THUNDER BAY — Despite encountering a waiter exhibiting "defeatism," a writer for an American online newspaper liked a lot of what he found – but not quite everything – during a recent three-night stay in Thunder Bay.
"Those who make the effort to get here will be rewarded by a place that has a surprising number of things to do and see. It’s also an astonishingly good value," Dennis Lennox said in a piece posted Sunday in the Christian Post.
He described the city as being "in the middle of nowhere" and said a restaurant worker had told him 'Nobody really comes here. People only stop when they're coming through."
Lennox did note Thunder Bay is a long drive away from any major centre, which he learned after a frustrating experience trying to fly to the city, but seemed to suggest the inconveniences of travel were worth it in the end.
"The jewel in Thunder Bay's crown is its location on Lake Superior. . . Having been to other port cities on the Great Lakes, I can't think of a place with a better view," he wrote.
He was also impressed by the Sleeping Giant and the "castle-like" grain elevators, although he curiously referred to them as reminders of "an industrial past."
On the north side of town, Lennox toured a downtown area which he said looks to be rebounding, but found the southside downtown "couldn't be more different," saying it has a "weary look" thanks to closed shops and empty buildings.
"The piazza in front of City Hall was taken over by street drinkers at 8 o'clock on a Sunday morning," he observed.
Locations the writer singled out as worthy tourist destinations included several local eateries, Fort William Historical Park, Kakabeka Falls, Ouimet Canyon, Eagle Canyon, and the Thunder Bay Museum.
