A Superior Stay in Duluth MN

We departed St. Croix River Resort late Thursday morning for a short, leisurely drive northward to Duluth MN.  In Superior WI, a sister town just south of Duluth, we bought some groceries and topped off the diesel tank.  Diesel is about $0.10 cheaper in Wisconsin than in Minnesota. Also, we wanted a fairly full tank because we knew the generator would run while the coach is parked when we are in the Boundary Waters.  

We arrived at Lakehead Boat Basin in Duluth, our home for the next three nights, in the early afternoon after a leisurely 68 mile drive.  Lakehead Boat Basin is primarily a marina, located in the inner harbor, but has about 30 RV spots in the summer.  These spots are occupied by boats hauled out of the water during the winter months.  Lakehaed Boat Basin is located only a few blocks south of the iconic Aerial Lift Bridge, Canal Park and the Duluth Lakewalk.

Our home at Lakehead Boat Basin

Duluth is located on the north shore of Lake Superior at the westernmost point of the Great Lakes. Duluth is the largest U.S. city on Lake Superior, and is accessible to the Atlantic Ocean 2,300 miles away via the Great Lakes Waterway and St. Lawrence Seaway. The Port of Duluth is the world's farthest inland port accessible to oceangoing ships and by far the largest and busiest port on the Great Lakes.

Things You Probably Never Knew About Lake Superior.....

1. Lake Superior is actually not a lake at all, but an inland sea.

2. All of the four other Great Lakes, plus three more the size of Lake Erie, would fit inside of Lake Superior.

3. Isle Royale is a massive island surrounded by Lake Superior. Within this island are several smaller lakes. Yes, that's a lake on a lake.

4. Despite its massive size, Lake Superior is an extremely young formation by Earth's standards (only 10,000 years old).

5. There is enough water in Lake Superior to submerge all of North and South America in 1 foot of water.

6. Lake Superior contains 3 quadrillion gallons of water (3,000,000,000,000,000). All five of the Great Lakes combined contain 6 quadrillion gallons.

7. Contained within Lake Superior is a whopping 10% of the world's fresh surface water.

8. It's estimated there are about 100 million lake trout in Lake Superior. That's nearly one-fifth of the human population of North America!

9. It takes two centuries for all the water in the lake to replace itself.

Not the Eiffel Tower

A freighter negotiating the Duluth Ship Canal

Here is an interesting history of the Duluth Ship Canal.

There are miniature replicas of the Aerial Lift Bridge all around the waterfront

My Babes out for a walk

The US Army Corps of Engineers maintains the Duluth Ship Canal and also operates the Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center

Dorcas will pilot this ship, but she won't drive the motor home!

Click HERE to see the train in motion.

So cute!!!

While the temperatures in Hinckley were very pleasant, the heat returned in Duluth with highs near 90°.  Tomorrow we move north once more to Ely, where hopefully it will be cooler.