Tag Archives: Sault Ste. Marie

Posts from Base Camp

Playing the Guessing Game

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(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)

I don’t know how much fun it is for readers of this blog, but I personally really enjoy dropping vague hints about my upcoming travels and then suddenly saying something like “I’m in Sarajevo!” when I’ve finally arrived in my surprise destination.  I haven’t been able to do that for a while, as I talked about my recent trip to Italy far in advance (withholding only the details about the Cinque Terre part until I actually arrived there).

The Sault Memorial Gardens - where Wayne Gretzky played his junior hockey
The Sault Memorial Gardens – where Wayne Gretzky played his junior hockey

However, it’s finally time to play that game again! So far, all I’ve said about this summer’s trip is that it will be in the Southern Hemisphere. Well, that’s a pretty big place. Here are some more clues to tantalize and infuriate…

1. We will be visiting at least two countries (and might make a quick trip to a third).
2. We have not been to any of these countries before (alone or together).
3. I won’t need any special paperwork (or incur any expense) to cross the border between these two countries…but most readers of this blog would.
4. On this blog, I once mentioned that someday I might want to visit these two countries for food reasons.

The Algoma Courthouse in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
The Algoma Courthouse in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Well, to me, it is now blindingly obvious where we are going!   It’s definitely a bucket list trip for me, as I have been accumulating books about one of these countries for many years but the timing just hasn’t been right until now.

The photos in today’s post are vintage prints from the summer of 1999.  Two of the pictures are from the northern Ontario city of Sault Ste. Marie.  It’s not a place that typically gathers a lot of tourist attention (and 1999 was my one and only visit)…so here’s a tip of the hat to the city we call “The Soo”!

A raccoon wreaking havoc in a tree beside my parents' house
A raccoon wreaking havoc in a tree beside my parents’ house

Sadly, the Sault Memorial Gardens building was demolished in 2006.  At the time, it was the second oldest building in the Ontario Hockey League.  Other than being Wayne Gretzky’s home arena when he played in the OHL, it also hosted concerts by a number of famous musicians, including Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, and Roy Orbison.    As far as I can tell, the Algoma Courthouse is still standing.

Coming up soon: more on Morocco, some travel planning thoughts, and (eventually) the Big Reveal!