![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
I'm now about a month and a half behind, on fixing up photos, so don't expect to see anything from me very soon!
The weather was perfect, the entire trip. Sunny and warm.
We got to Ashland, WI, in time to see the sun go down across the bay. We happened upon a park overlooking the bay. I was interested in seeing Ashland, since I'd been there a few times back when I was in high school. I recognized none of it. It's a small town that has never had much money - at least not since the days of the lumber barons and the iron mines. It appeared to be seeing a bit of a resurgence, or at least is cleaning up nicely. There are new parks along the lake, including a campground (RV park) in the shadow of the ore dock. The ore dock is what I was most interested in seeing. I thought it was pretty cool, when I first saw it, and I even went (trespassing) out on it. All these years I had been wanting to see it again (and photograph it). Looking at at from a distance, while watching the sun go down, I discovered they were in the process of demolishing it. I guess I got there just in time - though about three years ago, it would have been fully intact. Since the sun had gone down, my photos aren't that great, but at least I got to see it. And I learned that it was the largest ore dock in the world. http://www.iholmes.com/pages/oredock.html
After Ashland, we went on to Superior. It's an old, run down blue collar town. As a photographer, I want to go back, but there's really nothing there to see but vintage neon signs and rusty docklands. It was around 10:00, so we check in at the hotel, and I left Cyn for the Duluth Aerial Bridge. (Google pictures). It's one of those Monuments to Engineering that I enjoy.
In the morning, after breakfast and a trip to the store for Cyn to buy clothes, we went down by the bridge again. We had to cross it for photos, since the sun was on the other side. Cyn was worried we'd be trapped on the other side. I wasn't worried, since it goes both up and down, and never stays up for very long, I was sure. Well it did stay up for very long. Seemed like we were over there for about half an hour.
And then we went north. From Duluth north is beautiful. Highway 61 hugs the Lake Superior shore. Since we were delayed by the boat traffic, we didn't really have time to stop and look around at any sights (or sites).
For future reference, you are not allowed to take alcohol into Canada as a gift. Personal use only. I agreed with the border guard that I would, in fact, be drinking some of it myself.
We got into Thunder Bay in late afternoon. We were visiting Amy and Rohan (Cyn met her on LiveJournal many years ago). And Amy's daughter, and their three dogs. They cooked us a delicious dinner, and we sat around and drank wine and talked all night. Saturday, after lunch. Amy took us down to the lakefront for a look and a walk around. Thunder Bay is a pleasant town. We saw some parks and some cute tourist shops.
Saturday night included Scrabble, more wine, and Scotch. Rohan had a nice collection of Scotch whisky, so that was good. And I brought a couple along with me.
I was a bit slow on sunday morning, due to the Scotch and the very late night. They took us to breakfast at Denyse's Thunder Bay Restaurant. Read that review - it tells it like it is. Fun place if you know what to expect. Then they drove us around and showed us more views of the lake - but Sleeping Giant was shrouded in haze, which Amy was upset about - including a walk along the shore.
We left town in early afternoon. I didn't realize how out-of-it I was, until almost half an hour out of town, when I realized we had gone the wrong way. It never even occurred to me, on the drive, to even wonder if I was on the right road. So that took a bit to get back on the right track. We stopped at a couple of places along the way, including the town of Grand Marais. It's a quaint touristy kind of place, and we went out on the breakwater and the rocks.
The sun went down around the time we were in Duluth, so from there we were in the dark, and it became a very long drive to our motel.
On Monday, we stopped for lunch at my cousins, Everett and Thelma. We stayed a couple three hours and had a nice visit. We hadn't seen them in couple years, I guess. They weren't in the best of health a while back, but they seem to be doing well now.
And then we came home.
The weather was perfect, the entire trip. Sunny and warm.
We got to Ashland, WI, in time to see the sun go down across the bay. We happened upon a park overlooking the bay. I was interested in seeing Ashland, since I'd been there a few times back when I was in high school. I recognized none of it. It's a small town that has never had much money - at least not since the days of the lumber barons and the iron mines. It appeared to be seeing a bit of a resurgence, or at least is cleaning up nicely. There are new parks along the lake, including a campground (RV park) in the shadow of the ore dock. The ore dock is what I was most interested in seeing. I thought it was pretty cool, when I first saw it, and I even went (trespassing) out on it. All these years I had been wanting to see it again (and photograph it). Looking at at from a distance, while watching the sun go down, I discovered they were in the process of demolishing it. I guess I got there just in time - though about three years ago, it would have been fully intact. Since the sun had gone down, my photos aren't that great, but at least I got to see it. And I learned that it was the largest ore dock in the world. http://www.iholmes.com/pages/oredock.html
After Ashland, we went on to Superior. It's an old, run down blue collar town. As a photographer, I want to go back, but there's really nothing there to see but vintage neon signs and rusty docklands. It was around 10:00, so we check in at the hotel, and I left Cyn for the Duluth Aerial Bridge. (Google pictures). It's one of those Monuments to Engineering that I enjoy.
In the morning, after breakfast and a trip to the store for Cyn to buy clothes, we went down by the bridge again. We had to cross it for photos, since the sun was on the other side. Cyn was worried we'd be trapped on the other side. I wasn't worried, since it goes both up and down, and never stays up for very long, I was sure. Well it did stay up for very long. Seemed like we were over there for about half an hour.
And then we went north. From Duluth north is beautiful. Highway 61 hugs the Lake Superior shore. Since we were delayed by the boat traffic, we didn't really have time to stop and look around at any sights (or sites).
For future reference, you are not allowed to take alcohol into Canada as a gift. Personal use only. I agreed with the border guard that I would, in fact, be drinking some of it myself.
We got into Thunder Bay in late afternoon. We were visiting Amy and Rohan (Cyn met her on LiveJournal many years ago). And Amy's daughter, and their three dogs. They cooked us a delicious dinner, and we sat around and drank wine and talked all night. Saturday, after lunch. Amy took us down to the lakefront for a look and a walk around. Thunder Bay is a pleasant town. We saw some parks and some cute tourist shops.
Saturday night included Scrabble, more wine, and Scotch. Rohan had a nice collection of Scotch whisky, so that was good. And I brought a couple along with me.
I was a bit slow on sunday morning, due to the Scotch and the very late night. They took us to breakfast at Denyse's Thunder Bay Restaurant. Read that review - it tells it like it is. Fun place if you know what to expect. Then they drove us around and showed us more views of the lake - but Sleeping Giant was shrouded in haze, which Amy was upset about - including a walk along the shore.
We left town in early afternoon. I didn't realize how out-of-it I was, until almost half an hour out of town, when I realized we had gone the wrong way. It never even occurred to me, on the drive, to even wonder if I was on the right road. So that took a bit to get back on the right track. We stopped at a couple of places along the way, including the town of Grand Marais. It's a quaint touristy kind of place, and we went out on the breakwater and the rocks.
The sun went down around the time we were in Duluth, so from there we were in the dark, and it became a very long drive to our motel.
On Monday, we stopped for lunch at my cousins, Everett and Thelma. We stayed a couple three hours and had a nice visit. We hadn't seen them in couple years, I guess. They weren't in the best of health a while back, but they seem to be doing well now.
And then we came home.
