First stop: Riding Mountain National Park, northwest of Winnipeg. This region is Summertime Central for many people in the province, and we were happy to join in on the fun.

Riding Mountain Park takes up 3000 square kilometres, with small towns both in and out of its borders, and much of the action taking place around Clear Lake.

We first stayed at beautiful Elkhorn Lodge in the park, then moved to Whirlpool B&B in nearby Onanole, where we were hosted by the McRaes and took approximately 478 pictures of their kitten:

We ate gorgeous breakfasts each morning, enjoyed some spectacular sunsets, and rescued a frog from the pool. We loved it there.

One afternoon, we headed to Wasagaming, a town on Clear Lake with plenty of cabins, restaurants, bakeries, and North America’s largest log cabin movie theatre (maybe the only log cabin movie theatre? I can’t imagine many exist). We visited the Whitehouse Bakery for its famous cinnamon buns, and spent a few hours sitting lakeside.

We also checked out Foxtail Café, a new (and very popular) eatery just outside of the park.

The place feels like a big cabin, with mosquito screens for walls, and endless stacks of wood for their pizza oven.

They utilize as many local products as possible, and serve small plates, salads, and house-made pasta in addition to their pizzas.

We ordered the Cinder + Smoke (chicken, charred corn, bacon, red pepper, and smoky chipotle aioli) the first time we were there, and the Foxtail (goat cheese, argula, and chorizo) the second time, because we couldn’t help but return!

We also really adored Poor Michael’s, a local bookshop and café that’s quiet and full of interesting things - exactly the kind of place we love to sit down and get some writing done.

Up next in Manitoba: the ever-so-charming Harvest Sun Music Festival + Supper in the Field!

-LA

We'll let Winnipeg band Imaginary Cities welcome us to Manitoba....