A Slice of Life
Bill Lites
Day 9 – July 23:
Remember Doug, who visited the Valiant Air Command Museum earlier this year, and told me to contact him when I arrived in Winnipeg for a tour of the city? Well, he never returned my calls when I called him to let him know I was in Winnipeg. So, I headed out after breakfast this morning, to visit the museums I had planned to visit on my own. It was Sunday, and I wasn’t sure how many museums would be open, but I had to try. My first stop was the Royal Canadian Mint, with its very unique building design, but they were closed.
Photo Credit: Bill Lites
As I was heading for the next museum, I saw the GWWD Railway Station and stopped to take a photo. At the time, I had no idea what GWWD stood for, but the word “Railway Station” on the end of the building let me know it had something to do with trains. Later, I Googled it and found out it was the Greater Winnipeg Water District railway station that was built in 1935 as part of the freshwater aqueduct system to supply fresh water to the surrounding cities of Winnipeg and St. Boniface
Photo Credit: Bill Lites
My next stop was to visit the St. Boniface Cathedral, located adjacent to the Verendrye Park in the St. Boniface area. The original log chapel on this site was built by the Rev. Norbert Provencher in 1818 and served the St. Boniface community until 1832 when a larger building (cathedral) replaced it. A fire destroyed that cathedral in 1860 and a second cathedral was built in 1868. That cathedral was expanded in 1906, but another fire in 1968 destroyed most of that structure. In 1972 a new cathedral was built behind the facade of the much larger and more beautiful 1906 cathedral, leaving what we see in the photo below. You can just barely see the top of the 1972 cathedral roof at the bottom of the opening of the 1906 cathedral front window opening (once the beautiful stained-glass window of the 1906 cathedral).
Photo Credit: Bill Lites
Just a few miles away I tried to visit the Electrical Museum, but it was closed. Now I headed for the Canadian Aviation Museum (one of the main destinations for this road trip) located adjacent to the Winnipeg International Airport. This museum’s new facility has only been open since 2021 and displays 30+ beautifully restored static (mostly early Canadian) aircraft, including a full-size Vickers VC2 Viscount. Most of the museum’s aircraft date from the early 1900s to the 1980s. The majority of these airplanes were used by bush pilots during the ever-expanding development of the Ontario/Manitoba wilderness. The museum also has several WWII era aircraft that have been restored to flying condition and are parked on the tarmac outside the museum.
Photo Credit: Bill Lites
As I was heading for the next museum, I passed the Manitoba Legislative Building and stopped to take a photo of that impressive structure (I am always on the lookout for any unusual or impressive building structures to photograph). It was closed today, so I just continued on my way to visit the Manitoba Museum, which was crowded with weekend visitors today.
Photo Credit: Bill Lites
The Manitoba Museum is an impressive multi-level, multi-purpose museum that chronicles the history of man and his surrounding natural habitat, in the Manitoba region, dating from the early ice age to the present. The museum also has a planetarium and a science gallery with hands-on interactive learning stations that all ages can enjoy.
Photo Credit: Bill Lites
——To Be Continued—–
Bill is a retired Mechanical engineer living with his wonderful artist/writer wife, DiVoran, of 65 years in Titusville, Florida. He was born and raised in the Southwest, did a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy, attended Northrop University in Southern California and ended up working on America’s Manned Space Program for 35 years. He currently is retired and spends most of his time building and flying R/C model airplanes, traveling, writing blogs about his travels for Word Press and supporting his wife’s hobbies with framing, editing and marketing. He also volunteers with a local church Car Care Ministry and as a tour guide at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum there in Titusville. Bill has two wonderful children, two outstanding grandchildren, and a loving sister and her husband, all of whom also live in Central Florida, so he and DiVoran are rewarded by having family close to spend lots of quality time with.
One of Bill’s favorite Scriptures is: John 10:10
Old Things R New 
That’s a lot of pleasant buildings to see on a lovely day.
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