It's pretty great in the Soo. Get a hotel across the street from the locks, and download a free ship tracking app, and then you just bar hop (or walk around if You're sober) between arrivals. The boat tours are great too. If you time it right (ship watching app) you can be in and around the locks with the freighters and get really close.

A couple summers ago, we took our canoe up to a place called De Tour Village. It's where the st Mary's river connects to lake Huron. It's about a mile wide in De Tour, so you can canoe right out there and float with them

Man, I could nerd out on ships all day