Thunder Bay????
- Thread starter Karen-C
- Start date
Well I spent two years in ‘Thunder City’ studying at Lakehead University and have gone back many times since (I'll actually be there next week).
Not sure what you are into but if you like the outdoors you are in the right place. Skiing; downhill, xcountry, skating, ice skating, ice climbing, mountain biking, you name it there are plenty of outdoor rec opportunites in TB. If you are into mountain biking I highly suggest bringing or renting a bike and riding the Cascades or Centenial Park trails. These trails follow a cascading river (hence the name) and the scenery is excellent.
As for food, you absolutely must find the Hoito restaurant. Its the closest thing to local fare and is quite good. I believe its actually a Finnish restaurant. There are lots of Finns and Swedes in TB (lots of blondes). What else…if you get talking with a local ask them about the controversy around how the town came to be named Thunder Bay in the first place…something about a shady mayor and rigged voting…interesting story. Other than that I hope you are not going there for the nightlife!!! Have a good trip!
Not sure what you are into but if you like the outdoors you are in the right place. Skiing; downhill, xcountry, skating, ice skating, ice climbing, mountain biking, you name it there are plenty of outdoor rec opportunites in TB. If you are into mountain biking I highly suggest bringing or renting a bike and riding the Cascades or Centenial Park trails. These trails follow a cascading river (hence the name) and the scenery is excellent.
As for food, you absolutely must find the Hoito restaurant. Its the closest thing to local fare and is quite good. I believe its actually a Finnish restaurant. There are lots of Finns and Swedes in TB (lots of blondes). What else…if you get talking with a local ask them about the controversy around how the town came to be named Thunder Bay in the first place…something about a shady mayor and rigged voting…interesting story. Other than that I hope you are not going there for the nightlife!!! Have a good trip!
Gotta try the Persians at The Persian Man, near the airport. Nummmmy!! Shell brought me some home last visit and even day old they were killer good.
Touristy stuff is the Welcome Ship ... get a nice toddle along the shoreline if it's still open.
Ya gotta have a burger and a bag of fries from Greasy Greek's on Hodder Ave.
There's the scoop from Shell who lived there for years. She's now in Victoria ... ya may find more to do on this end of the country!
Touristy stuff is the Welcome Ship ... get a nice toddle along the shoreline if it's still open.
Ya gotta have a burger and a bag of fries from Greasy Greek's on Hodder Ave.
There's the scoop from Shell who lived there for years. She's now in Victoria ... ya may find more to do on this end of the country!
My neighbor across the street here in my Florida town is from Thunder Bay. He never wants to go back. I don't know if that means anything or not.
Oddly, I know another guy about a mile away from me who is also from Thunder Bay.
Oddly, I know another guy about a mile away from me who is also from Thunder Bay.
Rigged voting?! Naw...
Anyways, I'm from Thunder Bay, so let me set this thing straight...
Back when the two cities of Port Arthur and Fort William joined, we decided to have us a vote to pick a new name for our city. We kinda weren't thinking, y'know, and we put "Thunder Bay", "Lakehead", and "The Lakehead" all on the same ballot...
Anyways, if I recall correctly, Lakehead and The Lakehead together net almost twice as many votes as Thunder Bay (75% more or something). I think the Thunder Bay name just barely edged out Lakehead, and had almost twice as many as The Lakehead.
Just a simple slip up, that's all, no biggie...
That entire area with the Hoito and Thunder Bay Restaurant -Bay Street/Waterfront area (not very large)- is one of the places where you will find a concentration of locally owned businesses... There are places like the Finnish Book Store and Finntastic, where you can buy a wooden salt shaker for $85. Actually, they are neat places to browse around. There is Fireweed, a place that sells local and regional art. Mad House - a bar/restaurant with okay food that might make for a decent lunch.
I go to Kangas Sauna to get my hair blazed, to eat even more Finnish pancakes, and to have a sauna! That is on Oliver Road, not too far from Bay Street.
Going back the other way, the waterfront is at the end of Bay Street. There, you will find The Waterfront Restaurant, which has some nice Asian dishes. I love the Thai Sizzlers in spicy satay with tofu. You will get an okay view of the Sleeping Giant from there, but that lake draft is cold as hell to most people now. Personally, I love jumping in Lake Superior whenever the coastal areas are not frozen over, but that's just me.
Near the Waterfront, you will find some other restaurants. Gargoyles, Mona Lisas, the Prospector and some other stuff. The Prospector Steakhouse has awesome bread, and my friends say the steaks are okay... I love ordering a tiny meal, like some rice or something, and then pigging out on the fresh bread.
Hit up a local bakery or The Persian Man and buy persians. That is a Thunder Bay specialty right there. Persians are kinda like soft cinammon rolls with icing on top and sometimes some fruit jelly mixed in. Whenever I haul some of them off to another city, people snatch them up like hotcakes.
There is an amethyst mine a few miles East of town (I think it is called 'Amethyst Mine' or something like that) where you can pay a few bucks, tour an amethyst mine, and grab some huge chunks of amethyst to take home. I take amethyst for granted, but other people who visit are all about that stuff.
There are also some amethyst gift shops selling the stuff for lots of money... Just go to the mine and get it yourself though, or ask someone if you can dig it out of their backyard. It is more fun.
There is the Sleeping Giant... It's a group of hills off on the lake that apparently resembles the giant Nanabijou from Ojibway legend. It doesn't resemble anything to me, but apparently he's supposed to be just sitting there, sleeping. You can hike on him too (Sibley park), it's a decent park as far as provincial parks go, though I vastly prefer a place like Isle Royale national park (closed for the year, I think).
Really, there's a myriad of places to hike and cross country ski around here, in and around the city.
You might even be able to do a little fishing. There are zillions of lakes around here too.
Anyways, stop by the pagoda in the waterfront area (near a giant blue pedestrian overpass) and get some brochures there. If not that place, a place like the Greyhound depot has lots of travel brochures. From these things, you should be able to plan a couple of things to do.
Anyways, I'm from Thunder Bay, so let me set this thing straight...
Back when the two cities of Port Arthur and Fort William joined, we decided to have us a vote to pick a new name for our city. We kinda weren't thinking, y'know, and we put "Thunder Bay", "Lakehead", and "The Lakehead" all on the same ballot...
Anyways, if I recall correctly, Lakehead and The Lakehead together net almost twice as many votes as Thunder Bay (75% more or something). I think the Thunder Bay name just barely edged out Lakehead, and had almost twice as many as The Lakehead.
Just a simple slip up, that's all, no biggie...
Can anyone tell me anything about Thunder Bay....I will be visiting there next month.....just wanted to know of anything to do/not to do....places to see/eat/visit.....
In defense of Thunder Bay's nightlife, every day of the week, you can find two dollar beers at some bar. That ain't great or anything, but at least there are enough bars having that kinda deal on to cover each day of the week. I dunno, people from down East, especially the Ottawa area, always seem amazed by drinks being "that cheap"...
The Hoito is good: fairly popular, has an interesting history tied in with the local working class (you can read the entire history on the back of the paper place mats). You're gonna wanna have those Finnish pancakes. The mojakka (a type of stew) is good stuff as well. All in all though, the Hoito is overrated and often too busy. Forget going there on a Sunday, when the church crowd swarm the place like bats out of hell. Go to Thunder Bay restaurant down the street instead. The lady who works there and runs the joint is a classic dame. In either case, you are at a Finnish joint, so you absolutely need to get the pancakes - it's almost a prerequisite.
That entire area with the Hoito and Thunder Bay Restaurant -Bay Street/Waterfront area (not very large)- is one of the places where you will find a concentration of locally owned businesses... There are places like the Finnish Book Store and Finntastic, where you can buy a wooden salt shaker for $85. Actually, they are neat places to browse around. There is Fireweed, a place that sells local and regional art. Mad House - a bar/restaurant with okay food that might make for a decent lunch.
I go to Kangas Sauna to get my hair blazed, to eat even more Finnish pancakes, and to have a sauna! That is on Oliver Road, not too far from Bay Street.
Going back the other way, the waterfront is at the end of Bay Street. There, you will find The Waterfront Restaurant, which has some nice Asian dishes. I love the Thai Sizzlers in spicy satay with tofu. You will get an okay view of the Sleeping Giant from there, but that lake draft is cold as hell to most people now. Personally, I love jumping in Lake Superior whenever the coastal areas are not frozen over, but that's just me.
Near the Waterfront, you will find some other restaurants. Gargoyles, Mona Lisas, the Prospector and some other stuff. The Prospector Steakhouse has awesome bread, and my friends say the steaks are okay... I love ordering a tiny meal, like some rice or something, and then pigging out on the fresh bread.
Hit up a local bakery or The Persian Man and buy persians. That is a Thunder Bay specialty right there. Persians are kinda like soft cinammon rolls with icing on top and sometimes some fruit jelly mixed in. Whenever I haul some of them off to another city, people snatch them up like hotcakes.
There is an amethyst mine a few miles East of town (I think it is called 'Amethyst Mine' or something like that) where you can pay a few bucks, tour an amethyst mine, and grab some huge chunks of amethyst to take home. I take amethyst for granted, but other people who visit are all about that stuff.
There are also some amethyst gift shops selling the stuff for lots of money... Just go to the mine and get it yourself though, or ask someone if you can dig it out of their backyard. It is more fun.
There is the Sleeping Giant... It's a group of hills off on the lake that apparently resembles the giant Nanabijou from Ojibway legend. It doesn't resemble anything to me, but apparently he's supposed to be just sitting there, sleeping. You can hike on him too (Sibley park), it's a decent park as far as provincial parks go, though I vastly prefer a place like Isle Royale national park (closed for the year, I think).
Really, there's a myriad of places to hike and cross country ski around here, in and around the city.
You might even be able to do a little fishing. There are zillions of lakes around here too.
Anyways, stop by the pagoda in the waterfront area (near a giant blue pedestrian overpass) and get some brochures there. If not that place, a place like the Greyhound depot has lots of travel brochures. From these things, you should be able to plan a couple of things to do.
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Forgot to mention that place! Good stuff. I remember wasting all of my money there as a youngster on ginormous bags of greasy french fries and 5 cent candies. Too bad they took down those giant coke bottle caps that hung on the side of the building...