Souris Manitoba

 I just want to give a big shout out to the people that live in Souris Manitoba. When my cousin visited, we spent a day in this little town. Souris is steeped in wonderful history, and they have made those spots into amazing tourists stops. 

The day began at the "Courtyard" found at the hospital and long-term care facility. A good friend of mine offered to give us a tour. She is responsible for the stunning display of flowers and plants. There is no doubt she is passionate about this area, she rattled off the name of every plant and the care they need to grow. It is wonderful for the residents to have such a beautiful, safe area to enjoy. 

Next up was a stop at the "Minary Homestyle Bakery". It is renowned for their baked goods and after being there I can see why. When you step into the building the smell is unbelievable. I struggled to make a decision and settled on an apple fritter. There is no way one person could possibly eat all of it in one sitting. Around the corner we went to the coffee shop, "49 Degrees" to get a London Fog and coffee. Off we go to the park to sit on the blue peacock bench and enjoy our treats as we looked out at the river.  

We felt we had experienced many "god moments" as we called them while being in Souris. We were of course hitting the tourist spots, and the Swinging Bridge was up first. As we were doing the tourist pictures of each other on the bridge, out of nowhere came a woman and asked us if we wanted our picture taken together. She crosses the bridge every day at noon, on her way home from work. She shared that she frequently takes pictures of people on the bridge. She just bounced across the bridge and was gone. 

Souris has in my opinion one of the best museums, but it wasn't open yet for the season. I love that museum and I wanted my cousin to see it. Going to a museum in a small town was also on her list of "70 things" and I had to make it happen. We were sitting in the parking lot; I was trying to figure out how we can get inside. It was busy at the bridge, which is right next to the museum. I sensed something was going to happen in the museum. I usually just get in my vehicle and off I go, but for some reason I was stalling. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a woman heading to the museum door with some keys in her hand, and in she went. I was on the move, and lo and behold they were giving school tours, and we were welcome to look around. We had our own tour guide until the kids from school arrived. It was just as delightful as every other time I am there. I realized that by taking the time to sit in my vehicle instead of taking off, an opportunity presented. I wonder how many opportunities I have missed because I just leave.  

We were also on the hunt for a peacock. We had driven through the park, but we didn't see one. When we had walked across the bridge, we heard one several blocks away. We weren't going to chase it on foot but decided to try and find it later. We drove back to where we had last seen him and of course he was gone. We got into a discussion, and I was randomly driving when we spotted him. He had found some basement windows and was standing there thinking he was taking on another male. The peacocks just roam freely around town. There is a white peacock, which will be on the list to find for next time.  

Souris has beautiful historic homes. The Plum Museum and tourist center was built in 1883 and is Souris's oldest standing building. The downtown core has lots of neat little shops. The end of the main street gets me every time, just so many decisions happen at that corner. If you turn right, on one side is business places and on the left you look down into what they call, "the bowl".  There are seven places to eat in Souris, they have a theatre and probably things I am unaware of. The pool and camping area were quiet the day we were there, since it was the last day of school. Their pool is very popular, many people travel from Brandon to camp and put their kids in swimming lessons. 

                                         

The swinging bridge has such an interesting history. It was built in 1904 by Squire Sowden so he could access his property on the opposite side of the river. It was 582 feet long. The original bridge was there until 1976 when it was destroyed by flood waters. In July 1977, a new bridge was built at the cost of $18,000. During the flood of the century in 2011, the decision was made to cut the bridge to save the dike and homes along the riverbank. This time it took 2 years to rebuild and reopened in 2013. The cost was 3.9 million. The length was extended to 604 feet which makes it Canada's longest pedestrian suspension bridge. This year the "Souris Swinging Bridge" will be in existence for 120 years. 

We had such a great time; I encourage everyone to be a tourist in Souris. It is such a wonderful little place to spend the day or longer. I hope the people that live there truly understand what a little gold mine you have, and the pleasure people get from visiting your town. It goes without saying that communities like Souris, couldn't be what they are without the help of the people that live there. Thank you to the community of Souris for such a great day.