Corner Brook, Newfoundland

It's not too easy to get to Corner Brook, Newfoundland. The land is rather rugged, so visitors have to go to the nearest airport - Deer Lake - for a 40-minute drive into town. There are ferries into Newfoundland from the mainland, but they aren't close either. 

Once arriving, they'll get a look at the second-biggest city in Newfoundland. Admittedly, the population is not a big number. Corner Brook peaked in 1971 at 26,000 people, and it's down around 19,000 now. But it's the center of activity for Western Newfoundland. A new billion-dollar hospital supposedly was just completed, and it's easy to think that it will be a game-changer for the people of that region. 

The Corner Brook Paper and Pulp Mill is the biggest employer in the city, and its factory certainly stands out on the waterfront. Elsewhere, cruise ships pop in so that passengers can spend some money there. There has been some immigration into this region, which is shown by a number of restaurant types not usually associated with this part of the world. 

The biggest sports star to come out of the area is probably Keith Brown, a defenseman for the Chicago Blackhawks from 1979 to 1993. Keith might be best known as the player taken after Ray Bourque in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft. That worked out fine ... for Boston. 

Here's a look around: