36 Hours in Swift Current - 2016 Ford World Women's Curling Championships

South Saskatchewan River Valley at dusk. Photo credit Sherri Grant, Val Marie, SK

In less than 3 weeks the eyes of the curling world will be trained on my small city in the prairieland of Saskatchewan. Teams, or rinks as they are called in this sport, will arrive from 11 countries. The town will be awash in visitors and this guide is for those who want to take some time away from the rink. Yes, rink is the word for the team and also the word for the arena where the game is played. Confused yet? Put on your slider and hurry hard as I take you with me for the next day and a half.

 

Ice on pond on a sunny day. Photo credit Sarah Galvin.

The cutbanks on Swift Current Creek on the south side of town. Photo credit Sarah Galvin.

Saturday, March 19
9:00 am
Rather than having a cuppa at the obvious choices of Urban Ground or Starbucks opt to join coffee row at the downtown Timmy's (Tim Hortons). Retired farmers and business men alike gather to shoot the breeze. Eavesdrop all you want. They won't care. And with any luck you can have a prairie specialty with your coffee, butter tarts.

Photo credit Sarah Galvin.

 10:00 am 
When I pulled into this dusty prairie town I was drawn in by the remnants of history. The Court House, Lyric Theatre and several other buildings gave this city a sense of place and time. It aroused my interest. Swift Current is no different than so many old Canadian cities and towns. Many historical gems have been razed. The Swift Current Museum has created walking and driving tours of historical Swift Current that help you to envision its previous glory.

The Healy Hotel immediately created a stir when I put out the word I was looking for little known facts about our town. Jacki MacDonald shared a little known bit of history. Her sister's first husband said when he was tagging along with his older brothers they found tunnels by the train tracks. The Healy is known for having more than one outlaw as a patron. Located a mere two blocks from the train station made it an ideal hideout. Even Al Capone spent time here during the Prohibition. Rumour has it these are long forgotten tunnels were used by gangsters. Swift Current has a convenient location close to the US border. The Soo Line Railway ran through here from the States providing access for those hiding from the law. The hotel was demolished only in 1989. 

From the words of the University of Alberta Library "The Healy Hotel stood at the corner of Cheadle and 1 Ave NE. confirmed reports of a tunnel leading from the railway station to the hotel to allow for safe dispatch".

Photo credit University of Alberta Libraries. Opened 1914.

The Lyric Theatre. Built 1912.

First United Church. Construction began in 1912.

Swift Current Court House. Completed in 1916.

Visit the current installation at the Art Gallery of Swift Current. Seeking Tranquility by Maple Creek photographer Al Hartley. It can be found at 411 Herbert St. E. in the downtown.
 

Photo credit Al Hartley

12:00 pm 
Still downtown? Stop for lunch at a local favourite Pizza sTOP. 

1:30 pm
Time to stretch your legs and get out of town. There are a number of Hutterite Colonies nearby. Go for a visit but call first. They are very busy. Don't call on a Sunday though.

Nothing better than Hutterite buns. They will be served at the Opening Banquet for the Games. Photo credit Sarah Galvin.

3:00 pm  
While you are driving north on Highway #4 look out for the Lonely Tree. Honk and make a wish. This is only 6 km north of the city. If you decide to drive out at night time, say around 10pm or later you might be lucky enough to see the Aurora Borealis, 'The Northern Lights'.

Lone Tree. Photo credit Prairie Fire Photography by Craig Hilts.

Drive a little farther to Lake Diefenbaker and Saskatchewan Landing Provincial Park. The park is closed in the winter but driving down into the valley is simply breathtaking. You will most likely find people ice fishing on the lake.


5:00 pm 
Before dinner visit Black Bridge Brewery. Stop by to sample the beers and to purchase your growlers for take out!

The tasting room at Black Bridge Brewery. Photo credit Black Bridge Brewery

6:00 pm 
It's an early dinner tonight so we can catch a live concert later. There are so many choices and many of them Greek! I would opt for The Akropol Lounge Next Door. Not only do I love the name and the lounge is upscale but John Gannitsos is the world's best host. Ask for the Greek special. Plus he feeds every musician who comes to perform at the Lyric.

8:00 pm 
The Lyric Theatre was opened in 1912 and built at a cost of $50,000. It is one of the oldest running theatres in the province. It is currently undergoing a multi-million dollar refurbishment. Tonight they are presenting the talented  Jason Plumb, Danny Olliver, Megan Nash
There will be a display of photographs at the Lyric by members of Image West Photographic Association. More of their works are on display at the Art Gallery of Swift Current. These are a part of the Saskatchewan Prairie Light Photography Festival 2016

Jason Plumb. Photo credit Jason Plumb.

Upper level of The Lyric under renovation. Photo credit The Lyric Theatre.

Still not ready for bed? Drop by the Living Sky Casino and feed some slots.
 

 Photo credit Living Sky Casino.

Sunday, March 20

10:30 am
Parts of southern Saskatchewan are referred to as the Bible Belt. There could not be a better description for the Swift Current area. There are more churches than people, almost. You can find several Christian denominations including Greek and Ukrainian Orthodox. There is also a mosque but no synagogue or Hindu temple, to my knowledge.

Ukranian Orthodox Church. Photo credit Sarah Galvin.

11:30 am
Brunch time. Downtown check out the menu at Sinano Greek Resto or take in the brunch buffet at the Living Sky Casino.

Go skating. We have had a very mild winter so far and the outdoor skating rinks are not ready. Check out the ice at Fairview Arena. Located at 101 Hayes Drive. Or Northhill Indoor Ice at 4 Avenue NE & Ashford St.

Photo credit Sarah Galvin.

Photo credit Saskatchewan Hockey Hall of Fame

Saskatchewan Hockey Hall of Fame in the I-Plex where the curling events are taking place.

How to get here -

Fly into the Regina International Airport and rent a car. Drive 2 1/2 hours west from Regina on the Trans Canada Highway. 

Arrive by Greyhound Bus or STC (Saskatchewan Transit System). 

There is an airport to accommodate small private jets and planes. This is a century airport and trained pilots for World War II. In September the world famous Snowbirds of the RCAF will present an airshow.

Where to stay -
The hotels and motels are on the highway. Home Suites Inn, Holiday Inn, Best Western and Green Hectares Bed & Breakfast are a few choices.

And if you return to venture outside the city there is a world to explore.

Great Sandhills Park. All photos Sarah Galvin

Summer storm looming south of Swift Current.

Murraydale Rodeo, oldest in western Canada.

Great Sandhills Park.

Avonlea Badlands.

Driving up to the bench near Cypress Hills.

 

Dinosaur bone exposed in East Block of Grasslands National Park.

A Drive in the Country - Grasslands National Park

On top of 70 Mile Butte. This is more than an historical landmark to anyone who makes the journey.

The evening primrose has a heavenly scent.

This is an authentic dinosaur bone that lays exposed and untouched. Why? That's what I love about Canada. Respect.

Solitude.

Quicksand is just as we have learned. No way I would step beyond that sign. No way.

The East Block is so very different from the West Block. No buffalo. No prairie dogs.

A Drive in the Country - Crooked Bush Botanical Mystery

My jaunt to North Battleford revealed a delightful surprise. Crooked Bush is an unusual grove of aspens that has intrigued me since I first read about it in a local travel magazine but I didn't know where it was. Aspens are normally a tall thin pencil straight tree. For an unknown reason they have grown in a sporadic fashion in this little grove. 

But if you are out looking for this little patch of trees, good luck. The signage has been changed and a different route is being used to get there. However, it is worth the drive.

I arose before dawn to arrive in the 'golden hour' for photography. 

After more than 40 minutes of driving I was encouraged by this sign that I was going in the right direction. Not so! I drove and I drove until the road changed from gravel to dirt. No Crooked Bush. It is 6:45 am and my gas tank is running low. I am in the middle of nowhere and decide to drive back to the highway and the extra kilometers to Hafford , fill up with gas and ask better directions.

This cute-as-a-button bistro opened at 7 am and had excellent coffee and home baked pastries. It was a comfortable spot to wait until the gas station opened. Then I filled the tank, gratefully accepted the brochure with proper directions and got back on the road.

These are the proper directions to the Crooked Bush from Hafford (on the highway between North Battleford and Prince Albert, SK) ....

14.5 km west of Hafford on Hwy 40, past Speers to Flint Road.

Turn north into the country and drive 16 km (10 miles). You are driving through open farmland. It's beautiful and you are easily lulled into a sense that you will easily see the sign signalling a turn. NOT! Clock it exactly with your odometer and look for an inconspicuous little intersection with no unique landmark.

Turn east and drive 2.5 km (1.5 miles).

Can you spot the sign? That little one below the YIELD sign.

Close up of the little sign. Glad it's 'not far now'!

See the sign? Not much help are they!

Success this time. Crooked Bush is a tiny unassuming grove in the middle of nowhere. At 7:30 am I am alone with the trees and the birds. The sun is warm. The air is crisp. The grass is dewy.

This sign requests that you treat the area with respect. Amazingly, it was pristine. No disturbance, no garbage, no hint of human visitors inside the grove.

University research has all but concluded that these trees grow crooked as a result of genetic mutation.

Locals know that a full moon lights up the Crooked Bush but courage of stone is necessary to visit it at night.

On the other side of the road not more than 20 feet away is a normal bluff.

A Drive in the Country - The Great Sand Hills

Rising at three in the morning wasn't as difficult as I had anticipated. I have been waiting for this day since I moved to southwest Saskatchewan five years ago. I have seen so many pictures of The Great Sand Hills but I want my own. The golden hour, that hour after the sun rises or before it sets, is the only time to photograph sand dunes.

My odometer read 140 kilometers by the time I parked my car. It was a long drive in the dark and when the sun did show itself over the horizon the push was on to find this spot. The countryside is so calm and verdant this time of year and day that the temptation to stop and snap photos was strong. I had driven all this way for the dunes so I only took a couple of green pictures.

I am not comfortable with cows. They are so big and they always stare. They were my greeting party. One momma cow had twins and I made a large loop around her in case she became protective with a stranger in the pasture. I'm sure she sees a steady stream of strangers all summer long but I wasn't about to take any chances, out here, alone, at six in the morning.

In my excitement to get to the dunes I forgot about changing my shoes. Drat. The pasture grass was dewy and the sand quickly coated the toes of my good walking Geox's. Oh well. The sand is powdery fine and the dune slightly steep. It was a new exercise for me or at least one that I had not done in a long time.

Too bad there are people footprints everywhere. Somehow I thought that by arriving early the wind would have taken care of yesterday's activity.

The park occupies almost 2,000 square kilometers but the birding trail was the only place that parking was allowed. That is enough for today. I will be back and hopefully it will be after a strong wind so I can feel completely alone on these dunes.

Today is a study in texture. Beautiful swirls and waves, curious trackings from insects and small animals and a few hardy plants provided enough to study on my first walk into this amazing landscape.

Most of the time I wasn't completely alone. Small and large herds of antelope grazed hardly noticing my presence. A doe with darling twins was less trusting. Hawks, foxes and songbirds kept me company. I only met one truck out in the dunes, a local. He stopped to be sure I was finding things all right.

The iconic cowboy boot arch watches over the parking lot from a hilltop.

A working ranch at the entry to the sand dunes area has an archway bedecked with antelope, deer and moose antlers.