After the first day of exploring, it was time to do some more exploring and hit up as many places as I could before going to Day 2 of Bluesfest. My first stop was the Thunder Bay Country Market, which is the local farmer’s market. After walking around there a while, I headed over to Robin’s Donuts to eat breakfast.
I still had some coffee to consume, so I figured it would be relaxing to chill by the running water of Fisherman’s Park. I sipped my coffee and enjoyed the peaceful calm of being in the area. Once my coffee was gone, it was time to check out Canadian Tire and see what they had to offer. I also decided to get an energy bar as a further pick me up.
Across the street from Canadian Tire was the LCBO. I checked out what they had and ended up buying 2 cans of Trailer Park Boy’s beer. Since I was on a roll buying alcohol, I headed over to The Beer Store and got a can of pale ale from the Sleeping Giant Brewing Company. Alcohol is much more expensive in Canada, so 3 cans were enough to bring back with me to the United States (unlike Mexico where I’ll spend a lunch break buying cheap alcohol).
After my alcohol buying spree, I headed back to the hotel and then proceeded to walk to Bluesfest. The clouds looked kind of threatening along the way.
I saw a cool-looking storefront while walking.
The threatening clouds turned into rain, but I was lucky to be downtown already. I waited out the storm and ate a slice of pizza at Blueberry Hill. After the rain subsided, I headed into Bluesfest and then listened to the bands. Ryan and some of his friends met up with me, and we hung out. Between sets, he headed downtown and made a quick stop at New Day Records.
Across the street, there was this cool wall art (I was told this was actually sanctioned and approved by the city and not just random graffiti).
After New Day Records, we headed to Sovereign Room. Ryan’s friend Neal suggested I try a Crystal and then bought me one. He then had to take my picture losing my “Crystal virginity.” I was feeling good at that time, but catching me with my eyes closed made it look like I was feeling a lot better than I was. I will say the beer itself was pretty good.
Ryan and I also got a picture together.
Once we had our drink at Sov, we headed back to Bluesfest. I was able to get very close to the stage for Barenaked Ladies, which was amazing! Later that night we hit up a few more bars and ultimately got to rock out at Black Pirates Pub. This time, we didn’t get split up so Neal (who was actually on an alcohol-free kick for a month) drove both of us home.
It was a really fun day, and I was able to see a band that was one of my favorites growing up. I got a decent amount of exploring in and was even able to stock up on local products.