Saturday, September 29, 2012

Moose Jaw SK...home of Mac the World's Largest Moose

 
You don’t really get a name like "Big Ball of String Girl" if you aren’t interested in roadside attractions. Also, HAVING the label actually makes me feel entitled to stop and see every little thing. Like, it’s my responsibility to stop and see if it’s worth a picture.

Which is why between Outlook and Fargo ND we saw the World’s Tallest Wheat, the World’s Largest Moose and the World’s Largest Buffalo.

In fact, we had to reroute just to go to Moose Jaw to see the World’s Largest Moose - "Mac". Mac is 32 feet tall, and is still (at the moment) the Tallest/Largest. (There seems to be something in the works in Sweden, but nothing completed as far as I could confirm...)
(Google maps http://goo.gl/maps/Tjlnd).
 
I assumed that that was about all Moose Jaw had to offer.
 
HOWEVER, it turns out that it has a fascinating history which we didn’t get to explore, so NEXT time (might as well accept the fact that we will be coming back to Saskatchewan) we come visit our friends in Outlook, we plan to take a field trip to Moose Jaw.

The kids in Outlook were very excited to tell us that: There are underground tunnels in Moose Jaw which you can tour. I don’t know much about it yet - but if you Google it, one the tours is called, "Passage to Fortune" which is about the Chinese immigration, when the Chinese people were forced to live, work and sleep in the tunnels, 100 or so years ago..and how they made that lifestyle work for them, and prospered.

The other tour is "The Chicago Connection" which is all about smuggling during the Prohibition, bootlegging and gangsters - and specifically their lives in the "underground"...literally...At a time when Al Capone was running the show in Chicago, it seems that he was frequenting Moose Jaw SK... It seems that the train ran directly from Moose Jaw, to Minneapolis, to Chicago. I don’t know anything - that’s just what I’ve heard...
 The quote on Moose Jaw’s tourist website says
"A wise man once said, "Everything a man could possibly want, he will find it in Moose Jaw" (Anonymous)"
.... I’m not completely convinced of that, BUT it is far more interesting than I originally imagined, and I am curious enough to come back...
 
Cliffhanger: I think I’ll wait till Wednesday to talk about the Biggest Stalks of Wheat and the World’s Largest Buffalo...

(In other news - I can't figure out how to put a "follow" button on here, so if anyone could tell me that, that'd be great! Also, I can't figure out how to allow people who aren't members of "blogspot" to comment, either... I'm certain it's an easy fix, but I don't know what it is... In the meantime, I'm also blogging on http://biggestballofstring.wordpress.com, which has a "follow" button right there and anyone can comment...)


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