Spending time in Winnipeg visiting family? You love ’em. But you gotta leave ’em, just for a couple of hours.

Here’s a must-do list while you’re in The Peg, including an evening of fine food, an afternoon at an intoxicating spa, some live theatre, perhaps a little gallery hopping and some retail therapy in one the city’s super chic neighbourhoods.

Retail Therapy

Your excuse is that you hear Winnipeg has some really great stores and you have to check them out. The good news is that you wouldn’t be lying.

Head for Academy Road where you really should put on your best outfit and practice your Sex in the City swagger while you shop.

Start at your feet with a stroll through European Shoe Shop where swishy brands like Naot, Think! and Ecco will have you oohing and aahing over your tootsies.

Then scoot over to Loka. You can’t go wrong with anything in the shop thanks to shop owner Anita’s gift for making the right choices.

There’s always at least one Soia & Kyo coat that will catch your eye.

Time to accessorize! Step over to Bejeweled for a bag or a bauble. Since it’s your last stop, splurge a little on a pair of classy Dyrberg/Kern earrings. You’ll look fabulous!

Spa Time

Book your appointment before you get to town. You’ll have something to look forward to besides too much turkey.

It’s fun to float in the mineral pool, nibble on a muffin or sip on rooibos tea while waiting for your treatment at the Urban Oasis Mineral Spa at the Clarion Hotel.

Here you’ll get clean before you get dirty with the spa’s signature Austrian Moor Mud wrap. Once you’re wrapped in a sheet, the mud will pull impurities from your body, leaving your skin silky smooth. 

Opt for Hamam Fully Loaded at The Fort Garry Hotel’s Ten Spa. The communal Hamam experience will put you in mind of a Turkish bath scene from days of old.

Tea and a sweet to start, then a foot massage, olive oil soap scrub, hair wash and lingering in the misty, warm room. Be prepared to feel like a wet noodle afterward.

Hungry Again

There’s a hip new way of eating in Winnipeg and it’s called Segovia Tapas Bar & Restaurant.

Actually it’s a very old way of eating, where a steady stream of small plates, each with palate-popping flavours gets delivered to your table, until you must tap out. I think that’s why they called it tapas.

My favourite: chorizo with gala apples and sherry vinegar and then the cinnamon churros with hot chocolate for dipping.

Each year, more and more bakeries add the vintage red velvet cake recipe to their lists. And I couldn't be more delighted.

Red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting will be on display at Cake-ology, a teeny tiny cake shop in Winnipeg’s Exchange District.

One for now, and a couple to take home. Yes, I’ll have a dozen please.

Culturally Cool

Step out of the living room and settle into a comfy theatre seat. Manitoba Theatre Centre puts on over 250 shows a year, so they’re pretty good at what they do.

Hit the Mainstage for classics including White Christmas or go for something a little more edgy over at The Warehouse.

Check out the swanky new digs of Plug In ICA. This gallery promises to be, and I quote, a nexus for the presentation of art that confronts ideas and issues affecting today’s society. Yes it does.

There are exhibits featuring architecture, film, television, photography, sound and new media—and all of them will twist your thinking just a little bit.