Head East!

Today I will start with the TB summary and go from there- 

Continued Ontario trip along lakefront; tonight’s intended destination is Wawa.  Hard to say goodbye to the Strathcona Motel, but we have miles to make.  Breakfast at Hoito, a ‘Finnish-Canadian restaurant in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada established in 1918 and housed in the bottom floor of the historic Finnish Labour Temple, now in its 91st year.  Yes, we had the Finnish pancakes and for my money they were excellent.  Full house on a Saturday morning, but we arrived shortly after opening and grabbed a table with no waiting.  This was a high point DART dining experience for TB; felt like I was in a church basement circa 1962, expected Grandma Glick to make an appearance at any time.  

The circle tour today went through many small towns today that did not have much appeal for us (we wondered if it were the same for local residents).  Had an OK lunch in White River, a former Canadian Pacific Railway town whose rail yards and crew dorm now sit empty.  The town park features Winnie the Pooh sitting in a tree (a local connection there), and perhaps one of the sadder visitor centers aka museums along the route.  No need to dawdle; on to Wawa – only 60 miles to go!

Ah yes, Wawa.  As we rolled up to the visitor center to see the big Canadian goose, we learned that the annual drag race was in fact being held today, on the Wawa airport facilities.  Fortunately, our motel was at the other end of town.  Unfortunately, the Mystic Isle Motel dropped the ball on the ‘confirmed and guaranteed’ reservations, and had only one room for us.  After some back & forth with the woman of the house in a fashion worthy of an SNL skit, we gave up and explored other Wawa options.  The only place in town that appealed to us was full, so … 

After weighing our options we decided to press on to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario for the night.  VJS made reservations online, we visited Tim Horton’s for jolts of sugar and caffeine, and hit the road about 5:30 pm. Distance to go - 141 miles; about 2.5 hours.  This was not a particularly challenging logistics change as road trips go.  We were sufficiently energized, we would be driving during a beautiful part of the day (slanting sunlight from the west; rising near-full moon in the southeast), and we'd be traveling through some of the most remote territory of the circle tour.  Our hearts were not broken by leaving the drag racing events behind.  As it turned out, we also had some of our best Lake Superior views of the trip.  [We were coming to realize that while we were indeed driving around the edge of the lake, we really didn't get to see the lake all that much due to thick tree cover.]  

Arrived SSM a little after 8 pm.  The Microtel was particularly welcoming and by virtue of the fact that it had only been open for a couple months, everything smelled new and functioned as intended.  Plus Tor’s new bff Patrick at the front desk made sure we knew everything one could possibly want to know about the hotel and the SSM area – why, he made TB stories sound brief by comparison : )  Ate at Sandro’s Italian family restaurant; credible.  Took the wandering scenic route back to the hotel via Wellington Street, which, over time, seems to head in each of the cardinal compass directions.  Back at hotel by 10:30 pm.  Long day, very tired.  Ready for a quiet sleep in a comfortable new bed.  Wasn’t disappointed. 

I will expand a bit and of course offer photographic evidence of the state of things along Route 17... 

We did leave the Strathcona and head downtown to Hoito for Finnish pancakes (yum yum- I am not a huge pancake fan but these were sort of a cross between a buckwheat pancake and a crepe- they certainly hit the spot that Saturday morning!) TB opens the door to the delightful Finnish breakfast...

thought about ordering the Karjalon Piirakka but had no idea what would show up! LOL

they didn't look so fab but they certainly tasted fab!

TB ordered sausage as well - he said they also tasted good despite a lackluster appearance-

utilitarian decor - was all that we needed -

a farewell shot-

out of town and on toward Wawa--  or so we thought- first stop Nipigon - no photos - sorry - the few streets had not much to offer except a few murals in better afternoon light so I skipped them-

Then on to another less than stellar town Terrace Bay - we stopped for gas, a toilet stop and moved on quickly after photographing the only thing in town (fake-ish light house)

if you read the description on the right you might be fooled into thinking that Simcoe plaza was something other than a moderate sized strip mall - it was not... the bulk of  the "shops" are visible in the background of the photos below-

Then it was on to the saddest of sad- White River- poor Pooh - imagine being from such a place - a town where whatever once was there is now long gone and the space is mostly abandoned buildings (think very small Detroit without ever a heyday for the buildings to hearken back to) - my photos and then the town brochure which proudly touts the Pooh connection - this made me so sad... because I am a big fan of Pooh.

then it was on to Wawa- as noted - where we HAD intended to stay over night and had reserved two rooms for such a stay - but Eva at the Mystic Isles was having a bad day/evening and so (as noted in TB's summary) we moved on- and in the end - gratefully so-

although the town appeared prosperous compared to White River - we had no regrets in moving on to the "Soo" that evening-

 and so we did- ending up in a brand new Microtel - and since we were right on the border - had a later wake up for Sunday morning than we would have had in Wawa... all things ending up perfectly fine despite changes in plans... so tomorrow we begin by heading into the Ontario side of Sault Ste Marie then cross to the US and do the Michigan side over the next day or so... so keep tuning in - more fun awaits!

and here is why I love Pooh so much- because they don't get any sweeter than this-

On to Thunder Bay

We sleep in and don't leave until 8:30 - we head up Hwy 61 toward Canada... it is really really sparsely populated- I must have been psychic yesterday because I suggested to TB at dinner that we buy some cookies for the morning in case we had trouble finding something to eat.  We finally found an actual town when we got to Grand Marais MN and had a late breakfast there at the Pie Place... cute town good spot to handle any needs before crossing the border because there isn't a lot more to Minnesota up here...

We continue on the Hwy 61 tour- which also marks the Lake Superior Circle Tour - to the border with Canada where they let us in after a few questions and we quickly stop to load up on tourist materials at the information building- many trees died for this amount of paper detailing every nook and cranny along the circle tour... but more on that later-

we are headed to Thunder Bay, Ontario-  a relatively new city - which was formed by an amalgamation of most civic boundaries in the area:

On 1 January 1970, the City of Thunder Bay was formed through the merger of the cities of Fort William, Port Arthur and the geographic townships of Neebing and McIntyre. Its name was the result of a referendum held previously on 23 June 1969, to determine the new name. Officials debated over the names to be put on the ballot, taking suggestions from residents including "Lakehead" and "The Lakehead". Predictably, the vote split between the two, and "Thunder Bay" was the victor. There was more controversy over the selection of a name for the amalgamated city than over whether to amalgamate. (wikipedia)

The town was not all that prosperous looking and after doing a bit of reading I found out why-

The expansion of highways, beginning with the Trans-Canada Highway and culminating with the opening of Highway 17 linking Sault Ste Marie to Thunder Bay in 1960, has significantly diminished railway and shipping activity in the 1970s and 80s. Shipping on the Saint Lawrence Seaway was superseded by trucking on highways. Grain shipping on the Great Lakes to the East has declined substantially in favour of transport to Pacific Coast ports. As a result, many grain elevators have been closed and demolished. The Kaministiquia River was abandoned by industry and shipping. (wikipedia)

so as we arrive in the vicinity of TBay as we learned to call it, we found there was a lookout point above the city located on the bluffs within the Ft. Wiliam first nations reservation-

a plaque located on the overlook memorial cross (back in 1933 this was not an issue of being PC)

TB learns to identify clover-

then it was on to the mostly highly recommended site in TBay- the Fort William Park reconstruction - which included many "in character" locals and many interesting facts about the  lives of the voyageurs and trappers and traders in the Northwest - during the era of the North West Company and the Hudson Bay Company great rivalry (which as all capitalist stories do- ended with a merger and monopoly by the Hudson Bay Company)

a first nation's settlement outside the fort - representing the interaction that the natives had with the traders and their operations - the natives did all the trapping and the traders bought from them and transported to market-

definitely recommend the Fort William Park if you are in the area- well worth several hours of exploration - especially if you have time to talk to the "locals" - they have lots of information to impart about life and the operations of the Company....

then on to Kakabeka Falls- Ontario's second largest (after Niagara of course)

despite the fact that this brochure says it has information there is no actual information about the actual falls - only rules about camping etc... so wikipedia comes to the rescue- LOL

Kakabeka Falls  is a waterfall on the Kaministiquia River, located beside the village of Kakabeka Falls in the municipality of Oliver Paipoonge, Ontario, 19 miles west of the city of Thunder Bay.  The falls have a drop of 130 feet, cascading into a gorge carved out of the Precambrian Shield by meltwater following the last glacial maximum. Because of its size and ease of access, it has been consequently nicknamed "the Niagara of the North".  The rock face of the falls and the escarpments along the gorge are composed primarily of unstable shale, and are eroding. These rocks host sensitive flora, and contain some of the oldest fossils in existence, some 1.6 billion years of age. Due to the fragile rock, going into the gorge below the falls is prohibited.  The name "Kakabeka" comes from the Ojibwe word gakaabikaa "waterfall over a cliff" 

some of my photos-

we head on to our motel - the Strathcona - to check in - only to find we are an hour late - because we have somehow crossed back into EASTERN time! (remember we think we are above Minnesota now- or at the very least above Wisconsin....but in both instance we are wrong - we are over Michigan and the eastern time zone! LOL) Check out our progress on the map of the circle tour-

we love our rooms at the Strathcona- definitely D- if not DA (of DART) LOL

we have a bit of trouble locating a dinner place (the time issue being part of it) but finally decide to give this a try and found an excellent meal at Melizana-

We later come to find that the restaurants are not so well delineated as they are at home and although we drove by many of the top places in town they didn't strike us as restaurants - I thought one was an insurance agency and others just plain didn't look open (no signs lit up etc..) It also turns out that many places to eat are in ethnic social clubs - and we avail ourselves of this genre in the morning when we breakfast on Finnish pancakes at Hoito! (in the basement of the Finnish Social Club)

but more on that next time- because tomorrow is another day as Scarlett says- and will be another post- a long long drive and we end the day in an unexpected place...so stay tuned!

PS - I just got some summary remarks from TB about the first days of the trip so I will go back and add them to the posts so you can have another view point- here is his summary of today-

Lakefront drive to Thunder Bay, Ontario, once again in perfect weather.  Stopped for breakfast in Grand Marais MN, where we settled on the Pie Place Café.  It’s a dream of mine to one day take a summer vacation drive east of the Mississippi river without construction delays, but that may have to wait until my next lifetime.  Construction delays notwithstanding, about an hour after breakfast we had an easy border crossing into Ontario, where a super helpful woman at the visitor center gave us a bunch of helpful information about the circle tour, and even marked the location of our hotel on a Thunder Bay map.  Encountered more road construction with minimal delays overall.  On the way into Thunder Bay, we detoured up a tribal road to the Mt. McKay overlook, which affords a good view of the area, including the city, the harbor, and the airport. 

     Our next stop was Fort William Historical Park, a replica of the c. 1816 North West Company fur trade post.  Stellar.  This large post’s buildings are in good shape, and mostly open to visitors.  The interiors are furnished with living quarters, business offices, and trade goods of the period.  The park also has a large staff of period re-enactors, who are quite knowledge about their roles and enthusiastic in carrying them out (I often find just the opposite to be true, so this is really saying something for TB).  One could easily spend a full day here.  

     Next we made a short but worthy visit to Kakabeka Falls & gorge, nicely preserved in a provincial park.  Eventually we cruised into Thunder Bay and checked into the 1950s era Strathcona Motel – an absolute delight.  Quiet and clean and only 6 rooms, I was charmed by my green Formica kitchen counter and my pink-tiled shower and toilet.  Be still, my DART-ing heart. 

     Finding an equally appealing dinner spot, however, proved more of a challenge.  Thunder Bay does not charm the visitor.  We toured much (all?) of the city’s commercial area looking for a spot that called out to us.  None did.  Next we tapped VJS’s travel instincts, which led us into a windowless place with only one car outside; I figured we were going to be robbed & dumped into the bay by Ontario goombas.  Good thing we went with Tor’s instincts instead of mine.  Melizana bills itself as Mediterranean cuisine but is in fact a Greek restaurant.  We wound up having a decent meal, good wine, and DART-rific conversation to close out another great day on the Lake Superior Circle Tour.  Did I mention we had perfect weather? 

so stay tuned as I said----