchase list because of size and ability to safely bring home.

After walking the same loops over and over, I finally settled on a reasonably priced and uniquely stunning glass vase. It was still a little on the larger side, but was tall and thin enough to be able to pack away in the van safely for the drive home. With my new purchase secured, we made our way back out to find and regroup with the rest of our family. When we found them, we discovered they had found a boat tour down by the river near The Forks and taken a little ride around to help enjoy and pass the time!

I’m going to jump ahead in time just a little bit for easier grouping. After having lunch (again, that part is coming up, so keep reading!), there was one more stop we made within the market. Something that has become very challenging for us where we live is the ability to acquire frozen yogurt, which is a dessert I thoroughly enjoy! There was a frozen yogurt establishment in the market called Fro-gurts where they actually mix fresh fruit with the frozen yogurt to make your flavor, so it’s the best of both worlds!

When choosing your frozen yogurt, you can choose up to any two fruit flavors on the menu to mix together. It was between the mango and the peach for me because those are my two go-to flavors, but ultimately I was feeling just a little more peachy. Luke got the Bumbleberry, which was a mix of apple, blueberry, and raspberry. They were absolutely delightful and fresh!

Now jumping back to lunch! Located in the same railway stable as the antique mall was a restaurant called The Old Spaghetti Factory, where we decided to stop in for a nice sit down lunch. The place had a very antique old time restaurant feel, but we were seated out in the sunroom, so it escalated it by also being well-lit on top of the fun vintage decorations and light fixtures!

A very cool feature of this restaurant is that it’s an “all included” eating establishment. This means that when you order from the menu, a complete meal is included within on price. You choose an entree, and along with the price of that entree, you also get a slab of sourdough bread, a choice of minestrone soup or salad, and ice cream for dessert! You can also enjoy a hot tea or coffee included with your meal as well.

For lunch, they also had lunch specials options to choose from that offered a few different entrees as “lunch size” portions as well, which I appreciated because I’m usually a lighter lunch eater. For our side of the table, Luke ordered the regular sized of the tortellini pomodoro, and I ordered the lunch size spaghetti.

While the meal and coffee were very pleasant and enjoyable, my favorite part had to be the spumoni ice cream! I had never heard of this flavor before, but it very quickly became one of my favorites! Their spumoni was a mixture of just chocolate and pistachio (sometimes cherry can be an included flavor, but I don’t particularly enjoy cherry flavoring, so I was more than fine with just the two). I had recently had some pistachio ice cream on our trip just about a week earlier to Nashville, and I discovered that I really really like pistachio ice cream. Apparently, it’s also delicious mixed with chocolate!

After a very successful return to The Forks Market, it was time to make our way over to Assiniboine Park Zoo to find a good parking spot for the festival and also enjoy spending the rest of our afternoon meandering around an area filled with animals, which if you know me at all, you know how much I love animals!

We pulled into the zoo’s parking lot around 2:00pm and made our way through the welcome center to buy our tickets and officially enter the delightful Canadian zoo! Now, because I adore animals, I could probably compose an entire post simply on how happy it made made me and how much I enjoyed myself just walking around watching animals and exploring man-made habitat replicas for the animals to interact within. However, the main event of this day was actually not the zoo, so I’ll simply share my highlights instead.

The Assiniboine Park Zoo is best known for their polar bears, so before our visit, I was most enthusiastic to see the polar bears! By the end of our time, the animal I most enjoyed was actually not their polar bears, so you’ll have to keep reading to find out which creature ended up stealing my heart!

Since we didn’t have a specific game plan, we started by just choosing a direction to start making our way around the walking path. We came across the kangaroo exhibit first where you walk through a set of double doors and can actually enter the habitat and walk around within a designated area of the kangaroo enclosure. It was a very warm July day, so the kangaroos could not have been less interested in us as they lounged in the cool shade. After continuing, we found some coolness ourselves when we came upon the Discovery Centre. The building was air condition, and they just so happened to be starting their presentation on some of the featured animals inside. One of those featured animals was the cutest little sloth that of course made my list of top animals we got to see that day. You’ll have to check out the picture below and just see for yourself!

Like I said, I could go on and on about how big my smile was as an iguana slowly walked it’s way over to me and we made faces at each other through the glass or watching a large boa constrictor contentedly slither directly under the viewing glass or a sweet little tortoise that slowly walked his shell over to the fence I was standing at just to say hi or an adorable and large bat munching on his meal upside down. Instead, I’ll focus on my next highlighted animal, which was a very hot and what appeared to be panting snowy owl. This little winged friend makes my list for a couple of reasons. The first reason is that watching their open-beaked, throat pulsing way to cool down was entertaining on its own. The second reason is that my favorite book series is Harry Potter, and Hedwig, Harry’s owl, is also a snowy owl, so I got to enjoy my own personal magical moment.

Ready for the animal that takes the first place pedestal and the animal that was the basis for our zoo magnet choice? After searching for the polar bears that were much too tired in the mid day heat to be out and about for us to see, we entered the Journey to Churchill exhibit where, after enjoying a beautiful show on the people and animals that live in Canada’s north in the 360 Aurora Borealis Theatre, we began making our way around the iconic exhibit. While a few polar bears were spotted with great effort in their nap spots, there was an incredibly spirited pod of harbor seals swimming about!

There was a gaggle of rowdy children crowded occupying all the territory in front of the viewing glass for a while, so I had to patiently wait and watch from a further distance until the youths moved on. It was then my turn to make my way up closer to the glass and watch with wide eyes and pure joy as the seals playful swam by, zipping and darting in a slightly different spot each time they passed, almost like we had our own little game. I made my way to another panel of glass that looked in on the seals, and witnessed what I would probably consider my favorite wild animal interaction. The four harbor seals pressed their squishy noses together in a circle, slowly let their bunch of bodies rise within the water, and blew bubbles in the middle of their circle that rose and churned above them. I easily could’ve stood and watch them all day!

During our time at the zoo, we were also able to find some beautiful benches and nature habitat backdrops for some fun pictures! Like I said, we also came across a few of the very lazy and sleepy polar bears, but we unfortunately hadn’t come at a time where they were active. Maybe we will have to visit again and give the polar bears another try, but I wouldn’t mind coming back just to say hello to my new little aquatic friends either!

The afternoon absolutely flew by, as the fickle concept of time does when one is enjoying themselves about as much as possible. It was just about closing time for the zoo, so we made our way to the gift shop so that I could pick out the cutest little harbor seal magnet to commemorate my time watching my new third favorite animal. I also came across an adorable seal plushie that wasn’t on my list of souvenirs but was also too cute to leave behind.

Now, I tend to run much cooler temperature than most, so while I was slightly warm but mostly a very comfortable temperature, everyone else was overheating and needed a cool-down session in the van before we were going to grab our lawn chairs and make our way over to where the comedy festival was being held.

Something else to note about me is that I am an incredibly anxious person. As previously mentioned, the gates would open for General Admission+ ticket holders at 5:30. I knew that people would obviously start lining up before then. I didn’t know how many other patrons had splurged for the GA+ tickets over the GA tickets, and I wanted a good spot in line because there weren’t assigned seats, so it was first come, first serve for finding a place to set up your lawn chair. There was already the large area up closest to the stage that would be blocked off for VIP ticket holders, and I wanted to get as close as we possibly could for the show.

While the others were still trying to regulate their body temperatures, I was struggling to regulate the rising anxiety I could feel pulsing through my entire body as the 5:30 time ticked closer and closer, and we still hadn’t started the approximately 15-minute walk to the park.

Finally, we were all ready to grab our chairs and make our way to the festival entrance. I was walking very quickly to try and get in line because I could hold a spot since everyone else was trailing behind a little bit. Luke didn’t like that idea and insisted we all stayed together, so I begrudgingly did so. By the time we got to where the line for the entrance, it was, as I had anticipated, quite long. It fortunately moved quickly, and the digital scan of the tickets on my phone was efficient and easy, and we were in fast enough.

We popped our chairs into the closest spots available and started to sit and recover from the brisk walk over. I, however, was feeling very flustered from the whole ordeal and wanted to release my tension with a walk about and maybe some food or drink since the whole back of the park was lined with food trucks and stands. We also wanted to check out some of the merch to see if we could get some Nate Bargatze stuff, but it was all generic Great Outdoors items and not specific to any one comedian. We did still get a few stickers but not the usual souvenirs we collect at each travel location.

Some other stops we completed while filling the 2 hours before the show actually started was at a Mike’s sample stand where we played a game of bean bag toss and got to put our names in an entry to win a VIP table (we didn’t win by the way). We also hopped in some food truck lines to try and get some food before the GA ticket holders began to make their way in and the food lines got even longer than they were already starting to.

For our main “meal”, Luke and I got in line at the Faraci Foods food truck because they were serving poutine, which is one of Luke’s favorites and hello, it’s Canada! After a ridiculously long wait in line, he ordered the poutine, and I ordered dill pickle seasoned fries. We also stopped and got beverages (it is a 21+ event, so you don’t have to show an idea upon entrance) so that we wouldn’t have to get up and wander during the show.

The two hours went by surprisingly quickly, and 7:30 rolled around before we knew it! The show has a no phone policy, and if you were caught using your phone to take pictures or video during a performance, you would be immediately escorted from the premises. We are already rule-following people, and we had no interest in paying the money we had for tickets only to be removed before the show was over, so we did as instructed and kept our phones away. This means, we unfortunately don’t have any pictures from the actual performances.

The show was so much fun. They had a few local and Canadian comedians kick off the show and then brought up an opener that Nate had brough with him named Derrick Stroup. He. Was. Hilarious! We had never heard of him before, but he immediately left us wanting more, and we ended up checking out some more of his material once we got back home. Our stomachs were nice and warmed from laughter by the time Nate took the stage for the main event.

It was worth every penny getting to watch him perform live. He absolutely crushed it, as he always does. We were in tears by the time he wrapped up. He had a whole hour, and it didn’t seem like enough time. If you haven’t checked out any of Nate Bargatze’s specials, I cannot recommend them highly enough. He is a clean comic, so the whole family can enjoy his wonderful comedy!

As the night came to a close, we made our way back to the van and quietly reflected and the jam-packed and glorious day we had just had. How many people can say they get to experience a market, zoo, and comedy show with some of their favorite people in the world all in one day? Well, we officially can! It was a quiet night back at the Airbnb because we were all tired after our full day, but I’m pretty sure we all got to go to sleep with big smiles on our faces and a warm sense of love and family in our hearts, even knowing tomorrow we would be departing Winnipeg.