Sunday, September 7 was a gorgeous day here in the Minnesota
northland. Temperatures reached the mid-70s, and the sun shined brightly
putting a smile on everyone’s face. Although fall is in the air, the leaves are
still a bright green; only a few have started turning to their usual hues of
vibrant reds, oranges and yellows.
While I stayed home to work on a project that needed to be
completed by Thursday, Dick rode his motorcycle into Duluth, to ride the
Skyline Parkway, which is called one of Duluth’s treasures.
The Skyline Parkway runs for almost 30 miles, skirting the
skyline of Duluth, high above the city, offering spectacular views of Lake
Superior and the St. Louis River Bay. There are at least a dozen areas of
interest along the parkway, but due to road construction Dick was able to only
visit a few.
 |
| Stewart Bridge (from Internet) |
Beginning on the west end of the parkway, he first passed
the Magney-Snively Natural Area, which encompasses an 1,800 care old-growth
forest which has been developed for hiking and cross-country skiing; then
Bardon’s Peak which offers beautiful vistas of Duluth and the St. Louis River.
The Stewart Creek Bridge is the most
picturesque setting and design of any
stone-art highway bridge in Minnesota.
Constructed about 1925 to span the Stewart Creek,
built of locally quarried gabbro rock, a common building material found in the
Duluth area.
His next stop was Spirit Mountain, Duluth’s year-round
recreation area, which offers spectacular views of Duluth and surrounding area.
Recreation includes downhill and cross-country skiing, snowboarding, mountain
biking, an alpine coaster, miniature golf, zip-lining and tubing. Spirit
Mountain was built in 1974 and has an elevation of approximately 700 feet; it’s
the second tallest ski hill in Minnesota. The ski park includes jumps ranging
from 15 to over 60 feet.
 |
| Spirit Mountain map |
 |
| Spirit Mountain "lodge" |
 |
| View of Wisconsin from chair lift |
 |
| Above and below: photos of Duluth from chair lift |
 |
View of entrance to St. Louis River, west of Spirit Mountain, with sun
reflecting off the water |
 |
| Duluth Harbor from Spirit Mountain; Wisconsin is in background |
a |
| Above and below: Alpine ride at Spirit Mountain |
 |
| Memorial to Bert Enger |
The next highlight of Dick’s ride was Enger Park. Situated high above Duluth, the showcase of the park is Enger Tower, a 5-story observation tower built of natural blue stone from the Duluth area. At an elevation of 531 feet above Lake Superior, the tower boasts a green beacon which can be seen for miles around. Built in 1939, the tower was dedicated by Crown Prince Olav and Crown Princess Martha of Norway on June 15, 1939 to memorialize Bert Enger, a Norwegian immigrant who became a successful furniture dealer in this area. At the time of his death in 1931, Mr. Enger donated 2/3 of his estate to the City of Duluth, including the land known as Enger Hill which encompasses the park, tower and Enger Golf Course.
 |
| Enger Tower |
Lookouts at each level of the octagonal tower offer
fantastic vistas from every vantage point. The park has lovely and distinct
gardens, with over 200 perennials, 4,000 daffodils, expanding Japanese gardens,
and a Japanese peace bell from Japan, commemorating over 20 years of friendship
with Duluth’s Sister City International, Isumi-O’Hara, Japan.
 |
| Japanese gardens at Enger Park |
 |
| O'Hara Peace Bell |
 |
| Above and below: Peace Garden |
 |
| Above and below: Duluth ore docks |
|
| Highway 53 bridge to Wisconsin |
 |
| Minnesota Point |
Dick also saw the
Paul R. Tregurtha entering the Duluth harbor to load coal. Registered in the U.S., it’s the largest ocean-going vessel to enter the Great Lakes, at just over 1,013 feet in length. Really big! That's longer than 3 football fields! (The background noise on the video is from the drag races on Garfield Avenue, mentioned below.)
 |
Above and below: Paul R. Tregurtha coming
into port |
And, he saw the starting point of the annual drag races and
custom cars along Garfield Avenue in Duluth.
 |
| Above and below: Annual Garfield Avenue drag races |
We visited my mom on Tuesday afternoon. As I mentioned in
earlier posts, she really enjoys getting outdoors to the garden. I continue
to read to her whenever convenient, and she enjoys that as well.
 |
| Me reading to Mom in garden |
 |
Above and below: butterflies, bees and flowers in
the garden at Inter-Faith Care Center |
Later that day we attended MacKenzie’s soccer game against
Marshall, a Duluth team. The Cloquet team beat Marshall 4:0. Woot-woot!
 |
| "Go, Cloquet Lumberjacks!" |
 |
Above and below: action shots of
MacKenzie |
 |
| Action shot of MacKenzie's friend Peyton. |
On the
way home we decided to have a bite to eat at Gordy’s Hi-Hat, a long-standing
and popular drive-in in Cloquet.
Gordy’s Hi-Hat was opened in 1960 by the Lundquist family,
who holds to the old-fashioned way of preparing hand-“pattied” hamburgers,
hand-battered Alaskan fish, home-made onion rings, and fresh blended shakes and
real malted milks. YUM-YUM!!! We wanted to make sure we had our “semi-annual” meal
there before they closed for the season. Gordy’s is closed from the middle of
September to April, but is scheduled to open for their 55th year of
service in 2015. As a side, Gordy’s was featured on The Food Network’s “Diners,
Drive-Ins and Dives” TV show in 2010, with well-known chef Guy Fieri and his
crew on hand for 2 full days of filming. The show was aired in July 2010.
Wednesday night we had a rousing game of Pegs and Jokers
with neighbors Dave and Jan. Need I say that women rule? We won 3:2…!
Woot-woot! I served fresh cranberry pudding muffins with warm butter sauce.
YUM!
 |
| Valentini's Vicini Lago |
Thursday we headed into Duluth to have lunch at
“Valentini’s” Vicino Lago (near the lake) restaurant with friends Don and
Gloria from Two Harbors, Minnesota, whom we got to know in Grand Portage, Minnesota
in 2012, and then saw again in 2013. While dining on lasagna, citrus linguini
with shrimp, and sausage with peppers and onions, we got caught up on one
another’s lives. What a fun couple of hours. And, the food was good, too! The
Valentini’s come from small mountain towns in Italy, and since 1936 they’ve
shared recipes of home-made pastas and entrees to a growing clientele.
(Remember the “project” I mentioned earlier? I was making an afghan for Don and
Gloria and wanted to have it done to give to them at lunch. They love it!)
 |
| Don and Gloria |
We returned back to Cloquet to hook up with my dad’s
youngest sister Milly and her husband Wayne, from Renville, Minnesota, where my
dad grew up. They were in the area visiting other friends and wanted to also
see my mom. The 4 of us spent a good hour with her, and although the weather
wasn’t warm enough to be outside, we did have an enjoyable visit. Milly and
Wayne joined Dick and me for coffee afterwards, at my mom’s, where I served the
cranberry muffins again, with warm butter sauce. YUM!
 |
| Aunt Milly and Uncle Wayne |
 |
| Mom and Milly at Inter-Faith |
We’re really not ready for fall weather yet; Friday
morning’s temperatures were in the mid-30s. Brrr!! I decided it was a good day
to make cookies, so make cookies I did: a batch of chocolate chip (for Dick)
and a batch of oatmeal (for brother Rich). Good stuff!
Saturday, Dick braved the cold weather (34° at 7:30 a.m.,
and not much warmer at 10:00…) to ride his motorcycle to catch the rest of
Skyline Parkway. As I mentioned earlier, there was road construction and very
rough road, so his ride was cut short. And, he was freezing!
That evening we celebrated my birthday early
(my birthday is today, September 15th) with a dinner of pizza and
salad, with my brother Rich, his wife Karen, and daughter MacKenzie. They also
brought along Peyton, a friend of MacKenzie’s. After dinner, cake and ice
cream, we played a game of Golf, introducing Peyton to the game. Of course,
MacKenzie won.
 |
| My birthday flowers from Dick, roses and lilies |
 |
| R to L: MacKenzie, Peyton, Rich, Karen and me |
That’s it for this week. Thanks again for coming along for
the ride. If the weather cooperates (and it’s supposed to), we’ll be taking in
more sights before our next update. Hope this finds you well.
Blessings,
RJ and Gail
No comments:
Post a Comment