Wednesday 9-11 Quirky Sites

Awesome Day

The rain went away but the clouds stayed and we hit the road.

The first thing we did was drive to the International Bridge in Sault Ste Marie. We payed our toll, the lady at the booth said it was $6.50. The bridge took us over the St. Marys River that connects the twin cites of Sault Ste. Marie in the United States and Sault Ste. Marie in Ontario Canada. Before entering into Canada we had to stop and show our passports and answer a couple of questions, it was very quick and the gentleman was very friendly. We parked the Minnie in the Visitor Center so we could walk around Sault Ste. Marie. The first thing we did was walk around the Sault Ste. Marie Lock on Canada side. It is very small because it only lets small personal vessels go through. We actually came through this lock last year when we did a boat tour of the locks. It was very cool because we walked across the actual lock via a very narrow metal walkway. On the other side there was a very nice park where you can hike a couple of trails, fish and walk dogs. One of the trails was closed due to flooding. That was too bad because it took you to the rapids and waterfalls. We walked the other trail which was a mile long. It was a gravel trail that went through the wetlands via a boardwalk and along the St. Marys River. As you walk there were signs that told you the history of the ecosystem. We saw the International Bridge, some of the rapids, a lot of ducks and the locks on both sides of the border. We walked by the building that controls the lock and other old buildings with photographs in the windows explaining the history of the locks. There was a visitor center and restrooms. We watched a few workers chain sawing a hugh tree, when we left they were still at it. After walking around the lock we walked around downtown. They have a gorgeous boardwalk that goes along the St. Marys River canal. Larry wanted to see the monument of Dr. Roberta Bondar, who was Canada's first female astronaut to go up in a space shuttle. Canada had an entire block and city park dedicated to her. As we continued our walk we saw a few more statues. After walking about a mile we turned around and headed back. Canada has Tim Horton's Donuts which we love, had to stop and get a couple of donuts. Next we went to the visitor center and picked up some information. Then we went to the Minnie and had lunch. For dessert we each had a Tim Horton's donut, we saved one for later.

Entering into Canada

The Sault Ste. Marie Lock in Canada

The old post office and administrative building

Boardwalk that goes over the wetlands

Wetlands

Docking your sailboat at the Sault Ste. Marie Lock

Shuttle flower holder

Dr. Roberta Bondar

Larry paying for our donuts at Tim Horton's 

Next we made a few stops to see some quirky things. First stop was at Holy Cow Dairy, the dairy has some statues of cows that advertise the company. It also has a cute ice cream parlor with a lot of different kinds of ice cream. We decided to try bear claws and moose tracks. The bear claws is a chocolate ice cream with nuts. The moose tracks is a vanilla ice cream with peanut butter crunchy balls. We shared them both and they were very good. The next stop was the World's Biggest Baseball. It was constructed in 2008 and is 2000 times the size of a baseball and made out of steel. The third stop was the home of the Canadian Loon Dollar. It was a monument in memory of Robert Ralph Carmichael, who designed the Loon Dollar. The sites were neat to see.

Standing with one of the cows at Holy Cow Dairy and Ice Cream Parlor

Holy Cow Dairies Sign

Holy Cow Dairies ice cream

Larry standing with the World's Largest Baseball

Standing in front of the Loon Dollar monument

We arrived at Bruce Mines Campground at 2:30. It is a small city park that has camping with power for $25.00 Canadian, it works on the honor system. It has restrooms with showers. The restrooms are old but they're clean. Larry barbecued pork ribs for dinner. For our dessert we had the cinnamon rolls we bought at Tim Horton's. We had a great day.

Barbecuing dinner

Bruce Mines Campground