Ontario North, Agawa Canyon - Fall, 2004
This is a pleasant enough way to spend a day, but not a trip I highly recommend. It's a three hour trip each way for an hour or so in the canyon, the trip is mostly through woods, the scenic vistas are few and brief, and the trains are typically so full that it's impossible to move from side to side to get pictures of views on the other side. Also, the train goes in one way and then backs out, so passengers are on the same side for the entire trip. In fairness to Algoma Central, they make the trip pleasant, they announce all famous scenic spots on speaker ten fifteen minutes ahead of time so you get your camera ready. Someone people who took the trip said that passengers now switch sides on the return trip.
You can buy food on the train. They even have dinning section but will announce your coach number so that it will create a big line up at the dinning section. The washroom facility? Hmmm..........well, it is a wildness trip anyway!
Mackinac Island, Michigan U.S. - Fall, 2004
Mackinac Island is the truly "all natural" theme park of America. Limited to transportation of horse and buggy, bicycle or foot., surrounded by water, it has escaped the vast changes of time.
It's real Victorian image is preserved and enhanced by a small population of 500 permanent residents and scores of summer residents, maintaining bluff cottages in original state. Families, especially children, love their relatively new found "mobility", exploring the historic, natural beauty of Mackinac Island State Park, honored by National Geographic as one of the ten finest in America. When you step off of the Island Ferry Dock, you will be in a living Victorian village. Be aware of horses, bikes and people stepping off of carriages, enjoy the downtown hustle and bustle of the early 1800s but don't miss the beauty of the Island's interior and peaceful lakefront perimeter path. The famous Grand Hotel was vacation home for many political and movie celebrities. Hollywood star Jane Seymour occupied a permanent suite in the complex.