Pullin' Chocks

Duluth, Minnesota

If you have seen our blog before you will certainly notice that we have a new graphic artistic header, which was provided gratis from our new Facebook friend Carlos from Natal, Brazil. Thank you Carlos!

This was our first visit inside Minnesota for both of us ever, with or without a camper. We found a nice park 20 miles west of Duluth that had fishing lakes all around the park. We got to use our kayaks and fish which is always a bonus, and had some nice sightseeing in Duluth and up the coast of Lake Superior into the Minnesota Horn or Arrowhead as we have heard it called. We will split our Duluth posts into two posts, the city tour and the country tour. This post will be the city tour.

There is Pepé and Penelope set up on site #70 with the new kayaks Ollie (the red Old Town sit-in) and Percy (the blue and yellow Prescador sit-on-top) ready to go under the tree.

Steve went fishing and scored on his second time out. This was the little Bass caught.

Here is the Big Juan! Steve had trouble holding and photographing this big guy, which was released unharmed.

A small pond out back. Did not fish in this one, just took a walk back there.

One day we rode downtown Duluth to see the famous lakefront. We parked for free about a half mile away and walked through town to get to the tourism area.

Steve on the Lakefront looking back to the west toward downtown Duluth. This is where the Lakefront area starts.

There's Gari as we approach the famous Aerial Bridge looking toward the east.

The lighthouse and keeper's house are at the point of the inlet that leads to Superior Bay. The inlet goes under the lift bridge and the loading docks are situated in Superior Bay.

Standing along the inlet right in front of the Aerial Bridge.

There is also a lighthouse at the base of the Aerial Bridge.

Relics of maritime endeavors past now rest along the shoreline.

What looks like a concrete ship beached on the rocks is now called Uncle Harvey's Mausoleum. The structure was actually the foundation of a sand and gravel unloading dock. Lake Superior proved too powerful in adverse weather for the operation to be practical or profitable. Now the only interest comes from the seagulls.

A recreational fishing vessel enters the inlet past the lighthouse.

The Inlet Light peeks out behind the Locks of Love Piling...

Close up on the Love

Nels J a re-purposed relic now serving as a seafood grill... Yum, smells great!

A retired CoE tug welcomes visitors at the front of the US Army Corps. of Engineers Maritime Museum located at the foot of the lift bridge. The sea of Daffodils give the old tug a wave riding look of action.

We stepped inside for a peek at the maritime history. There's Gari by the largest engine on display; she is on the second floor of the display! That is just the top of the engine sticking up through the floor. Several retired ship name plaques decorate this space.

Gari flanks the relief model of our Great Lakes; Lake Superior's (top) great size and depth is compared to (L to R) Lakes Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario.

Elaborate scale models of the various ships are displayed with explanation of their purposes; below are examples of grain carriers across time.

These are the Coal & Stone carriers. The lattice conveyors give a ship the descriptive name of "Auto Loader"

Gari at the helm in the wheel house replication. Her steady hand pilots us safely by land and by sea!

As we headed back to the truck, we passed the fierce emotion captured in the bronze sculpture "Determined Mariner" memorializing all the hardy and brave men and women who have sailed through the best and worst weather on the Great Lakes.

Last stop on the city tour was Enger Park up on a tall hill near downtown Duluth. This park featured a stone tower with panoramic views, and a Japanese peace garden with walking paths. Our arrival timing was perfect, as we scored the parking spot right up front in the shade; that does not happen too often! With the size of Pepé we usually park far away with the buses and RVs.