Cancer Selfies

Monday August 28, 2023

Wednesday August 23, 2023

Sunday August 13, 2023

Sunday July 30, 2023

Ontario roadside attractions

After much research (spending a hour looking at a couple websites) I have some observations about the state of roadside attractions in Ontario

  • we've got way more than I expected, and I can grab some new ones even on trips I've made dozens of times
  • we (governments, private businesses and individuals) really like to build inukshuks. We probably shouldn't be doing that. I'm generally leaving them off my list.
  • there are four giant coins, three are real currency, all are extremely accessible and I'm very excited
  • there are so many giant Muskoka chairs, there must be a war on for who can get the largest (someone claims the largest in Northern Ontario to save themselves some trouble. If you can't sit in the chair, it's worthless as a photo
  • there are many many many moose, bear and walleye
  • there are more cows than you'd expect
  • there are a lot of dinosaurs, usually at mini put
  • St. Thomas has a Jumbo the elephant statue that I simply must visit
  • Wawa apparently has three goose statues these days

I also found lists for other provinces, if I can ever make it more than 100km from Lake Huron

From the comments

Britta: I want to see the big coins

James Petrosky: Britta there's a nickel in Sudbury, a place I go and go through regularly, a loonie and a toonie along the routes to see other things (my brother in Ottawa, for the toonie, and the Wawa geese for the loonie). The last is a gold coin way up by the Quebec border in Northern Ontario, which is probably not going to happen.
James Petrosky: I've been to The Big Nickle maybe four or five times over my life, and until I realized there was a set I needed to complete I wasn't going to go back 😛
James Petrosky: I can't find a photo I like (one with a human for scale) but the coin itself is 30ft tall (9.1m, it was built before metrification). I always forget how big it is

Monica: If one of the websites you looked at wasn’t Atlas Obscura, I recommend taking a look. Lots of weird things to see and do

James Petrosky: Monica I've used it in the past, but it's Ontario coverage is sadly pretty poor. In Toronto and Ottawa it isn't bad, though
James Petrosky: Monica Bell I must have been searching badly because it's got way more junk than I remember now

James Petrosky: If anyone knows cool shit between Kitchener, Ottawa and Elliot Lake, I'm all ears. I already won't get to everything in my notebook (maybe even if I had ten years, BC is far, after all), and I'm finding the idea of possibilities really pleasant right now.

Geoffrey: I always thought this was interesting: top 100 unusual things to see in ontario - Google My Maps

James Petrosky: Geoffrey I've been to a small number of these. The Rideau Canal is pretty easy, Nicholson, Ontario (an hour drive and half hour boat ride outside of Chapleau) is quite another.
Anyways I'm saving this so because there's lots of neat stuff here