August 1, 2010

August 1, 2010

From Superior, WI we drove back north across the bridge to Duluth. They are having a Tall Ships festival. We park outside the downtown area and take a shuttle to the inner harbor. There in a line along the wharf are eight masted-ships of yesteryear. We only paid the general admission because we didn’t feel the need to tour them. I am glad we did as even this early in the morning there are very long lines at each ship. I am still a little peaved as the ships are hard to appreciate behind the lines of people, fencing, trees and flags. We continue past the ships farther along the harbor front. The harbor makes a hard turn and we end up getting a better view of the ships from the “no-charge” end of the harbor. There is a wide variety of Tall Ships representing several different eras and purposes. Probably for me the most interesting was the HMS Bounty, a ship built for the Marlon Brando version of the Mutiny movie. It also starred in the more recent Pirates of the Caribbean. None of these sailing ships are all that big. It is amazing that a large crew could live inside those tight confines let alone trust the ship to carry them safely around the globe. No wonder some of them mutinied.

The Duluth-Superior harbor is quite extensive. We continue on past a large lift bridge that opens to allow a freighter delivering salt to enter. We take a quick swing thru a Corps of Engineers Museum that has way more info than we want on the port. Duluth-Superior is a big port for coal, iron ore, and grain exports.

After a surprisingly nice couple of hours strolling the harbor at Duluth, we make our way due south deeper into Wisconsin.