Sault Ste. Marie Locks
For Virginia: Mac's China Store
No wine here
 Wednesday - 16 June 2004 - Sault Ste. Marie,
Ontario, Canada: As mentioned yesterday, DT grew up across the
"river" from here and visited Sault Ste. Marie, Canada often with his Mom as
she enlarged her china collection at Mac's China Shop. This was the late
1960's. Would you believe Mac's China Shop is still in business?
We also visited a Beer Store. Nothing to imagine about this
store, all they sell is beer. But they don't let you walk around amidst the
suds like in Pennsylvania. Here, you have to go to a counter, place your
order and someone sends it up to the desk clerk on a conveyer belt!
Canadians are serious about their beer, and they put alcohol in it too. Even BudLight has a lofty 4% alcohol, and they are advertising a 6% alcohol beer
on TV that comes in 6 oz. cans. The Quicker Liquor? Why don't they just put
it in a tablet and simply do away with all those long lines to the toilets?
Since we had such lovely weather, we hiked around the
Parks Canada Locks site. There are two sets of locks on
the river channel running between Lake Superior and Lake Huron.
The larger locks are on the American side. We visited these
locks two years ago. This is where huge freighters move between the lakes.
The Canadian side has smaller locks and they are now used exclusively for
tourist boats and pleasure craft. Between 30 and 50 boats pass through the
Canadian locks every day. The trail along the river is fabulous - some of it
is built above the water as a boardwalk, so you get a close-up view of the
wildlife. We saw beautiful flowers, huge dragonflies and baby ducklings.
Huge frogs were croaking and fish were slipping between the reeds. It was
very noisy with all the chirping, croaking and squawking! A beautiful hike!
Frog
Even in Canada: Ducks and Beavers
Okay, this next part may bore you, so skip ahead if you have
no interest in locks. We watched two tour boats traverse the locks! Such
fun!
DT stands at the lock.
The red gate is holding back 21-feet of water
This is a view towards Lake Superior.
In the right photo, the two boats approach the lock.
The bridge in the background connects
Sault St. Marie, Michigan with Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
BEFORE: The ships arrive in the lock from Lake Superior
and the gate behind them is closed.
AFTER: Water is released and they drop 21 feet to the level of Lake Huron
More lock travelers - view east
Parks Canada Locks Headquarters - look at those lilacs!
It was getting late, so we headed over to the waterfront
area. From Canada, we watched a 500-plus-foot-long freighter traverse
through the locks in Michigan. There was a lot of activity on the water. We
watched a wonderful Lab-Shepherd mix, Fletcher, jump in the water, over and
over, chasing a Frisbee!
Jump, Fletcher, jump
We stopped at a local waterside hang-out for a late
lunch/early dinner. Finally, I tasted the famous Canadian treat -
Poutine - pronounced Pooh-tain (or Pooh-tin by French Canadians). Poutine is
French fries, covered with grated cheese
(cheddar curds are traditional) and then topped with gravy. We shared the
dish and only finished about half of the gooey, salty mess. Of course it was
delicious, and of course we will not be having dinner tonight.
Poutine
Poutine
RV Park:
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario KOA - very friendly owners!
|