Our morning in Brandon began with, surprise, surprise...a quest to find local caffeine.
We happened upon H Coffee due to pure luck of logistics.
Unassuming from the exterior, the inside was comfortable, clean, and welcoming. Steven called it when he said it looked like a coffee laboratory.
It was so nice we decided to sit with our lattes and enjoy a homemade blueberry muffin before hitting the road.
Glad we did because the shop owner took an interest and came over to chat.
She and her family are from Shanghai and are hardworking, grounded, and just lovely.
Their story is so familiar: decent people trying to do right by themselves and others.
If you’re ever in Brandon, Manitoba, stop by H Coffee, enjoy the best roasted beans for miles, and say hi to Vera and Robin!
Extending our thanks and our goodbyes, we jumped back on The 1 and headed to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.
Another day on the road, another Canadian province visited.
We ventured on and off the main drag, taking backroads and looking for anything interesting to see or do; finding the longest suspending bridge in the province as well as a number of impressive grain elevators.
The only concrete plan we had for the day was a 4:00PM appointment in Moose Jaw for a tour of their famous underground tunnel system, supposedly used by Al Capone.
We landed in the cute little western town with time enough to check in to The Grand Hall Hotel and zip down the street to the tunnels.
All of us were under the impression that this was an informational tour where we could ask questions and learn a little about the history of the area and its role in the prohibition era; there was nothing on the entire Interwebs that would indicate otherwise.
Wrong... So, so wrong.
The educational tour ended up being high school dinner theater, at best, and we were all trapped in it as “whiskey runners.”
No pictures allowed, of course, we wouldn't want to ruin the big surprise for future hoodwinked visitors.
Flapper Fannie led us out the door and across the street to another building. We trekked upstairs to a dining hall, eerily reminiscent of “The Shining,” where animatronic characters with gray and peeling rubber skin explained a totally fabricated story about Al Capone visiting Moose Jaw on the regular.
There is absolutely zero evidence to back this up.
We sat at a circular four-top, tableware delicately in place, and watched a brief talkie before being led into “Al’s bedroom” and through a semi-secret passageway in the closet, down to the tunnels.
The tunnels themselves were pretty cool and indeed run all under Moose Jaw, crossing streets, connecting to hotels and small businesses alike.
This isn’t terribly unusual in larger, older cities around the globe. And while, large city Moose Jaw is not...underground walkways are especially common in Canada as the winters can a wee bit rough.
Most of the original walls were covered in brick cladding and dressed to suit the story. The tour was based on “Ancient Aliens”-level truths and speculation with whiskey that we were not offered.
It honestly would have been more interesting had they left it alone and made the tunnel tour, you know, about the tunnels.
Nah, we got theater.
But look, kudos to those kids for doing something creative, anything really, in Moose Jaw. Standing ovation for you all...just don't expect me to be excited about participating.
Fannie handed us off to Gus and we all miraculously survived a huge Tommy gun shootout at the end of the 50-minute charade...
After the tour, we headed straight to the hotel bar.
Martinis for dinner. And much deserved.
Moose Jaw...in Al Capone fashion, you duped us, but you did not disappoint!
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