Two Days in Duluth–Sunday

Sunday was supposed to be cooler, with the freakish cold front moving through, so the boys decided we should go to the dog show.  Bryce really wanted to see some Pugs, but they were being judged at 8:30am, and he didn’t want to see them that bad.  Nicolas wanted to see the Siberian Huskies, and they were up at a more reasonable time, 10:30, so we got up and had breakfast, and then headed over there.  We drove so we could go look for some shoes for Bryce afterwards.

We parked on the street, and walked past the Iron Ore Ship Museum on the way to the Convention Center.

We weren’t quite sure what to expect at the dog show, but there sure were a lot of dogs there!  It seemed like a lot of the judging had to do with grooming, and there were a lot of dogs getting their hair done!

These little dogs cracked us up . . . yes, there really is a dog under all that hair!    

And they were like little princesses prancing around the ring!  I doubt if they ever go outside!

We watched this big guy getting his hair blow-dried for quite a while!

We made our way to the ring where the Huskies were performing and watched them run around the ring, stand, get their teeth checked . . . and whatever else they get judged on.

They are really pretty dogs!  Watch out Casey – Nicolas is already planning to replace you! 

After the competition, we talked to the lady in the burgundy dress.  She had several dogs competing, and a total of 29 huskies, including a brand new litter of puppies that were just one day old!  She was selling elk antlers (as chewing options for dogs), and she helped us pick one out for Casey.  They are supposed to be really good for their teeth, and last really long because they don’t chew through them very easily.  We’ll see how it goes . . .

Next up in that ring were the Dobermans . . . talk about intimidating dogs!

I wouldn’t want to be the judge who had to open their mouth and look at their teeth!

These poodles were interesting . . . Bryce thought they looked embarrassed!

We walked around for a little while longer, watching dogs perform and get groomed.    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some were just too cute . . .

and we tended to like the big dogs . . . good thing we’re not in the market for a new dog!

After the dog show, we got some lunch and did a little shopping. 

The sky had cleared while we were in the dog show, and it got pretty warn, so on the way back to the Marina, we drove along Skyline Parkway, which is a road that runs through Duluth, a couple hundred feet above the river and lake. 

 

One of the most popular spots along the Skyline Parkway is Enger Tower. 

The tower stand 100 feet above the Parkway, and with windows all around the perimeter, you can see all around the city and over into Wisconsin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We climbed to the top of the tower, and enjoyed the panoramic view!

Downtown Duluth

St. Louis River

Lake Superior and the Park Point Peninsula

Duluth, MN and Superior, WI

We could even see the Marina where we are camped!

We got back to the campground just in time to see one freighter (760 feet long) leave the port of Duluth, and two more arrive shortly after.

We wanted to get some good pictures, so we walked over to the bridge to watch the first one go out.

As we walked toward the Aerial Lift Bridge, the ship was moving up the river.  The bridge was already up, so we watched from our side of the canal as the ship passed under the bridge,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and out into the big lake!

 

We walked across the bridge once it went back down – Casey, too, even though she wasn’t really crazy about walking up there!

We walked around in Canal Park and along the Lake Walk, while we waited for the next ship to arrive.  This next one was really big – 1000 feet long!  That was going to be something to see!

 

 

 

 

As we were walking along the Lake Walk, we could see the two freighters moving closer across the lake.  We got Casey a drink of water in the park,

and then made our way back to the canal to get a good spot for watching the big freighter.

This one is really huge!

It filled the entire canal!

It’s almost all the way under the bridge now, and headed up the river.

Watching those big ships move through the canal and under the bridge is pretty cool, and definitely a highlight of our stay in Duluth.  There was one more freighter coming in (another 700 foot one), but the boys were ready to head back to the RV and start dinner.  We got across the bridge before it rose again for the last ship, and walked along the beach back to the marina.

Casey really wanted to go swimming, and Nicolas had to keep dragging her away from the water!

From the beach, we could see that last freighter getting closer,

and closer!

It was a great way to wrap up a beautiful weekend in Duluth!

Two Days in Duluth–Saturday

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!    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the way back into town, we stopped at the Leif Erikson Rose Garden.  It was a very nice garden, with lots of beautiful flowers in bloom!

 

 

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!