Sault Ste Marie or the “Soo” is a terrific city. You can take the Agawa Canyon tour; go to an Art Gallery, stop at a microbrewery (there’s that word again), Canadian Bush plane museum, gamble at the Casino or walk along the Boardwalk and stop and have lunch outside. You are also close to Fort St Joseph National Historic Site.
We stayed at the KOA here as we wanted to be close to all the activities that Sault Ste Marie has to offer. Very clean, well run Park. We don’t have a pet but they are pet friendly with a self-serve dog grooming salon, Camp K-9 Playground and a dog trail as well as a dog agility field. So anyways a good place to stay. And guess what? They have had bear sightings here as well. We did not see this bear either.
We drove to Union Jack Brewery and tried their beer, we must have enjoyed it as we bought a 12 pack.
We drove to St Josephs Island, through Richards Landing and on to Fort St Joseph. It’s the location of a War of 1812 fort, ruins and foundations left now. Beautiful spot on the water. They have wonderful displays and the movie they run is informative and interesting. So apparently when the war started the British from this fort paddled to Mackinaw Island (USA) and took it over. If you look on a map, that’s a long paddle. The staff here is terrific, you can tell they really enjoy their jobs and they are knowledgeable about every aspect of the Fort and its history.
We went to Hilton Beach which is a huge marina and there are so many boats moored. It’s a very small village with a huge marina and that’s about it !
We drove to Crystal Falls a couple of times which is a nice spot with trails. On the way back to KOA one evening, I wanted to take this little side road because it looked interesting, so we did. We spotted a fox on the side of the road, walking as though he were on a mission. We followed him; every once in a while I would get out and take a few photos. There were a few houses on the right side of the road with forest on the left, he was walking down the left side.
As we got closer to the last house on the right, I heard someone calling “here Prince, here boy” and the fox took off across the road and up to this house and this lady came out with a pan of food and put it down for him. He ate a bunch and then took the rest of whatever it was in his mouth and took off across the road and back into the woods. I am assuming his breakfast or he has young ones in a den somewhere ! I just thought it was the funniest thing to see.
The Canadian Bush Plane Museum is extremely interesting; if you are into that kind of thing, which we are. We spent quite a while there and then as we were leaving, we were told that coincidentally there was a brewery located in behind the museum. Did you know Roberta Bondar is from the Soo? And they have an exhibit dedicated to her achievements. They have a 3D movie you can watch about the Ministry of Natural Resources and how Aviation, Forest Fires and Emergency Services all work together to battle fires in Ontario. Lots of other exhibits and displays and a Children’s Centre as well.
Well, okay then, since we’re here…………..North Superior Brewing Company. We had a great visit there and by visit I mean, the guy invited us into the tasting room, sat us down and brought us full glasses of beer all the while telling us stories of the area and the brewery. It was like drinking with old friends ! Had a great time there, and the beer was also a great time ! lol
We took a drive out to find Gros Cap – apparently they filmed an episode of The Vikings tv show here. We watch the show and love it so thought it would be interesting to find this spot. I believe it was the episode where Bjorn went off on his own to a cabin and killed the bear…… yadda yadda…… rest of the story…….If you watch the show, you will know the episodes I am talking about.
We like to watch boats go though canals, I know….. but we do……….we spent a lot of time down there watching the boats and the locks and walking the trails. Their National Visitor Centre is worth a quick peek and again, the staff there were awesome. This young guy we talked to knew everything about the canal, the history, he was just great.
Okay so we did go to another brewery, can’t visit too many breweries I’d say ! This one is one of my favourites, Outspoken Brewery. They have great brews and we bought a couple of their beer drinkin’ glasses; they were the coolest glasses and my favourite glass to sip out of.
All in all, we had a great time in Sault Ste Marie and there is definitely lots to see and do. Check it out !
Trums Travels 