Thunder Bay Part II

Thunder Bay part II
We had a well rounded breakfast in the pleasant dining room this morning, with the best bacon. I’m not a big bacon person but this was perfectly cooked. Louise, the host and chef at McVicar Manor, baked it but I forgot to ask her how she did it. She also served a lovely fresh berry salad with strawberry yogurt to start and a selection of three different juices (grapefruit, orange and cranberry). The main dish was a frittata with a variety of fresh veggies (green onion, mushroom, red and yellow bell) and potato topped with lacy pink chive flowers. But the frittata lacked much flavor. The other guests loved it, so maybe it’s just my desire to have everything spicy.
What made breakfast really lovely, however, was something missing at both the other b and b’s: the calm demeanor of the host. Louise would serve someone something, sit down for a while, listening and maybe asking a question or making a comment, return to the kitchen, etc. But she did all of this without hurrying or acting like anything was hectic and it seemed to create a calm over the whole group (maybe I was just relieved to find a host without a desire to pontificate?). I could see myself sitting down over a cup of tea or coffee and chatting with her. She was also really into food, so of course I like that. She had won a Newman’s own recipe contest several years ago and had met Paul newman and donated $10,000 dollars to her favorite charity which was some Catholic family services or something like that.
As usual, I was able to learn a bit about Thunder Bay through talking to her. I realize my initial post about the area may have seemed dismissive or judgmental without much data to go on, but I intended it to be speculative. And, I have been curious about this general malaise that seems to inflict all the towns we’ve been driving through here in central Canada. None of them seem prosperous.
Louise explained that Thunder Bay relied largely on grain elevators and paper mills up until 10 years or so ago and now TB was in a stage of transition. All the grain elevators except one were shut down and only one paper mill was left. We could see the paper mills at the water front. What an eyesore and what an air sore they must have been in their prime. I’ve been in towns with paper mills and they stink horribly. I realize that industry must operate and that we can’t save all the world for “nature” and the “environment” (or, if we are going to, we’ll have to give up lots and I’m not sure paper is something I’m willing to give up . . .), but to sit paper mills on the edge of this beautiful lake seems such a shame and such a short term solution (of course, humans live short lives).
Today, Louise pointed out that the University was increasing its enrollment and programs and the hospital had added a research center and that some IT firms were coming in. she made it sound as if TB was weathering the transition to the 21st century economy but, I will have to say, there was little evidence of this success on my 3-4 mile walk around town.
TB was settled by Finnish immigrants and it has a strong Finnish population with its own neighborhood. Unfortunately, we couldn’t visit because of time issues but the other couple at breakfast had been to one of the Finnish restaurants (hiroto, I believe) several times and highly recommended it. But, I also must add the food they described (potatoes, curdled milk like yogurt, pancakes) didn’t sound too thrilling.
I would go back to TB though to stay in this bed and breakfast. I just didn’t find much else here to attract visitors.