Quick Trip to Duluth

We made a quick decision to go to Duluth, Minnesota's number one tourist destination, for a couple of days.

The first day was overcast but the kids enjoyed climbing on the rocks, one of their favorite activities. 

The canal into the harbor is a gathering place when the ships from the Great Lakes come in or go out.  The schedule is posted but the times are not always accurate.

Here comes a 1000 footer into the canal.  The crowds are waiting.

This left-over from ice house days is a great diving spot for the locals. I wonder if their mothers know what they are up to.

The arial bridge lifts to let the ship under, though it looks from the picture that it isn't high enough.

The next day it was up to Gooseberry Falls State Park where we camped in our Scamp trailer when C was young.

Can you tell who is the boy and who is the girl from this picture?

Our hotel had this view of the lake and another ship entering the canal.

I remember a trip to the North Shore with the Hartmans when I was a boy and seeing the ships traveling on the lake at night from the car where we youngsters got to sleep.  There wasn't room in the tiny cabins for all of us.

Pictures don't do justice to the size of these ships... longer than three football fields and as they enter their horn sounds a greeting of one long and two short blasts followed by the arial bridge responding the same.

E asked if we could go to Duluth again next year.  It is great to make memories that the kids enjoy and will remember.

Last year the Leif Erickson park that had the rose garden was minus the roses because of a severe winter kill.  But this year they were back!

This weed was tiny but I thought it was beautiful growing in the State Park.