After waking up and checking out at the Prince Arthur, I decided that since it was a short walk from where my car was parked, I’d visit the Tourist Pagoda.
There was a nice breeze for the day and the skies were blue.
Since I make it a point to find local products, I stopped by Maltese Grocery and also George’s Market. I bought a few local products there. After that, it was around noon, so I dropped by Eatlocal Pizza and had a pierogi pizza. Jim, the owner, had reached out to me, and I was happy he got my attention because this pizza was great! It was also made with all local ingredients, so I got a true taste of Thunder Bay.
For dessert, I took a drive to Thunder Oak Cheese to get some Gouda. I was stuffed from the pizza, but I found the smallest slice they sold and bought it to give it a try. I’m obviously more acquainted with Cheddar and Baby Colby, but I did like the taste of Gouda.
On my way back to Thunder Bay, I finally saw that Founders Museum & Pioneer Village was open. I have always wanted to stop, but for some reason or another, it was closed for the season or I was too busy to visit it. This time I was able to stop. It was great to finally stop because there is so much history there. I took so many pictures; I had to break it down into a bunch of different blog posts!
When I came back into Thunder Bay, I thought I might have some luck at the Metro that I first visited on my first trip to Thunder Bay to find more local products.
While I didn’t have any luck finding anything local, I did see they carried Stubb’s BBQ sauce, which is from Austin.
After all this exploring, I knew my hotel room at Night’s Inn should have been ready. I drove there and checked in. After getting my bearings, I decided to start walking to Bluesfest. I took a few pictures along the way. It was an absolutely beautiful day!
About halfway walking, my buddy Ryan picked me up. We then found a parking spot and sat in the long line to get in. Between sets, we hit up the Pier Bar and other bars downtown. Ryan’s friend Neal knew about my travel blog from the Thunder Bay Memories group on Facebook, so he wanted to show me a little more of Thunder Bay.
Before 1970, Thunder Bay was 2 cities, Port Arthur and Fort William. Where I normally party is downtown Port Arthur. Since he was sober, he offered to drive Ryan and us, and we went to The Westfort, so I could see downtown Fort William.
After a drink at The Westfort, we headed back to downtown to The Westfort’s sister bar, Waterhouse. Of course, I had to have a Caesar.
Ryan’s phone ended up being dead, and I didn’t have Neal’s contact information that night, so we ended up getting split up. Since I couldn’t get a hold of them, I walked back to Night’s Inn. Since it was before bar close, I stopped at Fastlane and had a drink while BSing with my buddy Kal, who was bartending that night.
After I had the drink, I headed to my room to get some sleep. I knew the next day was going to be packed with exploring, and I’d definitely have to get as much rest as I could. I wanted to make it to at least see the Barenaked Ladies headline the next day at Bluesfest.