After our overnight at Walmart, we had just 10 miles to drive to the Lakehead Boat Basin Campground. We took our time, but were still out of the parking lot by 9:15am.
The marina/campground is located on a peninsula that is connected to the mainland by the Aerial Lift Bridge.
One of the most photographed landmarks in Duluth, or all of Minnesota for that matter, is the Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge. A clearance of 180 feet is attained when the span is completely raised. The span length is 386 feet and weighs approximately 900 tons! The bridge is very similar to the only other one of its kind in the world, which is in Rouen, France.
We drove across the bridge (which was a frightening prospect, with no height listed!), and continued along the peninsula to the marina. The main road was narrow, and the side streets were even narrower! Bryce and I were leading in the car, and looking at the road that the GPS wanted us to turn on, we weren’t sure it was going to be a good choice for the RV . . . as we were contemplating our options, we spotted this sign at the corner!
Good thing it was there – if we had turned where the GPS was directing, we would have had to make 2 tight 90 degree turns, on very narrow streets!! By going one block further, it was a straight shot into the marina driveway.
We made it – bright and early! Unfortunately, they were fully booked for the weekend, checkout time wasn’t until 11am, and there had to be some juggling of RVs before we could get into our site.
We pulled the RV into an empty area of the marina and waited.
Walking around the marina, we talked to several of the other RVers, most of whom were there for the Dog Show at the Convention Center. We learned that there was a website that listed the estimated arrival and departure times for freighters in and out of Duluth.
As freighters travel between Lake Superior and the Port of Duluth, they have to pass under the Aerial Lift Bridge.
We were very excited to see the bridge operate when a ship came into port, and we didn’t have to wait long . . . a freighter came into port while we were waiting for our site to open up, although I wasn’t able to catch a picture of it under the bridge.
We finally got settled into our site,
and had some lunch. The campground isn’t fancy, but they have full hookup sites, plenty of room, and a location convenient to downtown.
After lunch, we went out to explore the peninsula and downtown Duluth.
It’s mostly residential, with Park Point Beach at the end, and a small airport where people can take tours in seaplanes.
As we were getting out of the car, one of the planes was coming in for a landing.
They were pretty busy, and we saw another plane go up almost right after the other one landed. This one had wheels on the bottom of the body, and drove in and out of the water!
We walked down to the beach,
and despite the overcast day, we saw quite a few people enjoying the beach.
We could barely distinguish the water from the sky!
there weren’t many people in the water, though – it was pretty chilly!
We continued our exploration, driving along the north shore of Lake Superior . . . we could have driven all the way to the Canadian border, but we didn’t.
We stopped at another beach, but this one was pretty rocky.
The stones along the shore of the lake are smooth and flat – perfect for skipping!
We weren’t the only ones enjoying the garden – there were at least two wedding parties there taking pictures.
We could see downtown and the Aerial Lift Bridge from here, and the bridge to Wisconsin, too.
After a quick snack,
We went to 4:30 mass, and then back to the RV for dinner.
With the sun setting over Duluth,
it was a beautiful evening.
Tom and I decided to go for a walk over the bridge, through Canal Park, and along the Lake Walk.
The humidity of the afternoon had dissipated and it was comfortably warm to walk around town – and there were lots of people around!
What a wonderful evening!
Gooseberry Falls and Palisade Head are worth going to see.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if i'll live long enough to see everything you guys have seen in the last couple of years.
ReplyDeleteBe Safe and Enjoy!
It's about time.