Masters Walleye Circuit Tournament

 The Masters Walleye Circuit has come to Sault Ste. Marie for August 25 - 28.  The tournament opened today with sign-ups and registration and fishing begins on Friday, August 26 and ends on Saturday at 3 pm.

 Cabelas is sponsoring the tournament that will bring fishermen and women from the United States and Canada.  There are 7 states represented and one province, Ontario.

 The group gathered at Kewadin Casino late this afternoon to get their official packets from the MWC personnel.

 Dan Palmer of Rockford, Illinois is tournament director and welcomed the group to the Soo.

 The event was opened with the singing of the national anthems of both Canada & the US. 

 Linda Hoath, Sault Visitors and Convention Bureau, welcomed the group and accepted a plague honoring the city for their work to secure the tournament.

You can get in on the action at Aune-Osborn Park on Friday & Saturday, August 26-27.  The boats leave early in the morning but return around 3 pm for official weigh-in. 

7 Best Spots for Boat Watching around the Soo

7 Best Spots for Boat Watching around the Soo

Sault Ste. Marie has to be the best spot in Michigan for boat watching because it offers such a variety of places to watch from and most of them are never crowded or busy. Here is a list of my top 5 favorites.






1. My cabin-we're located between Six and Seven Mile Road. Although the St. Marys River is wide at this spot, we still get a good view. If we want a picture of a boat, we must take our wave runners out to get close. This is a little dicey because you are doing two things at once-hanging on the wave runner and also operating the camera. My worst experience at this was when one of the tall ships passed by. Tom drove me out there for pictures and I took many. Even got close enough for the crew to wave. Once we got back to shore, I found I had the lens cap on for the whole time. Not fun. I never told Tom what I had done!



2. Sugar Island Ferry Dock-The ships slow down for the turn in the river plus the river is narrow at this point. There are great parking spots plus Clyde's Drive-in which is located here has the best hamburgers in town.


3. 4 Mile Park-at the end of 4 Mile, there is a small public park where the ships come very close. In fact, if you are swimming there, you must get out of the water when the ships pass because of the current and wave created that will pull you out to deep water.




4. West Pier-the west end of the Locks used to offer a great boat watching spot before the condos were built there. It is still a good spot plus there is West Pier Drive-In with great burgers. Some people think the best in town but I have another favorite. See #2 above.



5. Soo Locks Boat Tour-I took the above picture while on the Soo Locks Boat Tour. You get up close and personal on the tour. I like to take the tour once a summer. We usually wait for friends to come visit from out of town.





6. The Locks-This is where you will get the closest to the boats and you can even chat with the crew while they lock through. We always take guests there plus we often go just to walk through the park. The Visitor's Center is a must see for guests too.





7. The Rock Cut/Neebish Island area-This location just south of the Soo has a good eating spot as well as a close up look at boats.

Now I want to hear from you. What do you think is the best boat watching spot in the Sault? I'd like to learn a few new ones for this summer.

Kuhl's Koffee House

 Tom and I were very pleased this afternoon to find a new spot in the Soo for a great cup of coffee.  Kuhl's Koffee House opened recently on Portage Avenue in the Soo.

 Allen & Angela Kuhl opened this shop recently after relocating to the Soo two years ago.  We met Angela and their son Jeff who made our delicious drinks.  We both had flavored lattes with whip.   Wonderful.

I saw a post on Facebook this week that asked if anyone had tried the new coffee shop on Portage Avenue.  So I had to go find it.  It was a rainy day in town and a hot latte sounded wonderful to me.  I found the Koffee House is an inviting coffee shop and a great spot for boat watching located right across from the Locks.

 The cozy atmosphere of Koffee House will make it a popular stop for both visitors and locals.  The website states that they will be hosting special nights such as open  mic night. 

The free wireless internet is great for visitors who need a place to catch up on email and Facebook.

Jeff and Angela working to prepare our drinks. 

 Angela with my turtle latte.

After we got our coffee, we walked across to the Locks and watched the Stewart J. Cort get ready to enter the Locks for her trip downstream. 

The Sault on Facebook

Are you using Facebook? I know that not everyone is a Facebook fan. I love Facebook because it has allowed me to keep up with family and friends that I normally would not be able to follow. I also have reconnected with several friends from my past. Last summer, I meet with two friends from high school days and I loved it.

If you are on FB or are considering it, you could follow Sault Ste. Marie. There is a fan page called I Love Sault Ste. Marie. The old-time pictures are wonderful. People have been very generous in sharing their photo collection.

Events are also showcased so you can also keep track of what is happening up there. So even when I'm hundreds of miles away in the winter, I feel like part of me is up in the eastern EUP.

Too Cold for Ice Cream

We recently visited the Soo on a rare winter time trip. It is sad to see our favorite spots closed up for the winter. You can see that no one will be enjoying a blizzard at the Dairy Queen. I saw a sign at Dairy Queen once that said, "Blizzard courtesy of Mother Nature until spring." That is what is happening in the Soo now too.

Merry Christmas to all my readers. I hope you enjoy a blessed holiday season.

Chippewa County Fair

If you are anywhere near Chippewa County for the Labor Day weekend, you will want to stop by the Chippewa County Fair which is held near Kinross. I'm going to use my post from last summer so you can see the fair pictures. There won't be any blue skies there today but maybe tomorrow.

We went to the fair this morning to watch our friends, the Bell Family, show their draft horses. We ended up spending the whole day.
The Chippewa County Fair at Kinross, Michigan is open through Labor Day. It was a wonderful time. The fair has lots of attractions but is small enough that you can see the entire place in one day. We saw lots of old friends and even made some new ones. While standing in line for the Kinross Lions Club hamburger trailer, we met a nice couple from Cheboygan, Michigan. We saw them again while in the commercial exhibition building looking for ice cream -which we found by the way. The ice cream was sold by the Rudyard Christian School so gave me an excuse to eat ice cream-I was helping a fund raiser for a worthy local school.
The tractors are always a must to view for my husband and I enjoy the 4-H exhibits. When our children were young, I was their 4-H leader and after seeing the wonderful work by the 4-Hers today, I wished I could be a leader for our grandchildren.

July Days in the Soo

July has been busy here. With wonderful weather that includes warm days and cool nights, all the outdoor activities have been great.

Concert in the Park is held on Wednesday evenings in the Locks Park. We really enjoy the free concerts with a variety of music. Plus, while you are listening, you can observe boats locking through the Soo Locks. Last Wednesday night the Saline Fiddlers serenaded us while the John J. Boland locked upbound.




On our way home, we stopped by the Carbide Dock to get a close up look at a tall ship which had tied up there for the night on her way to the Tall Ships Festival in Duluth. The crew seemed very young and very anxious to head to town for the evening.

The long days of sunshine and the cool evenings have made for beautiful, colorful flower gardens around town. Flowers are more brilliant here than you will find downstate. My theory is that the increased sunshine contributes to that. The sun comes up about 20 minutes earlier and sets about 20 minutes later that at our home near Grand Rapids. This really affects the flowers. Also, the temperatures never get blistering hot either. Flowers and people both do better in these conditions!