August 1, 2010

August 1, 2010

From Superior, WI we drove back north across the bridge to Duluth. The city is hosting a Tall Ships Festival this week. We park outside the downtown area and take a shuttle to the inner harbor. In a line along the wharf are eight cool masted-ships of yesteryear. We only paid the general admission. It costs more to tour them. I am glad we deferred as even this early in the morning there are very long lines at each ship. It is hard to fully appreciate the ships with the crowds of people, fencing, trees and flags blocking the view.

We continue past the ships. The harbor makes a hard right turn and we end up getting a cleaner view of the ships from the “no-charge” end of the harbor. There is a variety of Tall Ships representing different eras and purposes. Two are from the War of 1812. 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 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 for months on end 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 bulk freighter delivering salt to enter. We finish with a quick swing thru a Corps of Engineers Museum that has way more info than we want on the harbor. 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.