Canada/Ontario: Roadside Attractions in Northern Ontario

 Northcentral Ontario doesn’t have that many true attraction that have a genuine “wow” effect. But there are plenty of “biggest in the world” type of quirky monuments along the southern and northern Transcanadian Highway branches. Like the world’s largest snowman in Beardmore, standing 35 feet tall. Or the flying saucer in Moonbeam to celebrate the town’s affiliation with UFOs (perhaps after too many moonshines). Or the oversized wolf and moose statues in Heart, celebrating the town’s connection to the wilderness (we didn’t see any real wolves or moose to be clear). And finally the Winnie the Pooh birthplace monument in White River. Turns out, Winnie the Pooh comes from here, when 1914, Lieutenant Harry Colebourn, a Canadian soldier, purchased a black bear cub at a train station in White River and named him “Winnie” after his hometown of Winnipeg. Winnie became the mascot of Colebourn’s regiment during World War I and later resided at the London Zoo, where she became a favorite of a young boy named Christopher Robin Milne, whose father wrote the children’s book.