09-02-2010 Exploring Duluth

Our campsite at Jay Cooke was perfectly comfortable, and after a very wild night of hard rain and thunder, it was good to know we didn’t have to rush off anywhere in a hurry.  Planning two nights in one place is great, because then there is at least a day to explore some of the local area. Once we reach Niagara Falls, Labor Day will be in the past and we do hope to spend a bit more time relaxing and seeing the local sights. 

We asked the waitress last night what shouldn’t be missed in Duluth, and she insisted that the Skyline Drive and Enger tower was something that everyone seemed to think was the thing to do.  After a relaxing morning, a good breakfast, and a good MoHo cleanout, we took off again in the Tracker to see a bit of the town.   The visitor center near Spirit Mountain has a great display of panoramic photographs labeled with all the sights of the Duluth Harbor and is a great way to get oriented to the layout of the city.  They also provided two maps and a full page of descriptive directions for negotiating the Skyline Parkway.  The drive was dramatic even on a cloudy day.  The gardens at Enger park were filled with hostas and other familiar perennials that we grow at home, but they were so much bigger than what I can grow at Rocky Point.  Amazingly, the tower was open and there was no fee to climb the several flights of stairs to the top for the view of the Duluth Harbor.  In fact, no one was around except the pigeons, and Abby even managed to climb all those stairs to the top.

After winding around the bluffs overlooking Duluth, we drove down to Canal Park to explore that area as well.  By then it was raining, so we got out the umbrellas and raincoats and made an attempt to see some of the area.  The Lakeshore walk follows the shoreline for a couple of miles but with the rain we decided to have lunch instead. 

I was tickled to find my favorite Walleye on  the menu and enjoyed the succulent, delicate white fish found only in these cold northern waters.  The last time I had walleye was in St Paul several years ago when Mo and I traveled there during winter. I wasn’t disappointed.  Both times I have had walleye, it has been the most delicate, tender, moist, fresh, sweet fish I ever ate.  Bar none. 

We checked out a few shops and then drove down to the Rose Garden.  This part of Duluth is wonderful, with so many walkways, trails, bike paths, and gardens.  I would have loved to spend some time here when it wasn’t raining, but even in the rain it was a special place.  Only one ship passed through the Aerial Lift Bridge while we were there, but I was glad to see it in operation. 

We skipped the traffic and ambled home to Jay Cooke in the rain and settled in for a peaceful evening.