For my 70th birthday this year, my three sons gave me an unforgettable gift: an all-expenses-paid vacation!

To Regina. 

And if that wasn’t enough, Winnipeg! 

And we would make the entire trip by car! What did I do to deserve this?

To be honest, I was somewhat trepidatious. Four grown men in a car for 5 days. What could go wrong?

Amazingly, nothing.

Of course, it wasn’t just to see the legendary sites of Regina, such as … well, you can look them up. Our goal was to attend two Canadian Football League games. 

We drove to Saskatoon (525 km) on Thursday, then on to Winnipeg (781 km) on Friday to watch the Blue Bombers play Toronto. We rested there on Saturday, then went on to Regina (572 km) on Sunday to watch the Roughriders play Hamilton, then home to Edmonton (783 km) on Monday. Five days, approximately 2,600 km and 27 or so hours of driving.

And hardly any farting.

Why did we go? Well, I’m a lifelong Edmonton Eskimo/Elks/Elkimos fan. I’ve attended countless games, going back to Clarke Stadium, a primitive 20,000+ seat stadium. (The men’s washroom didn’t even have urinals, just a trough to pee in. I was terrified of slipping). When Commonwealth Stadium opened, it was like we were in The Big Time. Along with winning five Grey Cups and the biggest stadium in the land, the Eskimos were the gold standard of the CFL.

Well, that gold leaf has peeled away like the paint on Donald Trump’s reflecting pool. Commonwealth is a bit of green-and-gold elephant now, way too big for the CFL. And it is dated. The concourse is grim and unappealing, food choices uninspired, and the game presentation excessively loud.

The cheerleaders, however, remain excellent.

Could Regina and Winnipeg outperform Edmonton? 

To be fair to Edmonton, both cities have newer buildings (Winnipeg’s is 13, Regina’s almost 10).

Princess Auto in Winnipeg is a beautiful building. While Commonwealth is a concrete slab, Princess Auto is striking and welcoming. The concourse was jammed with fans (the majority wearing Bomber blue) enjoying pre-game drink specials and a variety of food choices worthy of a mall food court. (The kiosk selling butter chicken – yes, butter chicken! – had a cook in full chef’s regalia behind the grill.) Even in our nosebleed seats, we could smell the food. The building was noisy, but naturally so. The Bombers claim to have the CFL’s loudest fans, and the ringing in my ears confirms it. 

Mosaic Stadium in Regina is also a first-rate facility, perhaps not quite at the level of Princess Auto (after all, she’s a Princess), but still excellent. Plenty of food options, excellent game presentation and enthusiastic green-clad fans. I’d give the edge to Winnipeg, but not by much. Both of them surpass Commonwealth and the Elks. If I lived in Regina or Winnipeg, I’d probably be a season seat holder. But would I want to live in Winnipeg? Turns out, maybe I would. I like Winnipeg. It has history, lots to do, and it seems more orderly than Edmonton, which is in a state of terminal construction. Of course, I visited during the summer. I hear bad things about Winnipeg in the winter; it’s like a colder Edmonton.

Next time, I’ll tell you about our little road trip through the flat, flat praries.