Tour Molly 2026: Port Arthur Stadium

All photos of drive to Canada, Thunder Bay, and Port Arthur Stadium available on Flickr.

We hit the road around 7am Saturday for our busy day north of the border.  Not only was this Molly's first time out of the country, but it was also our first trip staying in multiple cities, and we had a 3:45 drive ahead of us plus a time change.  It was a gorgeous voyage up Hwy 61 along the lakeshore that culminated with a 15-minute line to get into Canada.  We had a very pleasant exchange with the border patrol about our travels, and Molly even made the customs agent a note that said "Thank you for letting us into Canada!"  It was super cute and the agent even laughed and said "you've gotta wait until I let you in before you give me this."  He promised Molly he would keep the note and we got through unscathed.  When you drive to Canada, it's almost immediately apparent you're in another country.  Signs start appearing in both English and French.  The speed limit changes to km/h.  And it's also hard not to notice the superior road quality.  We passed through 3 separate bridge projects in just the 45-minute remaining drive to Thunder Bay, and it was kind of sad to see more infrastructure repair work on a remote 2-lane highway in Canada than you see on many major roads in the US.

And when I say "remote" highway, that's not an exaggeration.  Thunder Bay is one of the most remote 100,000+ population cities you'll find anywhere.  Duluth is the closest major city to it, and it's about 8 hours to the nearest Canadian cities of Winnipeg and Sault Ste. Marie.  No major highways serve the area - it is all 2-lane provincial highways - and it's also incredibly expensive to fly there.  Thunder Bay also lies within the Canadian Shield and the Empty Belt, which basically means it's surrounded for thousands of kilometers by sparsely populated unbuildable land with little to no paved roads.  The reason the city even exists at all (as we would learn later on a tour) is that early 19th century European settlers and indigenous natives needed a rendezvous point between the major economic capital of Montreal and the vast wilderness to the west to meet for trading, so Fort William was built on the Kaministiquia River off of Lake Superior, which eventually urbanized and became modern-day Thunder Bay in 1970.  It is still a major freighter and rail hub today and is a very industrial blue-collar city, and is nothing like the other more cosmopolitan cities I've been to in Canada.  The fact that it is also a relatively new incorporated city gives it a very unique feel with distinct neighborhoods.  We spent most of our time in the Port Arthur section of the city, which is the more picturesque central business district area, as opposed to the original Fort William that is more industrial in nature.  Our first stop of the day was at Wacky's for lunch, which was kind of like a Buffalo Wild Wings with a giant arcade.  Molly loved it, especially the candy toilet she got as a prize.  From there, we toured Fort William Historical Park, which is actually a historically accurate recreation of the original fort I mentioned earlier.  We learned so many cool facts here and it was really interesting to see what life was like 200 years ago.  Molly had tons of questions and the actors were all super knowledgeable, and I would highly recommend this tour for any visitors.  After a brief check-in at the hotel, our last stop before the ballgame was at the Canada Games Complex, which conveniently shared a parking lot with Port Arthur Stadium across the street.  This facility opened in 1981 to host all the aquatic events of the Canada Summer Games, which is kind of like a Canada-only Olympics held every 4 years.  It still operates today as a giant public pool complete with water slides, diving boards, and lane swimming, and we spent close to two hours there but I'm sure Molly will tell you she could have spent the whole day there.  I managed to drag her away and we walked across the street to the ballpark for another 6:35pm first pitch.

Port Arthur Stadium has a lot of similarities to Wade Stadium in Duluth and it was fun comparing the two.  They both have a similar age - Port Arthur is about 10 years younger - and both have the same "bunker style" setup where you enter into a masonry cavern below the grandstand.  The difference in Thunder Bay is that it is far more disjointed, with sort of "pockets" of space below the grandstand that are accessed by individual openings, rather than a continuous concourse, sort of like in Wausau or Alexandria.  Between that and the very beat up concrete walkways and ramps, it made it a difficult stadium to navigate, especially for a first-time goer.  Even though the main entrance was behind home plate, we had to go out to the left field corner to buy tickets and then walk back.  Port Arthur Stadium had tiered pricing based on your age, which is something you rarely see at a ballpark and I thought was a revolutionary concept.  Sometimes you will see discounted rates for college students or military, but this stadium had child and senior pricing like you might see at an amusement park, and children under 2 I believe even got in for free.  It just makes a lot of sense that Molly should not have to pay the same as an adult when she is only there for playing and food.  It was $20 CAD for me and $7 CAD for her which comes out to under $20 USD, very reasonable.  The other major difference between the Thunder Bay and Duluth ballparks that you notice on the exterior is obviously the color.  Port Arthur Stadium is primarily a concrete shell painted in Canadian white and red, and a little color goes a long way in dressing up an otherwise drab windowless exterior.  Both stadiums have the same covered grandstand with a press box on the roof and apertures at the top of the seating bowl, but in Thunder Bay every single seat is a bucket seat with a back, which looked to be if not original to the stadium then very close to it.  We sat at the top row and it was a pretty clear day, so we could just barely see Lake Superior on the horizon.  Definitely sit in the top row or a party deck if you ever visit this stadium as the breeze and views are much better the higher up you go.  The party decks here are on top of two concessions out-buildings, one by the left field pole and one behind the 1st base dugout.  We got another "fan upgrade" of sorts at this park as they announced during the game that those decks were not sold out so they were open to all fans to enjoy.  Molly and I took advantage of this and made our way to the 1st base one in the 4th inning.  We sat in a little covered shanty that clearly would have been the bar setup had this section sold any tickets and it was a really unique experience.  This deck is also adjacent to one of the saddest excuses for a kids area I've seen at a park, which was basically just a lawn area behind the bleachers with a small netted enclosure that looks like at one time it might have hosted a speed pitch but now is just sad and empty.  Molly still made the most of it by tossing around a ball we got at the team store and climbing the trees.  Overall I would say this park was in a lot rougher shape than Wade Stadium, but it's hard not to enjoy baseball in an old ballpark in another country.  Historically, the Border Cats are about middle of the pack in Northwoods League attendance rankings despite having the 2nd largest market size, so when you couple that with the city's remoteness and their 3-year COVID hiatus, it's hard to understand how this team has lasted 23+ years, but I think its importance to the league as a team servicing Canadian collegiate ballplayers probably has a lot to do with that.

There were about 800 in attendance on Saturday to witness the Border Cats defeat the Rochester Honkers by a score of 6 to 4.  Thunder Bay doesn't seem to have the same rich baseball history that a lot of cities with older ballparks do, but it was a very active lively crowd for the time we were there.  Starting pitcher Luke Bryant was from Ohio University, but about half of the roster was comprised of native Canadians.  Bryant gave up 4 runs over 5 with 3 walks and 3 strikeouts, which was a very similar line to his counterpart Payne Lochridge who lasted only 1/3 inning longer.  CF Sam Harry was the offensive star of the day, going 3-4 with 2 bombs out of the leadoff spot for Honky.  After another long day of travel, we left in the 7th inning with the B-Cats up 5-4 and they would hold on for the victory.

Molly and I had an absolute blast and she thoroughly enjoyed her first trip to Canada.  It was a long 6-hour drive home, but also very scenic and well worth it.  As opposed to our relatively long line getting into Canada, nobody was eager to visit the United States as we were the only ones at the station.  I was fully expecting to enjoy Thunder Bay more just knowing how much I love Canada, but I came away from the trip with a greater appreciation for Duluth and wanting to return as soon as possible to explore more.  Both cities were great and it was so nice to get a taste of cooler temps before the wretchedly hot and humid summer rolls into central Minnesota.  My wife and son are starting to get more and more jealous of these trips - and quite frankly we miss them - so I think this may have been the last year of just Molly & I doing this.  That in and of itself will always make this particular adventure extra special as potentially our last daddy-daughter version.

park stats and rankings:

aesthetics - 5
views from park - 8 (on a clear day you can see Lake Superior and Sleeping Giant Mountain from the top row, but also net and pole obstructions)
view to field - 4
surrounding area - 6 (Canada Games Complex across the street, on major arterial...feels like Kenosha)
food variety - 6 (bonus point for poutine)
nachos - 5
beer - 8 (bonus points for Molson and cost but low craft variety)
vendor price - 8
ticket price - 9 (bonus points for tiered pricing by age)
atmosphere - 7
walk to park - 5
parking price/proximity - 10 (across the street for free)
concourses - 1
team shop - 3 (points deducted for no team logo baseballs!)
kids area - 1 (just a lawn I wouldn't even call it a kids area)

best food - I didn't try it but I'm going to say the poutine
most unique stadium feature - covered grandstand with individual plastic seats
best jumbotron feature - music video of TCB featuring Thunder Bay's own Paul Shaffer
best between-inning feature - school dance troupes

field dimensions - 320/385/320
starters - Payne Lochridge (ROC) v. Luke Bryant (TB) 
opponent - Rochester Honkers
time of game - 2:39
attendance - 805
score - 6-4 W
Brewers score that day - 7-1 W