Day 22 – Fooled By A Boat

Today started off cloudy but was predicted to become sunny later. I took my time getting breakfast and then headed through downtown Duluth to Canal Park. The park is along one side of the Duluth Ship Canal and there is a famous aerial lift bridge that connects to the other side. This narrow canal is capable of taking ocean-going ships, which almost fill the canal, by lifting the bridge to open the waterway.

Luck was on my side because the sun had come out and within two minutes of arriving the warning bells on the bridge started sounding and it began to lift. The bridge can be lifted half way for smaller ships or fully for ocean-going vessels and the process takes less than a minute. I will intermingle the photos with the text to tell the story.

I took this photo as soon when I arrived with the bridge down.And this is a screen capture from the video I made of the bridge when it had lifted.

The bridge had been raised half way and, since I could not see a large ship about to go under it, I rushed back to the car to get the dash-cam so I could record the ship passing and post the awesome sight. However, as I got to the car, I heard the warning bells again and the bridge started to descend. I assumed it must be some sort of test and went back to the canal only to see that the “ship” that passed through was this tiny coastguard dinghy which, I’m sure, could have sailed under the bridge while it was down.

Despite the disappointment I felt very lucky to have seen the bridge lift and took a glass half full attitude as I drove up the scenic North Shore Drive along Lake Superior. One of many splendid sights on the way is the Split Rock Lighthouse.

And this is the harbor in Silver Bay which mixes beauty and leisure with industry. (both photos taken from the same spot).

After leaving Silver Bay I headed inland to skirt around the southern and western edges of the wilderness area known as the Boundary Waters to get to International Falls on the border. By the time I arrived it was raining.