Duluth: where the Great Lakes Begin

We arrived in Duluth, MN after a pretty drive through the farm lands of Wisconsin, viewing the city first from Superior, across the river. Dale, having grown up at the "end" of the Great Lakes in Cape Vincent, NY, always wanted to see where the Lakes began. Duluth is certainly more industrialized than his home town, but they have done a nice job with the waterfront area. There is a walking path that runs about five miles along the lake. There is a maritime museum, maintained by the Army Corps of Engineers, 2 ships- one Coast Guard and one 650 foot Lake freighter that are maintained as museums, as well as the usual restaurants and gift shops. There is also a unique elevator bridge, which raises to allow the ships into the port of Duluth.

We took a walk through the drizzly rain (notice a weather-related pattern here?) around part of the port area while waiting for the museum to open. The lake freighter was offering tours that looked interesting, so we went on board to hear about the history of shipping on the lakes, the history of that particular ship (built in 1938, retired in 1977 after the huge 1000 footers were built), and the life of sailors on board this ship. The gentleman who gave the tour was very knowledgeable in this aspect- his father was a lake captain, he served in several roles on lake ships during the years, and his brother served on the Edmund Fitzgerald (the sinking of which was immortalized by Gordon Lightfoot). He quit and went to another ship 2 months before the boat went down. Overall, it was a great morning. We had lunch, than headed out west through some very uninhabited area of MN on the way to Fargo, ND. The highlight of the drive was crossing the Mississippi for the first time in Jefferson, MN. We spent a night in Fargo, than went on to Bismarck as our "jumping off spot" to Mt Rushmore region.

Unfortunately, with the July 4th holiday, bookings in the Rushmore area were pretty full and expensive, so we have opted to head for the Badlands of N. Dakota- Theodore Roosevelt National Park- which is less well-known. We'll let you know how it goes!