I flew into Thunder Bay early yesterday evening on WestJet via YYZ. Originally I was to fly via YWG on Saturday, not Friday, but in these COVID-19 times airlines are canceling flights constantly, I guess, and two or three weeks ago I was told my original flights were victims. It meant an extra day off work and a longer travel day, but I suppose it all worked out fine.
Actually, COVID-19 made me worried I would not get in a cycling trip at all this year, but as summer wound down it seemed there would be a chance and, so, here I am.
After picking up a rental car at the airport I checked in at my motel on the northeast side of the city, the old Port Arthur (at one time Thunder Bay was two towns, Fort William [where I stayed in 2017] and Port Arthur]). The Old Country Motel is more or less in the opposite end of the city from the airport and in the corner of the city closest to my way towards the Soo. From my motel I walked downtown for dinner, and made my way back along the lovely Prince Arthur's Landing waterfront area.
I was up at 8:00 this morning for a breakfast of Finnish pancakes at Niva's restaurant. The server at the bar the night before had recommended I check it out, and indeed it was delicious and a good experience!
Who knew, but apparently Thunder Bay is the largest "Finnish city" outside of Finland (put me down as skeptical, but that's what I've read).
After breakfast I headed into Fort William's downtown to Petrie's cycle shop for a tune up. They were kind enough to prioritize me and actually my bike was all done in less than an hour!
With the bike all done, I had the rest of the morning and afternoon to enjoy Thunder Bay. Three years ago I had enjoyed the natural area on Mission Island, so I went out there again straight from Petrie's for a little walk and to see the lake.
Then it was time to check out another recommendation from last night's server--"The Persian Man." "You need to get a 'Persian.' It's as Thunder Bay as it gets," he told me. Again, who knew?
The Persian Man is something of a coffee shop and bakery, but clearly these "Persians" are the highlight--in essence a donut with raspberry icing.
I drove down to the Prince Arthur's Landing waterfront area to enjoy my "Persian" and coffee by the marina.
It was now around noon, but after a large breakfast and the Persian, I was certainly not hungry for lunch, so I wandered a little bit and found myself at a neighbourhood known as Bay & Algoma. More of Thunder Bay's Finnish heritage was evident here.
My last tourist stop of the day was the Terry Fox statue just a few kilometres outside of Thunder Bay. I had visited here in 2017, too, but in preparation for this trip--part of which will be on the "Terry Fox Courage Highway"--I had read some and watched a documentary about Terry Fox, so visiting the statue this time was more meaningful.
I was now ready for lunch, so it was back to Prince Arthur's Landing to a restaurant called Bight, where I was able to enjoy pickerel, a couple of local beers, and the patio.
After lunch, I headed out to the airport and dropped the car off, then cycled across Thunder Bay to the motel, mostly sticking on multi-use trails that made for a lovely ride, along the Neebing River, through the Lakehead Univesity Campus, and so on. I also cycled past the infamous Dennis Cromarty High School, which has sadly lost many students over the last few years. I read Seven Fallen Feathers by Tanya Talaga a few months ago about these students, so I pulled over as I came by to see the school.
I have stayed at some real dives of motels on my cycling trips, but the Old Country Motel really is the diviest. At $60/night, it is also probably the cheapest, and I suppose it is adequate; in some ways the motels are all part of the experience!
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