[darkpuppet]

I'm from Thunder Bay (living in Toronto now).. I go up there once or twice a year to visit family and friends, but won't be back up there till Christmas time.

Here's my 5 cent guide to living in TBay..

Eats:
Taco Time (kicks Taco Bell in the ass.. go for the Super Burrito or crispy meat burritos)
McKellar Confectionary
Hoito for breakfast
A persian from The Persian Man

$10 pitchers of MGD are served at the Wayland Tavern -- if you don't mind old guys and mill workers singing kaeroke and the stale beer smell in the rug, it's a good time.

Caesar's place does awesome panzerotti, and the Golden Bakery does awesome, cheap pizzas.

If you ride a bike...
Petries and Fresh Air Experience are the places to go. Cyclepath ain't bad either.

and the bad news...

If you need your ford serviced, watch out for Pinewood Ford Mercury. Like some shops in TBay, they're virtually criminal. They should not be trusted to use OEM parts at any time (they will often use OEM-like parts, but that won't be warrantied anywhere else without a fight).

If you're out walking around at night and get approached by a group of natives, plan your exit strategy... especially in the Northwood/westfort/victoria/simpson st. areas -- there's been a lot of swarmings, and Thunder Bay now tops the list for most murders per capita... and they tend to happen in or around these areas.

All in all, I love the city, but it's gone through some changes that haven't made it better.... if you're going to school there, you'll love how there's always a bar that's good to go to every night of the week and the beer is cheap.

oh yeah.. apparently, there's only one strip joint operating in town -- Centerfolds. It's a good party, Saturday nights are the time to go.

Hope you enjoy your stay there -- I'll be up around Christmas to check on ya :P

and one more thing... watch your body kit in the winter. A lowered focus won't have any troubles in TBay in the winter -- as long as you can dodge the occasional chunks of brown ice that fall off of vehicles -- they're soft in Souther Ontario, but effing hard in Northern Ontario.