Most Winnipeggers dread the inevitable cold snaps that envelop our city in their icy snares, typically during depressingly dark February days.
Conversely, New Yorker Scott Herder had a very different take when he visited with his wife Megan Indoe during one such icy spell, the type that have earned our city its groan-inducing Winterpeg reputation.
“My favourite season is winter,” he said, without a hint of irony, during an interview from sunny Long Beach, Cal.
“I think it’s because I grew up in Southern California, so I just associate it with choosing to be in the winter, so I’m always looking for winter destinations to visit, and we just kind of were excited about the idea of coming to Winnipeg during the winter.”
Herder and Indoe, content creators specializing in travel vlogging since 2014, perhaps got more than they bargained for, with wind chills typically surpassing the -30 mark during their stay.
The duo scheduled their visit around two attractions—Festival du Voyageur and RAW: Almond, the fine dining experience that pops up on the frozen rivers of the city each winter, with local and visiting chefs serving up Instagram-worthy plates.
“We wanted to turn it into a stereotypical Michelin three-star experience, where you kind of build a vacation around it,” he said.
“Then learning that there was this Voyageur festival, and this is an opportunity to, as an American, learn about Canadian culture and see it firsthand—that was something that really excited us.”
That wasn’t the only quintessential Winnipeg winter pastime Herder and Indoe dipped their winter-booted, thermal-socked toes into.
They also ice-biked across the river and navigated the world’s largest snow maze in Saint Adolphe.
Stops at Winnipeg Art Gallery-Qaumajuq and The Leaf allowed the Yankees a much-needed warmup.
Not satisfied to stay inside the Perimeter, Herder and Indoe trekked to Riding Mountain National Park to ice fish and fat bike.
Weeks later, Herder still has our humble Prairie city on his mind.
“I think since we’ve been home with my family, they’re probably sick of how much I’ve been talking about the trip to Winnipeg.”
It wasn’t Herder’s first visit to our province. He also visited in 2019 during the more hospitable summer months, checking out the Whiteshell and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.
He posted his experience on the Winnipeg subreddit page, praising the city and all it had to offer the out-of-towners.
“I can’t quite put my finger on it yet, but there is something about Canada and celebrating the winter that I find intoxicating and wish was more of a thing here in the U.S.,” he wrote.
He called on Manitobans to share other recommendations for their next trip.
Over 2,000 upvotes and nearly 200 comments later, Herder is blown away by the response.
“It absolutely took me by surprise. My guess is just the fact that it was my authentic, childlike joy that was coming out,” he said.
“It was really cool to see. A lot of people seemed really pumped about the experience too, so it was just cool to kind of share that with everyone.”
