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Established in 1837, the Soo Locks are a set of locks b/w Lake Superior & Lake Huron in the town of Sault Ste Marie, Michigan. Most of the main commercial ships pass through the US side of the locks (what you see here) while private boats can take a smaller one on the Canada side. On the US side, there are four locks, the MacArthur, Poe, Davis, & Sabin Locks. Lake Superior, which is 21 feet (6.4 metres) higher than Lake Huron, had a natural set of rapids at this location (St. Mary's River) which posed an issue for transportation. The locks were built to adjust for water levels b/w ships, allowing easy passage to & fro the lakes. Here one can see the Mesabi Miner, which came from Lake Superior & is sitting in the lock w/ a dam behind it as the water level is slowly lowering it down to the elevation level of Lake Huron. A nearby visitor center documents the major ships passing through the locks each day & I just happened to catch one of them since there were only three arriving during mid-morning hours. Two others had arrived from Lake Huron & were raised to Lake Superior's elevation. Today the locks are the busiest in the world, mostly for iron ore transportation from Minnesota down to the Rust Belt region. One can even do tours on a boat & experience the locks in person. In grade school, we had to learn about the Soo Locks & I vividly remember taking a field trip here to see it in person. Look in the backdrop to see the tall International Bridge, the only vehicle access route from Sault Ste Marie, Michigan to Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, Canada.
More info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soo_Locks
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The capital of Canada is Ottawa, in the province of Ontario. There are offically ten provinces and three territories in Canada, which is the second largest country in the world in terms of land area.While politically and legally an independant nation, the titular head of state for Canada is still Queen Elizabeth.On the east end of Canada, you have Montreal as the bastion of activity. Montreal is famous for two things, VICE magazine and the Montreal Jazz Festival. One is the bible of hipster life (disposable, of course) and the other is a world-famous event that draws more than two million people every summer. Quebec is a French speaking province that has almost seceded from Canada on several occasions, by the way..When you think of Canada, you think of . . . snow, right?But not on the West Coast. In Vancouver, it rains. And you'll find more of the population speaking Mandarin than French (but also Punjabi, Tagalog, Korean, Farsi, German, and much more).Like the other big cities in Canada, Vancouver is vividly multicultural and Vancouverites are very, very serious about their coffee.Your standard Vancouverite can be found attired head-to-toe in Lululemon gear, mainlining Cafe Artigiano Americanos (spot the irony for ten points).But here's a Vancouver secret only the coolest kids know: the best sandwiches in the city aren't found downtown. Actually, they're hidden in Edgemont Village at the foot of Grouse Mountain on the North Shore."It's actually worth coming to Canada for these sandwiches alone." -- Michelle Superle, VancouverText by Steve Smith.
