Wedding in Duluth

When my hunting buddies learned I would be attending a wedding on the opening weekend of Wisconsin's grouse and deer archery season openers, there was much laughter and needling. The only thing more humorous was when the PodMan learned shortly thereafter that his stepdaughter, daughter of the GurneyGranny, would be getting married the same weekend in his yard! Both brides were wise enough to schedule an outdoor wedding and the fall weather cooperated beautifully. The Voice of Reason's niece scheduled her wedding for Enger Park, a gem of a park overlooking Lake Superior on Skyline Drive. This actually was the perfect wedding because I was outdoors gazing at Gitchee Gumee, able to move around as the backup photographer, and got to squeeze a bit of paddling in as icing on the cake. Not to mention the partying with the VOR's family, who are a fun bunch of folks.


Duluth is a great town. Its 2,300 miles from the Atlantic Ocean and is the biggest port by volume in the Great Lakes at 40 million metric tons. The harbor itself is protected by a barrier island called Park Point. Its an island because toward the end of the 19th century they cut a ship canal through it and in the early part of the 20th century built the Aerial Lift Bridge. This is Duluth's signature landmark and features an excellent Corps of Engineers museum that sits right on the ship canal. They also have the schedule of inbound and outbound ships, both lakers and salties, so you can plan your ship watching. As luck would have it, the Queen of the Lakes, the Paul R. Tregurtha would be arriving in the afternooon. What better spot than Enger park, 600' above the lake, to set up the telephoto and get some shots?

Which is exactly what we did. A visit to Hawk Ridge....slow raptor day.........and a paddle near the Knife River rounded out the weekend. Usually we blow through Duluth on the way to camp or the North Shore or points east on the lake. I guess we need to slow down and take more time to check out Duluth.