Vista Fleet

Last Tuesday we went down to the harbor in Duluth and took the Vista Fleet Harbor and Lake Superior Tour.  Since it was a Tuesday, senior citizens got the Grand Sightseeing Tour (1 hr. 45 min.) for only $5.00 (regularly $25.00)!  So, if you are ever in Duluth and want to tour Lake Superior and the harbor, go on a Tuesday if you are a senior citizen!

Our tour guide on the boat was quite knowledgeable.  She gave us A LOT of information about Duluth, the harbor and Superior, WI.  I really wished I would have written down this information (Duluth is on the north side of the harbor and Superior, WI, is on the south side of the harbor)!  The things she told us were very interesting, but now I can’t remember most of them.  😢  I will try share what I DO remember.

As we pulled away from the dock, we saw this HUGE ship leaving the harbor.  It was headed for the “draw bridge” and the open waters of Lake Superior.

FAE4E3A5-DBF4-42E5-A4B9-D4CA64B1C701

CDD02CD5-B1FC-4BDD-9387-0D70B159028C

This draw bridge is unusual because it does not split in the middle with each side raising upwards for ships to go through. Instead, the whole bottom portion is raised with a system of pulleys and motors.  It has an interesting history (you can Google it), and it’s fascinating to watch.

Here you can see pictures of the bridge at different levels, and as our boat goes under it.

7568A3FD-3BC8-4F90-8665-F884759FCB6667F7C86E-FD2A-4EE6-9134-C2C7AE1FB52DF1AED289-FAAB-4CA5-92A7-86697D87C4D465FE9F11-782F-4C32-B78A-71809C3D26E4D45BCD18-07B2-4B89-84F9-43D40A7F357E86B05B9A-21BA-45C7-A1AC-3F96B2B9E0DFFAD234A0-D330-463C-ABBB-83EBB03DFA49

First we took a short tour out on Lake Superior and viewed portions of Duluth.  Unfortunately it was a very cloudy day, however, fortunately it didn’t rain on us the whole hour and forty-five minute cruise.  I can’t say the same for the cruise that took off after our cruise.

Here are some of the best pictures I took 😊 along with a caption IF I remembered any of the information shared by the tour guide.  😬

C07E31F5-AB86-41C5-8B0E-CE22DF092A9D

View of downtown Duluth from out on Lake Superior.

ACFACDBA-3EC4-41E9-9455-8B3E85FD9087

Another view of downtown Duluth. Duluth is built on a steep hill on the north shore of Lake Superior. Because of the hill, Duluth is approximately one mile wide, but is about 26 miles in length!

6970BF63-38EB-4076-86E1-4431F4A88ADE

Leif Erickson Park along the shores of Duluth.

16F9B7A2-353A-4E47-93B9-3BB353288CFB

Looking back towards the harbor and the draw bridge from out on Lake Superior.

1A83D750-B319-4D2D-BC71-007BB39AD9F2

The dome structure is the Northland Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the Duluth Lakewalk & Boardwalk.

7A245A57-6F67-4830-9D1D-23A120106FAE

Another photo of downtown Duluth. Notice the two streets going straight up the steep hillside. We learned that the streets in downtown Duluth are heated with steam during the winters. With that steep hillside running the full length of the downtown area, I would say that is a necessity!

C0A5E69D-C3D3-48FB-9C61-1CCA2E8B8FE23B094C11-98AA-43AD-9EC7-C4864450F67A

7C603A8B-2913-4071-99C5-EDE67160C863

There were so many ships in the harbor. Our tour guide told us about the history, age, and purpose of many of them. Unfortunately, since I did not write the information down, I don’t remember which tidbits of information went with each ship.

BAC11295-840C-4F90-AA0C-364B05822F23

This ship was being loaded with grain. It was almost full and scheduled to leave the harbor  later that evening. Before they started loading the grain, you could see a second orange stripe below the name of the ship. The weight of the grain made that stripe go below the water.

AB677249-3602-4615-9DE6-E4FB65222DCD

This a picture of the bridge supports of the newest bridge over the harbor between Duluth, MN, and Superior, WI. Those large brown circle structures were put in around each support to protect the bridge in case one of the large ships accidentally veered off course. The ship would hit the brown structures before ever hitting the bridge supports. Pretty smart idea!!

0E82177C-886B-470E-A59F-A136C9B05145

The harbor channels are drudged every year to keep the sediments from building up. I wish I could remember the depth the channel must be – I THINK it’s around 26-28 feet deep.

8FAD50D9-98CE-4A98-9CF0-1109383FBA4B

There are 3 U.S. Coast Guard boats in this picture. The largest (obvious one in the foreground) is the size of a seaworthy coast guard ship. The other two are the MUCH smaller two boats behind the large ship.

66401945-D817-409A-B513-93B87784BAB5

8F792DB4-E94C-44C8-AFDF-F20D1C2F870E

Another Duluth park (can’t remember the name, though) from the harbor.

E754F64B-934E-41D7-8360-90D6970E4CDE

Look at those houses atop the hillside behind the buildings in downtown Duluth! Can you imagine the beautiful view they have of the harbor and Lake Superior?

D0366F84-C953-4CA2-AE2F-C6D1BCF24035

This is the Great Lakes Aquarium right along the harbor shore. It contains many samples of life in

40C025BC-601A-4326-9ED7-60A982274CF2

There are many ship berths and grain bins in the harbor on both the Duluth side and the Superior side.

77B3A0DC-AEF9-4AB2-8F98-835DFC126CDB4B82B919-D798-45D9-9CB1-FD1CE5316FF36E1D9544-C1EA-46F2-855D-34EED24571E4

FF1EF6D4-0E4F-479C-8E8E-B3F2376BBB54

I really wish I could remember the name of this particular ship and what the tour guide said about It. I think it dates back to the late 1800s. Sorry … 😞

5B368D17-FEE9-4F05-9D65-1F1A16C1A1B5073C1297-071F-4334-8884-B879EEFE6E2F

F7AB0DBD-6388-4972-A94B-BBBCF5B3AB0A

The three small green boats are Duluth’s tugboats. Superior has their own tugboats and they look totally different. Tugboats are kind of expensive (the ships pay the tugboat fee), however, they play a very important role in the safety and smooth running of the harbor.

15D26480-B8EB-4491-8AB8-F6F2E09B0B3F

96603268-DFBE-4495-9531-A16169EDA002

The bridge in the foreground is the older bridge which was replaced by the larger bridge in the background.

6FB2DEE8-A291-4DA5-997F-39A25F64F9172E60DF20-B8C8-4855-83FD-A0560118013B7D28EF84-35FD-43FE-B6F7-8E4766B5C901

C1627ED2-29FF-4BC3-A94D-F459C01DA181

This is a gas station for the large ships. They can pump fuel into two of the large thousand-foot ships at the same time.

DEDCC31C-F4BF-424F-A1D9-83A63FC1056C

DF4BC6F6-FBDB-4BDE-BF4B-E02C2618A8E4

A small section of the harbor separated by a breakwater is for personal and pleasure boats owned by individuals.

9AFBB1C8-D636-4989-ABCD-0834940C88E4

This picture (and the next one) is of another one of the iron ore loading docks where the iron ore “balls” are loaded in the chutes from the rail cars and then “dropped” in the storage areas of a ship.

0F17404A-A52E-4C88-A9D4-ED3C611E7402

Like I said earlier, this Vista Fleet cruise was well worth the money.  Just go on a Tuesday if you are 65 or older and you will get a $25.00 cruise for ONLY $5.00!

537504BA-E95E-4E82-B4F8-D67D642DA91BBE1B5CB3-8A0B-4C1F-8C29-5D76764BFE2D

So, for now ….. “On the Road Again!”

Betty

2 Comments (+add yours?)

  1. Peggy Hines
    Aug 28, 2018 @ 18:40:37

    Wow, Betty! For not “remembering”, you remembered a lot. Also for an overcast day your photos are great. I had no idea how huge the Duluth harbor is. Thanks so much for all the info and pictures. Love you 3 🤗💕

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s

Roadtirement

"Traveling and Retired"

Ride Along With The Reids

Stephanie and John's RV adventures

all our lemmony things

for when life hands you lemons

Retirement and beyond

My travels and adventures since retiring on 30.11.2012

Given Breath

"In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind."

Retire for the Fun of it

A How To Guide for living the Fun Life after Retirement

sarahscapes

the nature of writing life

The Palladian Traveler

Meandering along the cobblestone and travertine to somewhere...

My Teeth Fell Off the Charles Bridge

Tales of Travelers Beyond 60

Wind Against Current

Thoughts on kayaking, science, and life

The Retiring Sort

Exploring all aspects of my retirement and my Genealogy obsession

Camping capers

This WordPress.com site is the cat’s pajamas

A New Road to Travel

Life changes and travel

Into Abundance

Connecting hearts to the riches in Christ

Loving Life at Home

Marriage, Motherhood, and Minding what Matters Most

The Daily Post

The Art and Craft of Blogging

%d bloggers like this: