THUNDER BAY EXPERIENCE ONTARIO CANADA ISSUE 7 2014 PGA CANADA Comes to Thunder Bay Dogsledding BArkING AND hOWLING to SUrrEAL SILENCE SisuThe City of Geocaching 101: WITh PArkS Canada The Crown Jewel of Canadian Stone CLIMBING IN THUNDER BAY FooD – Glorious Food hOmE to AwarD-WINNING CulturE It’s in our nature Features 4 Geocaching 101: With Parks Canada A hands-on, interactive way to explore interesting aspects of history and culture, while enjoying the natural beauty of the area. 18 The Crown Jewel of Canadian Stone With feet dangling, imagine your hands squeezing coarse sandstone at Pass Lake, followed by pie and coffee at Karen’s Kountry Kitchen across the street. 41 44 50 Professional The City Dogsledding ©Goh Iromoto Golf Finds a of Sisu From a cacophony of New Home in For the descendant’s of barking and howling to the Finnish immigrants, surreal silence. Thunder Bay the pop culture branding Teeing off with a week-long of the word is a way to pay schedule of events, The homage to their ancestors Thunder Bay Golf Classic is who settled here. an exciting addition to the ©Susan Dykstra PGA Tour Canada. 30 56 Food Glorious food – Home to World Flavours in Thunder Bay award-winning A sampling of the gustatory delights awaiting Culture adventurous eaters. Thunder Bay is revealing its excellence and garnering attention as an award winning city. 1 visitthunderbay.com THUNDER BAY EXPERIENCE BOOK Corporation of the City of Thunder Bay Tourism Division RoseMarie Mancusa – City of Thunder Bay Paul Anthony Pepe Heather Cranston – Generator Strategy Advertising Daniel Griffin – Generator Strategy Advertising Transcontinental LGM Parks Canada Brandon Pullan – Gripped Magazine Duncan Weller Robin Moss Janine Chaisson Kathy Toivonen Michelle McChristie – Superior Outdoors & The Walleye Goh Iromoto Barry Wojciechowski, Gary and Joanie McGuffin, Lois Nuttall, Susan Dykstra, Barb Rees – Ontario Parks, Storm Carroll Photography, BrookMcIlory, Thunder Bay Museum, Greg Dubeau, Darren & Michelle McChristie, Canadian Paraplegic Association Ontario, Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame. Contents: Inside RoseMarie Mancusa Tel: (807) 625-3648 • [email protected] The Thunder Bay Experience Book is a local and area visitor magazine published 8 Ask a Local once a year by the Corporation of the City of Thunder Bay - Tourism Division. The Corporation prints 100,000 copies and they are distributed free to locations in 10 On the Water Canada and the United States. 14 Parks & Green Spaces Tourism Thunder Bay makes no representation or warranty, either express or 20 implied, of any kind with respect to the contents of this publication. While every Exploring & Adventure effort has been made to ensure accuracy, it is possible that the information in 30 this brochure contains errors or omissions. Please verify information with the Arts & Entertainment listed suppliers. 40 Sports While Tourism Thunder Bay takes reasonable care in selecting the listed suppliers, it does not have any control over them or their suppliers. Tourism Thunder Bay 44 cannot be responsible for any of the acts or omissions of any suppliers. Heritage 50 Winter Adventure City of Thunder Bay – Tourism Division P.O. Box 800 56 Eat, Shop, Stay Thunder Bay, ON P7C 5K4 78 Toll-free: 1-800-667-8386 Getting Here [email protected] 84 visitthunderbay.com Beyond the City Lights 2 THUNDER BAY EXPERIENCE 2014 © Brandon Pullan © Brandon Living in a city branded as “Superior by Nature” certain things just come naturally to us and welcoming visitors is no exception. MAyOR KEITH HOBBS We hope this edition of Thunder Bay Experience Magazine welcomes you will inspire you to explore our City, and the region beyond. You may wish to take an urban discovery walk which will connect you to the culture and history of Thunder Bay orthern hospitality awaits you in Thunder Bay through visits to neighbourhoods energized by avant-garde and its surrounding area. The history, the beauty and art creations, forward-thinking eateries, cafés and bars, Nthe cultural charm of this lakeside Northwest Ontario and distinctly-local boutiques, shops and galleries. You gem, beckons you to immerse yourself in a city like no other. can also travel off the beaten path to accessible-but- little- Thunder Bay’s reputation as one of Canada’s Best Outdoor known attractions and destinations that offer a truly Cities is well earned. Boasting the world’s largest fresh water one-of-a-kind experience. lake at our doorstep and the natural beauty of the boreal forest Our feature stories will give you the inside scoop on what and the Nor’Wester mountain range that surrounds us, access we love to do here, where we spend our pastime and how to some of the most unparalleled outdoor experiences is we re-charge and reconnect with our family and friends. We virtually in our backyard. have showcased the best of what our city has to offer – from During a recent visit to Thunder Bay, the editors of Gripped – an award-winning arts & culture sector, an eclectic and Canada’s Climbing Magazine praised the alpine rock climbing globally-infused culinary scene to stories and insights about options our region offers. The climbs here, they said, are the people, places and events that have truly made our city challenging and unique, and on par with those climbs found “Superior by Nature”. at some of Canada’s most-famous rock climbing destinations. Sincerely, And best of all, you won’t spend a lot of time getting there. In fact you can climb, hike, cycle, sail or paddle in the most scenic and serene landscapes known to man and still be back to the boardroom in time for that afternoon keynote speaker or on the ice ready to cheer on your team after an invigorating Mayor Keith Hobbs | City of Thunder Bay mid-day break. thunderbay.ca 3 visitthunderbay.com Geocaching 101 with Parks Canada Geocaching can be an adventure into unknown territory, or a way to explore your own backyard. It’s a great way to discover new areas and get some exercise while hunting treasures. For tourists, it’s an interactive way to discover unique features and gems the locals rave about—like great eateries, scenic vistas or fascinating stories. Best described as a high-tech treasure hunt, geocaching sees participants use GPS-enabled devices, such as smartphones, to navigate to a set of coordinates to locate a hidden container, known as a geocache. More than 2 million geocaches have been hidden around the world, and they are everywhere from urban settings to off-trail locations. All geocaches contain a logbook for participants to sign, and they come in countless shapes and sizes. Geocachers also log their finds online at Geocaching.com, and often post comments and photos. People of all ages and abilities can enjoy geocaching. It’s especially fun with kids, because larger caches usually contain inexpensive trade items (like bouncy balls, stickers or key chains). The rule regarding these treasures is simple; leave something of equal or greater value than what you take. What DoeS a Geocache look lIke? All you’ll need is a GPS device or GPS-enabled mobile phone, a free Geocaching.com membership, and a sense of adventure! Geocache containers come in all shapes and sizes. They are often quite cleverly camouflaged. courtesy Geocaching.com © S. Hansen © Parks Canada © Parks © Parks Canada TRADITIONAL The original geocache type consists of, at minimum, a container and a logbook. Coordinates listed on a traditional cache page give the cache’s exact location. Hi! I’m Parka, Parks Canada’s mascot. Try Parka’s HeritagE Hide’N’Seek GeoTour! Multi-Cache Parks Canada created a series of geocaches called the Heritage A multi-cache involves two or more locations. Hide’n’Seek GeoTour. It’s a fun way to explore Thunder Bay and Hints found at the initial area while learning about fascinating people, places and events location(s) lead to the final geocache, which is a physi- that helped shape Canada’s history. cal container. The bilingual Heritage Hide’n’Seek GeoTour is made up of more than a dozen geocaches. They extend from the Manitoba border to Algonquin Park, in locations ranging from well-known landmarks to more obscure destinations. Several geocaches are located in and around Thunder Bay. The Heritage Hide’n’Seek GeoTour offers a hands-on, interac- tive way to explore interesting aspects of history and culture, while enjoying the natural beauty of the area. There’s a bonus! The Heritage Hide’n’Seek GeoTour is set up like a game, where each cache is assigned a point value depending on the amount of effort required to find it. Anyone who collects 100+ points, as a result of finding several of the caches, is eligible to receive a collectible coin from Parks Canada. Locations range from urban, in downtown Thunder Bay, to more remote, along the Trans-Canada Highway and Lake Superior’s MySTERy OR northern shore. PUzzLE Cache Mystery or puzzle caches More information about the Heritage Hide’n’Seek GeoTour is available at parkscanada. can involve complicated gc.ca/sault. Simply click on Geocaching. puzzles you will first need On behalf of the people of Canada, Parks Canada protects and presents nationally to solve to determine the significant examples of Canada’s cultural heritage and fosters public understanding, coordinates of the cache. appreciation and enjoyment of this heritage for present and future generations. courtesy Geocaching.com Geocaching is an ideal way to explore the road less traveled. Get outside, learn a lot and enjoy Northern Ontario’s beautiful scenery. 6 THUNDER BAY EXPERIENCE 2014 BELOW: Cuttlefish88 said: “Our first cache in Canada and one of my favorites! The falls are just beautiful! thank you so much for this cache” © Parks Canada © Parks Canada TOP: Geocacher Natamilie said: “The pancakes at the final are simply devine! One of many memorable spots found with Juicepig on a 10 day, 3 SOME HINTS to GET yOU started: province, 4 state insane roadtrip to nowhere!” • Stick to ‘traditional’ caches at first BOTTOM: Butterfly5 said: “Another HHS multi we were able to complete and signed in.