I've got some time off and a couple ducats to spend, was giving some thought to a road trip up to Minnesoooota. One of my karaoke bartenders is from Minesooota and he said if I want the full-on "yeah, sure, you betcha" Fargo experience, I need to head all the way up to Duluth and the Iron Hills. I was entertaining the notion of tacking on a cross border jaunt to Canuckistan (International Falls is supposed to be close) but the little info I have says it's a paper mill town. :yuk:
So how much of a drive would it be up to wherever Beeb and Neil are? Or alternatively, is there some reasonable Canadian burg not too far from Duluth?
You're looking at about a 2,000 km drive from Duluth to Edmonton. Winnipeg is much, much closer. You could visit the new Jets arena, buy some Jets merchandize, talk to some Jets fans that aren't BB, and get robbed by Indians.
:lol: Paper mill it is then.
Edmonton isn't north :rolleyes:
Duluth is pretty ugly. Not recommended.
Iron Hills? Never been. Looks like it is central Minnesota. Should be very pretty scenery if you're into that. For the "Fargo" experience that sounds about right for where to go.
Edmonton is 20 hours from there. Would love to have you out here, but I doubt it that you'd come all that way.
Winnipeg could be an option just to say you've been. It's a decent town with things to see, though it's not ordinarily a major tourist destination. If you're thinking about going there I could make some non-Jets recommendations (though to be honest right about now I'm only middle of the road when it comes to Jets homerism in Winnipeg).
honestly, i don't know what you could do in the area aside from spend long hours and distances in the car staring at scenery. i've not really interacted much with locals in the savagelands, but obviously fargo is a movie that exaggerations some. the old folk might provide what you're looking for; they're most likely to throw out the 'betchas and uff-das. otherwise the people are pretty "normal" and (i suppose) bland. i guess if what you want is a land with different accent, where the Os are stressed, then you mightn't be disappointed.
note- while i've lived in "the area" for most of my life, i've never trekked beyond the fargo->minneapolis, fargo->minot route.
I've driven through Thunder Bay a couple of times, but that's about it. I imagine you can get some donuts, and I expect they'll have karaoke somewhere. There'll definitely be some beer, and probably a peeler joint or four. As long as you don't go in the middle of winter, it'll probably rate as an "experience" at the very least.
Personally, I'll be nowhere near (whether you rate that as a plus or a minus)... you'll have to come to Vancouver for that experience.
Which side of the border is Thunder Bay on?
the funny talking side
It's in Canada.
Basically, if you follow the road along Lake Superior, it's the closest Canadian town of any size to Duluth.
I've packed my bags, I'm ready to go. Taxi's waiting outside my door.
You guys figure most/all places in Thunder Bay will take greenbacks, or should I change some dough?
Will be hors d'interweb for a week or so. Say only nice things about me while I'm gone.
It's probably worthwhile to change some money. Even before the US dollar became less valuable, local businesses have made a tradition of accepting the US dollar at extremely unfavourable exchange rates.
Yeah those Canucks are an unscrupulous lot
You can hardly blame them. The remoteness and isolation of Canada means that things are so expensive up here compared to down there. I guess they figure that Americans deserve punishment, as if living in the US isn't punishment enough.
I don't want to hear about remoteness and isolation.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on August 07, 2011, 08:25:00 PM
I've packed my bags, I'm ready to go. Taxi's waiting outside my door.
You guys figure most/all places in Thunder Bay will take greenbacks, or should I change some dough?
Will be hors d'interweb for a week or so. Say only nice things about me while I'm gone.
My now standard advice is to withdraw local currency (in this case loonies) from your bank card. At *best* places in T-Bay will take greenbacks at par, at worst they'll turn you down.
Man, that takes me back. I believe I went to a Model UN conference at Lakehead U ( in T Bay) in about '96. Good times...
I doubt they take them at par anymore, what with the exchange rate being in our favour.
Dude, Thunder Bay is a fucking shithole. Don't go there.
And he's back!
Thunder Bay was a fucking shithole, but that's one of the points of exploring the unknown. On the upside I have a lot more insight into the whole Canadian First Nations thingy. I didn't catch any crime, but I definitely got the stoic semi-sullen vibe and some of the mooching. I was in one bar where an Indian chick was asking every guy in the bar to "buy a pretty girl a drink." She ended up calling the female staff bitches and cunts and getting tossed. Being in an urban area that's half or more Indian was definitely a new experience.
You know, Canadians get all high and mighty about crap American beer but Canadian beer is all mass market "American style lager" too.
It was also interesting, given the pretty constant comments about nasty US border crossing personel, that my interactions going in and coming back were essentially mirror images. Virtually identical questions. Maybe different for a Canuck?? Also it's weird to me that all the Canadian border control folks are so fucking young. When I went to Montreal and this time they looked like they were in high school. Whereas ours hatch fully formed at 35.
The Minnesota shoreline between Duluth and Canada was really lovely. A big long string of resorts and cabins and B&Bs and craft stores and quaint restaurants. Twould not be a bad place to spend a week in the summer.
Duluth was not at all what I expected. Old iron ore port, but they've revitalized the old warehouse district into moderately upscale waterfront tourist trap. Horse drawn carriage rides, tour the old ore carrier docked there, plus a lot of cruises on the lake.
I just drove through Superior (and pulled over to recon their titty bars). They've got an old business district on the north end of the main drag (by the water) which is pretty beat up and seedy (lots of empty lots, boarded up businesses, everything needed paint) then as you continued south it turned into a very unexceptional series of strip malls. I've never seen a city that's developed like that before.
PBS reception was pretty spotty on the road, but the stations carrying Rush, Hannity and Savage always came in loud and clear. So that's what I ended up listening to while driving.
I wish I was going on a road trip this weekend. :(
After that review I don't think I'm going to return to Thunder Bay any time soon.
How did the titty bar recon turn out?
As for the border crossing - on the whole the Canadian and US guards are pretty similar, but I think amongst the asshole outliers the US ones have scored higher so to speak, which colours the perception of any other interactions.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on August 12, 2011, 06:12:36 PM
PBS reception was pretty spotty on the road, but the stations carrying Rush, Hannity and Savage always came in loud and clear. So that's what I ended up listening to while driving.
You must really hate country music.
Quote from: Jacob on August 13, 2011, 12:05:11 AM
How did the titty bar recon turn out?
Strangely enough there was a titty bar right in the middle of this Disneyfied waterfront part of Duluth, so I didn't have to deal with the cab over to Superior.
In Thunder Bay I talked with these guys doing water main repair work. They told me there was a titty bar about 20 blocks from where I was staying, but they described it as shit so I didn't go.
Quote from: Peter Wiggin on August 13, 2011, 12:42:44 AM
You must really hate country music.
I like knowing what arguments the two ends of the political spectrum are advancing. Same reason I read Mother Jones or The Progressive if they're lying around.
Rush had a good line about MSNBC being an entire network devoted soley to talking about his show. Which overstates the case (if anything Olberman seemed to have it out more for O'Riley) but there is something to it.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on August 01, 2011, 12:00:29 AM
Which side of the border is Thunder Bay on?
Ran into some girls from Thunder Bay in the Philippines.