Ah! The Great Warm Indoors

Here’s how to take the winter out of winter.

By Percy Rowe

Hate the cold and ice and want to escape? Well, you can fly south or you can stay at home and enjoy Canada in the winter – indoors. There are wonderful things to see and do right across the country. Starting with the obvious, there are churches (no Montreal visitor should miss the gorgeous interior windows of Notre-Dame), casinos (if you don’t mind losing your shirt), movie houses, social clubs for bridge parties, and even bowling alleys. And don’t forget the national and provincial museums and galleries (see Marvellous Museums) or the big-city performing arts attractions (see Warm Winter Nights). On top of that there are all of the unusual attractions you might not have thought of. Whatever your interests, there’s a different kind of winter wonderland just waiting to be discovered indoors.

Out of the Ordinary
A new entertainment addition in Canada is the five-storey Olympic Spirit complex (416-408-2179) in the heart of downtown Toronto. Thanks to all manner of interactive gadgetry, visitors can take an exhilarating ride in a bobsled, run against Olympians in the first 10 metres of the 100-metre dash, try to follow the intricate patterns of figure skating or practise slap shots. There are also film highlights of past Olympics and, if you’re lucky, a real live Olympian to guide you around.

Another newcomer for the curious is Parks Canada’s Marine Discovery Centre (905-526-0911) in Hamilton Harbour in southern Ontario. It’s easily possible to spend half a day here finding out about Canada’s underwater wonders and even “piloting” a freighter or listening to the roar of an Atlantic gale.

Not all winter escapes are as technologically up-to-date as this. In the small town of Dugald, a 30-minute drive east of Winnipeg, the Costume Museum of Canada (1-866-853-2166) has a linen napkin from the table of Queen Elizabeth I. “Come See What’s in Our Drawers” is the saucy come-on for this spot. The answer: 35,000 items, ranging from 17th-century gentlemen’s silk vests to the creations of modern European couturiers like Schiaparelli, Worth and Chanel.

Not different enough for you? Then you might be interested in the museum in tiny Donalda, Alta., which calls itself Canada’s lamp capital. It has a collection of 850 whale oil and kerosene lamps, including “courting lamps.”

Details, Details
Some museums really pinpoint a subject, like the one in Claresholm, Alta., that deals not only with horses but specifically with the Appaloosa breed. In the same province, the Crowsnest Museum, near the Rockies’ pass of the same name, gives the lowdown on local coal mining. And just outside Laval, Que., Viviane Macle runs a small museum that tells all about bees, honey and mead (1-800-265-6435), while The Soapery (1-888-775-5550) in Ste-Anne-de-Kent, N.B., on the Acadian Coastal Drive, is Canada’s only museum to have a workshop, art gallery and library dedicated to soap.

At various breweries across the country, the ins and outs of beer making are expounded on. Alexander Keith’s Brewery (902-455-1474) in Halifax has possibly the most interesting tour in Canada, with barmaids and brewmasters in 19th-century costume singing ballads and describing the beer-making process. Another notable brewery tour, partly because of its location in a former railway roundhouse, is that of Steam Whistle Brewing in downtown Toronto. And in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., there’s the interesting Northern Breweries (1-800-461-2258), the first employee-owned brewery in North America.

The Market Courtyard at The Forks in Winnipeg with its shops, specialty foods and restaurants is a cool meeting place – but it’s warm inside.

The West Edmonton Mall, the largest in the land, features full-size ships (it was once said, only half in jest, more than the entire Canadian navy), a waterslide and a ferris wheel – all indoors. It also includes a hotel where you can sleep in a bed shaped like a prairie schooner. Or would you prefer a room with a Roman theme?

Beating even this in size are the western heritage museums of Yorkton, Saskatoon and North Battleford in Saskatchewan. All are in former air force hangars and are packed with agricultural machinery and the bric-a-brac of early Prairie life.

Relaxing Retreats
Still in Saskatchewan, Moose Jaw has two other favourite winter escapes. In addition to the infamous Tunnels of Moose Jaw (306-693-5261) – at various times the hideaway of Chinese railway workers trying to avoid return to their homeland, and the haunt of bootleggers and purportedly even Al Capone – there’s the soothing Temple Gardens Spa (1-800-718-7727). You can forget about the snow and luxuriate in a large pool of thermal water that gushes from under the ground, past the tunnels and into your pores.

Spas have become an indoor favourite right across the country. And even in more equable British Columbia, there are some days when it’s better to be indoors. In Kamloops, Sunmore Ginseng (1-888-289-8222) fits the bill. It’s not only a spa but also the place to learn all about ginseng.

Butterflies and Blooms
Victoria has one of the many butterfly houses across the country (1-877-722-0272). Two others are located in Ontario in Cambridge and Niagara Falls. The colours spotted on these free-flying gems as they land on ears and noses are matched only by the hues of Canada’s great indoor flower collections – notably those at Winnipeg’s Assiniboine Park, Hamilton’s Royal Botanical Gardens (with its spectacular orchid show in March), and the Montreal Botanic Gardens (where there’s also a vast bonsai collection). The greenhouses of the Niagara Parks Commission, located just above the Falls, go one better. They have tropical birds in all their rainbow colours flying around visitors as they admire the Christmas plants, which are held over until February, and then the early spring bulbs.

Regional Delights
Each province has its own unique entertainments. In St. John’s, Nfld., the Fluvarium at C.A. Pippy Park presents the underwater life of a river through nine windows, and the Murray Premises on Water Street (1-866-738-7773), built in 1846, opens another window – on the fishing industry of past eras. Saint John, N.B., has Barbour’s Store (506-658-2939). This old-time country store was brought to the city and is now one of its most popular visitor attractions.

In Prince Edward Island, a song-and-dance Celtic ceilidh is held every second Monday night at the Bingo Country Hall in Charlotteown. Montreal has its Insectarium, which is all-inclusive and fascinating, as long as you don’t mind “crawlies.” In Ontario, Owen Sound on the shores of Georgian Bay, has a museum-gallery devoted to painter and native son Tom Thomson. Sault Ste. Marie has a bush plane museum (1-877-BUSH PLANE). Hamilton has Dundurn Castle, where you should go if only for the daily plum pudding and brandy in its café. Victoria can claim another castle, Craigdarroch (250-592-5323), with its 37 bedrooms and sweeping view over islands and straits. North of Victoria, in Duncan, a First Nations experience awaits at the Quw’utsun’ Centre (1-877-746-8119), home to the world’s largest carving house. Visitors can watch craftsmen at work, hear ancient legends and see performances of traditional rites.

So you see, come winter the great indoors beckons with a long list of interesting things to see and do. And to think we’ve only just scratched the surface!