An exterior view of the Stockey Center
where we went for the concert last night is shown in the photo at the right.
The photo was taken from a fine gravel walking/jogging/bike path along the
water. When we came past this building on the boat yesterday, my first thought
was that it was indoor bulk storage for road salt that would be delivered
here by lake freighter. I guess that the architect would not appreciate my
observation, but inside the hall it is a different story as they claim to have
perfect acoustics.
Speaking of the inside, the photo at the left shows the setting inside the Stockey
Center well before the performance. Understandably no pictures are allowed
during the performance. I have no way to judge whether the acoustics are
perfect, but it seemed like every note was audible even near the rear of the
mezzanine where we were seated. The walls were odd shaped blocks of native (?) stone in variations of a dark gray color scheme. Judging from the parking lot during our many trips past here, both the afternoon and evening performances were all very well attended. This is just another one of the many different and unexpected performances that we have been able to experience during our
Looper adventures. Bravo! 
During the intermission we had an opportunity to walk around the lobby, and
the photo at the right shows me standing in front of the Bobby Orr Hall of
Fame, which is the other occupant of the Stockey Center. Orr is a native of
Parry Sound and is arguably one of the greatest hockey players ever. The
picture shows Orr’s #4 jersey for the Boston Bruins of the NHL. We were not
motivated to actually go back for a tour, but it was still fun to see some of
the memorabilia. 
The final picture from last night was after the performance when we exited the
hall on the water side and were treated to a marvelous sunset over Parry Sound
to the west. All in all it was quite an evening with a great concert in a really
spectacular setting both inside and out.
For the morning on Day 112 we set off for a walking trip that was designed to
follow the fitness trail across a bridge in the shadow of the CPR Railroad
Bridge high above us. As I said yesterday, the navigable portion of the harbor
ended before the bridge, and here we see a scenic, small waterfall. This trail
got us to the city on the other side of the small valley, and we followed this
same route several times on our walking and biking adventures. The first trip
took us to a bike shop where we were able to see a hi tech 2 child, two-wheel
child carrier that is pulled behind a bike. We wanted to see if it would be
suitable to carry Lucky with or without groceries. We have seen these before, especially
on Mackinac Island where bikes are a primary mode of transportation. It
collapses for easy storage with the wheels removed, has good ventilation and
also converts into a 3 wheeled stroller. I must admit to being a “doubting Thomas”
that it could do all of these things well, but we were really impressed. We called
them later to reserve one and arrange for installation on my electric bike the
following morning. BTW we had already decided to spend a third night here since
there was so much to do. In the afternoon we went to the two screen movie
theater in downtown to see the newly released “Star Trek”, which we both enjoyed.
Also, I am happy to report that the popcorn was really very good. 
Meanwhile, back at the marina we were treated to many sightings of this Mallard
hen with 11 ducklings who we regularly saw all over the marina. The first boat
from the shore on our pier had a swim platform that was only about 2 inches
above the water, and that was one of their favorite resting places much to the
consternation of the boat’s owner…For dinner on Day 112 we walked a short distance to a restaurant just before the big bridge. I had wonderful white fish again along with baked potato and grilled vegetables. Then it was across the street to sample the ice cream at the Island Queen office. Sure enough it was just as good as before, but it never hurts to keep checking. Then it was time to head back to Lucky Us and an early bed time after a day with about 6 miles of walking.
Day 113 began with a bike ride across the river for our 10:00 am appointment at the bike shop. I even got a test ride in the parking lot. It is so easy to pull that it was also easy to forget that I had a trailer behind me. At least that is my excuse for going over a few curbs rather unexpectedly. After lunch on board Lucky Us, we loaded Lucky up for her first shopping trip to a large nursery with an outdoor vegetable market. Then we headed further out to a Radio Shack where I bought a USB WiFi antenna that improves my connection in the marina. We also stopped at a pet store and had Lucky’s nails clipped before a quick stop at Walmart, and then we headed home for a rest. Lucky did not like the front screen being down on the carrier otherwise she was a pretty good passenger. We had returned to the marina with a full load of vegetables packed in with Lucky, and everything worked perfect. However, I definitely appreciated the power assist on some short uphill sections.
The second trip also yielded a “near” bear sighting for the Admiral, but she
was unimpressed by the statue of a bear. However, we did not take any chances
as we both rubbed its paw for good luck… 
The main highway bridge across the river led us past this interesting mural
covering the side of a multi-story building. It was entitled “the Brag Load”
and depicted this huge stack of logs on a sled pulled by a team of just two
horses. It did serve to point out the importance of the logging and lumber
industry in the early days of Parry Sound when a lot of lumber was shipped out
of here both by rail and water. Like the logging industry in many of the areas
around Lakes Huron and Michigan, the industry moved to other areas when all of
the virgin timber had been cut. Parry Sound with its wonderful deep water port
was left to languish when the logging moved to other areas.
This was to be our last night in Parry Sound, and it ended like the previous
evening with a visit to the ice cream shop for one last double scoop cup of
Black Cherry ice cream… Later when I took Lucky on her last walk for the day I
saw this interesting sight on the break wall near the office. Many Loopers buy
bicycles to take on the Loop for local transportation. However, most of them
forget that they haven’t ridden a bike in 5 years, and it is not as easy as
they remembered… We have heard stories of these people throwing or giving the
bikes away about half way around the Loop. I don’t know if that is what is
going on here, but someone had placed this folding bike in its storage bag on
the dock. I blanked out the phone number, but I would bet that the price was a
good one…Tomorrow we are leaving Parry Sound and heading about 15 miles to Frying Pan Island and look forward to a fish lunch at Henry’s Restaurant. Maybe we will get to see some sea planes bring other folks in for a lunch stop as well. It is possible to stay overnight there, but if the weather is good we will probably make the more open water crossing to Midland. Most of the trip to Midland is within the well protected small boat channel within the 30,000 Islands so getting there should be no problem.
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