Thunder Bay, Ontario

deerhead

Here we are in Thunder Bay ! which is the largest city in Northwest Ontario. Exciting things to see here; Terry Fox Memorial, Fort William, Thunder Oak Cheese, Mission Island Marsh, lots of conservation areas, waterfalls, Chippewa Wildlife Refuge and on and on……..

We stayed at the KOA Thunder Bay. We asked to change sites as they had put us where we didn’t want to be, ’nuff said……….so we had an okay site and as we aren’t at our trailer much; it really doesn’t matter that much to us. Nice park, clean and people are friendly. We did have two nights of “party people” which was kinda annoying but what are you going to do? Try to sleep and load up on caffeine the next day ! lol

So might as well get this outta the way, we went to some BREWERIES ! Sleeping Giant brewery and Dawson Trail Craft Brewery. Sleeping Giant had some great beer but they only sold growlers. We didn’t want to carry around a growler so we just had tasters there. However, from now on we are going to take our Bottleworx 64 oz stainless steel bottle with us. Read about Bottleworx on my “Stuff we Like” page. We did buy a tee-shirt with one of their beers advertised on it. The beer is called Beaver Duck, yup you read it here folks. Cutest beer tee-shirt I have seen. So yes it does involve animals which I love so that’s probably the reason.

We saw a cool place called the Breakwater Taphouse and thought we’d eat dinner there but they don’t serve food so we didn’t stay. It’s a neat place though if you want to drop in for a beer. So we did end up at a restaurant called Oriental Gardens, small place, really good food, very busy and the waitress (and there was only one) was awesome. Friendly, professional and a memory for orders and people which truly impressed me.

Another great restaurant we ate at one night was Kebab Village, Lebanese, Mediterranean and Halal cuisine. The meal was enjoyable and the service was great. I do recommend this restaurant if you like the kind of food they serve. It was delicious !

The Terry Fox Memorial is a must see. What a memorial it is. So very impressive and you can see the Sleeping Giant from the top. They did such a wonderful job for such a Canadian hero, well done Thunder Bay !

Fort William – what can I say? you have to go to Fort William, especially if you have kids. What a place, plan on spending 1/2 day there for sure. It is set on 250 acres and there are 57 buildings. They have a farm with goats, sheep, chickens and when we were there they had 9 little 2 1/2 month old pigs ! you can pet the animals and sit with them, enjoyable. All the staff were in period costumes and they were all approachable and knowledgeable. This is an example of the fur trade life including culture, medicine, business, weapons, cooking etc. Its a very hands on place where you can try your hand at axe throwing and you can handle the muskets and pistols at the weaponry, under watchful eyes of the staff of course ! We bought some tasty bread baked in the bakery the way they used to make it all those years ago. The restaurant was terrific; pea soup, stew, homemade bread and cheese buns and some other items. They offer artisan workshops by reservation on various activities such as making a birch bark basket; drum making, basic blacksmithing, moccasins, porcupine quillwork and a host of others. They also offer RV camping but we did not stay here so I can’t really offer any input on that. There is an observatory as well. All in all, a very enjoyable day and not to be missed.

hawk

Chippewa Wildlife Refuge was another spot we visited. It is set in the Chippewa Park where there is a beach, amusement rides, concession stands etc. We walked through the Wildlife refuge and saw animals that had been rescued. Sadly as of May 1, 2017 the City of Thunder Bay has decided to close down the refuge. Where are the animals going to go you may wonder? I have no idea; in reading various articles I could not find any information about that. I hope they have been released, if possible, or taken to homes that will look after them properly. If anyone knows, let me know. They were honestly the saddest bunch of animals I have ever seen so maybe not a bad thing they closed the refuge. As long as they are all safe SOMEWHERE.