13th Avenue Coffeehouse

I was really looking forward to trying the 13th avenue coffee house in the Cathedral area. I had heard several mentions of it. It was funny when we finally located it that it was so close to where I used to grocery shop two summers ago and that I had not already discovered it. 

It is an old house converted into a coffee shop. It looks much bigger on the outside than inside. As you enter there is a staircase and a hallway, to your left what once was the parkour or sitting room this is where the tables and patrons sit. The doorway to the kitchen has been made into a counter to order from. Behind this counter the kitchen.

 

We arrived around lunchtime and went to the counter to order. We awaited some time as the women in the back busied themselves. I was interested in having a salad or sandwich. These I've seen are works of art. We had J with us and asked if there was any highchairs or booster seats. 

Now let me say this, there are far too few places that accommodate children. Very few places even have a change table in their washroom. A booster high chair seat is an easy item to store as it is compact and costs less than $25 on Amazon any restaurant or coffee shop with a heart for mothers should have this in their arsenal.

After asking and being told no we were as good as ignored. The customer service could use some finesse. Perhaps if they had been friendlier I may have decided to have J sit on my lap.

Instead we ordered lattes to go. 

It was a dissapointing visit. Granted it was one of the best London Fogs I have had. 

So if you like an excellent latte (and likely coffee), your into artfully displayed food, enjoy a cozy happening spot in the company of hipsters, if you do not particularly enjoy children and would just like to have a conversation away from littles, are vegetarian (as I noted from the menu several items are vegetarian), and enjoy an edge of snotty service this place is for you. 

 

Should I give the 13th avenue coffeehouse a second try and have lunch on their sunlit patio in the summer overlooking the Holy Rosary Cathedral? Or continue my search to find an excellent coffee shop but one more fitting to my current station in life? 

13th Avenue Food & Coffee House

3136 13th Ave Regina

Korea House

I've been craving Korean food for sometime. L and I really enjoyed the hot stone bowls at Kim Chi House in Calgary.  I noted on a local blogger the Everyday Foodie blog a few mentions of Korean restaurants locally. She is much more adventurous than me and often cooks bibimbap. I left a comment on her blog asking for a recommendation of the best Korean food in Saskatchewan. She contacted me back that in Regina it was Korea House & Seoul in Saskatoon. I really was delighted for the recommendation. 

As we had a trip planned to Regina we decided lunch would be at Korea House.

 

We parked on a residential side street with two hour parking. Cutest little old houses ever. J lost her boot on the walk to the restaurant, luckily we noticed after taking this photo, and we were able to retrieve it.

 

There was only one other round table of 6 patrons when we came for lunch who were finishing up their lunch. As we had our lunch three other tables of couples also came in. It definitely was not as busy as Kim Chi House in Calgary. 

 

Please excuse my terrible photographs of the menu. My iPhone is really old.

 

There were clean high chairs for J. We had brought cut fruit along for J to tide her over while she waited. When our food came she also enjoyed some of our beef, rice, and side dish vegetables. She quite enjoyed lunch.

The washrooms were also clean if older.

We had the lunch special. L had the pork plate and I had the beef plate. L, my thrifty main squeeze, finds it beyond him to spend more than $10 on a lunch menu item. Many of the interesting menu items are well over $10. 

 

Overall it was fun to try a new restaurant and to have Korean food. L wasn't as impressed with his, but perhaps this was because we had just the lunch special. He felt like he was tasting it the rest of the afternoon. 

If your craving Korean in Regina try the Korea House and let me know what you think. Or if this is a favorite restaurant of yours let me know what I should order next time to have the best experience. 

Korea House

1427 11th Ave

Regina

A Day at the Beach

"Rediscover the carefree holidays of your childhood when life was filled with simple pleasures - ice cream cones on a hot summer day and lazy afternoons of boating, fishing and swimming. Spend a day at the beach..." 

Regina Beach can be found on the south shore of Last Mountain Lake in Southern Saskatchewan. We arrived early to have breakfast at The Bluebird Cafe. The Blue Bird Cafe is an old-time classic, opened first in the 1920s, with wooden floors and creaky screen doors. We then ventured out to the wharf & shores of the beach.

J had her first taste of sand. I dipped her feet in the lake with the tide coming in. She loved to sink her feet into the sand. After I sat her on the sand so she could feel the sand & I could take a picture she gathered a handful that went right into her mouth. As I was cleaning her mouth out she had another handful ready to shovel in. Apparently it tasted delicious. Yipes! 

In the early afternoon when J had fallen asleep in her stroller & we had quite enough sun we stopped at Chachalacas for a margarita for me & a beer for L. J, of course, not wanting to miss out on the fun awoke and so we shared a burrito with her. She enjoyed the rice and refried beans. 

It was a fun day spent at the beach! I'm looking forward to next summer when water wings, sandcastles, swimsuits! We forgot to bring a blanket to sit on the sand & lawn chairs. You can bet next year I will be prepared with a summer bucket of water & sand toys & blanket to lay on the sand & umbrella. The next time we spend a day at the beach I'll be chasing after J as she runs into the lake. 

Sukanen Ship & Pioneer Museum

The Sukanen Ship & Pioneer Museum is a local gem. It is open mid May-September & located 13 km south of Moose Jaw on Highway 2 South. 

My heart bled a little for Tom Sukanen. What a story of grief! 

Tom was born Finnish & learnt shipbuilding. He sailed from Finland to Michigan where he met & married a young Finnish woman. They had four children. Tom wished for more for his young family. He travelled 600 km by foot after hearing from his brother to Saskatchewan to start a homestead. Here he worked hard & over seven years raised the incredible sum of $9000 for that time. With this sum he travelled back to Michigan to collect his wife & family, only to find his wife had died of influenza & his children had been sent to foster homes. He was able to locate one son & attempted to return to Canada with this son only to be stopped & his son taken from him by the authorities. Alone he returned to Canada, heartbroken.  When the Great Depression struck in 1929, Tom traveled the high spring water of the Saskatchewan River to Hudson Bay on a heavy rowboat he had built himself. From there, he took a job on a freight ship to Finland, returning to Saskatchewan shortly after. Upon his return Tom began to build a ship- the Sontianen- his dream project that he hoped to sail to Finland. For six long years during the Depression, when resources were scarce, he laboured to build this ship. Nearing completion all he had left to do was tow the parts to the Hudson Bay, where the parts would be assembled and the steam engine and boiler installed. His neighbours did not understand his project & called him crazy. A local neighbor refused to assist him in moving the structure even though he easily could have assisted with his steam engines. Local vandals stripped the metal from the hull. Tom was so depressed with this turn of events he did not even protest when he was taken to an institutional hospital where he would end his days.

There are numerous outbuildings also to tour alongside the ship including pioneer homesteads, a railway station, grain elevators, stores, a church, school & buildings with collections of antique vehicles among others. Really there is so much to see that we didn't even get to exploring every building before it started to rain & museum fatigue had set in. You need to set aside 2-3 hours to see everything. 

It is definitely worth a visit! The only qualifier I would add for the museum to improve on is to get rid of the horrid manequins. They are really ghastly, haha! 

The Berry Barn Saskatoon

On Sunday morning we took a leisurely drive south of the city of Saskatoon to The Berry Barn. 

It was raining but the weather report called for a sunny day starting at 10. We were the first guests to arrive at 8:45 am. J was still sleeping after our drive so we waited in the car until she awoke at 9:15 before venturing in for breakfast.

We ordered the Sunday special of waffles & farmers sausage. Their famous Belgian waffle includes one trip to the topping bar which includes Saskatoon berries, strawberries, peach topping, real whipped cream, vanilla pudding, chocolate sauce and your choice of four different syrups. 

L made his trip to the topping bar count as a waffle alone is $13.49 and a sausage is $4.49...

I had the half order of the waffle by contrast...haha.

The saskatoons were really delicious and if I were making a trip to the toppings bar again I would have just had saskatoons as my topping. I thought it was a little expensive but it was a fun experience. There is also not a kid's menu.

The view was beautiful! We sat on the covered patio. We were the only ones on the patio while we enjoyed our breakfast. By the time we were ready to leave their was a line up outside to get in. We came at the right time! 

J enjoyed samples of our waffles & toppings too!

After we toured the gardens & green houses.

Here is where the saskatoons are grown. L said it is also a u-pick farm but there were few saskatoons on the branches at this time of the year that I could see. 

 In the green housese there were hydroponic strawberries. This was the first time I have ever seen strawberries grown this way.

I'm not sure I would make The Berry Barn a must stop when in Saskatoon again even though it was listed on several what to do in Saskatoon sites but it was fun to experience at least once. Perhaps if I lived in Saskatoon visiting when the greenhouses had the spring flowers would be a worthwhile trip or the Pumpkin Patch event or Thanksgiving Feast...

Forestry Farm Park & Zoo, Saskatoon

This past weekend we went to Saskatoon for a mini summer vacation.

We often stop at the university. 

I think universities in the summer are some of the most peaceful, beautiful places. 

On Saturday we went to the Forestry Farm Park & Zoo. 

It is a small zoo & very worthwhile experience! Bring your picnic baskets and enjoy walking around the park & seeing animals. It is economical also if you have kids. A family rate is only $23 or $11.50 per adult & under preschool free. 

We saw cougars, bison, wolves, grizzly bears, deer, turkeys, peacocks, roosters, a python, a porcupine, owls, and lots of goats among others. 

J even got up close & personal with this fawn that came to visit us. 

Check out those two front teeth that J is now sporting. They came in on July 31st. 

Farmer's Market & Downtown Walk

I always enjoy going to the farmer's market on a Saturday in the summer. I was delighted to learn my new community has an outdoor farmer's market. I bought some fresh peas, cabbage, lettuce, and beets from the Hutterites. I also bought some rhubarb from another vendor. 

Because it was Saturday it just felt right to stroll downtown & through the park. 

This building I think has so much potential! I love to reimagine spaces- especially the inside of diner dives and sometimes buildings that now stand vacant. I'd love to see this building re-imagined as a trendy restaurant on the bottom level- it's right next to a 210,000 square-foot facility featuring an entertainment/sports bowl, an 8 sheet curling club, banquet & meeting rooms. The upper levels could be re-imagined as condos or apartments. 

I especially love how someone had a vision and reimagined this space as a restaurant and art gallery. It is just beautiful.

Baby J fell asleep on our leisurely stroll and I purchased a latte along with a cinnamon roll downtown that I brought back with me to the park. 

Have you been to the farmer's market recently? What vegetables or fruits are in season where you live? What do you think I should make with all the beets and cabbage I bought?