Fairfield Inn ($247)
Duluth, Minnesota
August 26, 2024
5 PM
Today was a "what the hell" wander. I have heard of Duluth -- not in a good or bad way -- and figured what the hell. I needed to go someplace where I could stay in a hotel because of a several day heatwave they are having up here. It's 85 degrees and not expected to cool down quickly tonight. Yes, I am a wimp. So far on this trip I have not been able to fall asleep when the outside temperature is above the mid 70s. Poor poor pitiful me.
The price of hotels here surprised me but downtown Duluth seems to be a hopping place. Perhaps in my mind I was thinking Duluth would be similar to what I have heard about Gary, Indiana?
Stopped into a golf course in the sister town of Superior, Wisconsin before crossing over the long, high bridge to Duluth. I hit a small bucket on the range with my driver -- some good, some ok, some WTH. Before I die, I will become consistent with my driver!! Today's problem seemed to be the regular over-the-top move.
Today's thought is that maybe I will fly from Seattle to Alaska. The drive could be beautiful but I am wondering if I might be biting off too much to do it on my own.
Photos from the day:
Duluth is a port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of St. Louis County. Located on Lake Superior in Minnesota's Arrowhead Region, the city is a hub for cargo shipping. The population was 86,697 at the 2020 census, making it Minnesota's fifth-largest city. Duluth forms a metropolitan area with neighboring Superior, Wisconsin, called the Twin Ports. It is south of the Iron Range and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. It is named after Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut, the area's first known European explorer.
Is Duluth a good place to live?
Duluth, Minnesota is known for its long, cold, and snowy winters. The city's proximity to Lake Superior, the largest and coldest of the Great Lakes, plays a big role in its climate. The lake acts as a heat sink, keeping the area cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. On average, Duluth receives more than 86 inches of snow each year, the highest reported total in Minnesota. Temperatures also average below 32°F for 106 days a year, which is the second most days of any city in the contiguous U.S.
Duluth is on the north shore of Lake Superior at the westernmost point of the Great Lakes. It is the largest metropolitan area, the second-largest city, and the largest U.S. city on the lake. Duluth 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 is the largest and busiest port on the Great Lakes. It is also among the top 20 U.S. ports by tonnage. Common items shipped from Duluth include coal, iron ore, grain, limestone, cement, salt, wood pulp, steel coil, and wind turbine parts.
Duluth is a popular Midwest tourist destination. The city is home to the Great Lakes Aquarium, the nation's only all-freshwater aquarium. The Aerial Lift Bridge, next to Canal Park, crosses the Duluth Ship Canal into the Duluth–Superior harbor. Minnesota Point, known locally as Park Point, is the world's longest freshwater baymouth bar, stretching 6 miles (10 km). The city is also the starting point for road trips along the North Shore of Lake Superior to Thunder Bay, Ontario.
Duluth is the major regional center for health care, higher education, retail, and business services not only of its own immediate area but also of a larger area encompassing northeastern Minnesota, northwestern Wisconsin, and the western Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It is also a major transportation center for the transshipment of coal, taconite, agricultural products, steel, limestone, and cement. In recent years it has seen strong growth in the transshipment of wind turbine components coming and going from manufacturers in both Europe and North Dakota and of oversized industrial machinery manufactured all around the world and destined for the tar sands oil extraction projects in northern Alberta. The Port of Duluth handles an average of 35 million short tons of cargo and nearly 900 vessel visits each year. Ninety percent of the port's vessels are "Lakers", ships that ship goods exclusively among the upper four Great Lakes and are too large to transit the Welland Canal. The rest are "Salties", ships that can traverse the seaway all the way from the Atlantic Ocean.
The Twin Ports has attracted several new engineering firms, including TKDA, Barr Engineering, LHB, Enbridge and Lake Superior Consulting, as well as new start-ups in various fields, including Loll Designs and Epicurean, two sister companies that make eco-friendly furniture and kitchen utensils respectively, and microbrewery Bent Paddle. Women's clothing retail chain Maurices is also headquartered in Duluth, as are luggage manufacturers and suppliers Duluth Pack and Frost River. In 1989, the workwear and accessories brand Duluth Trading Company was founded on a barge in the city's shipping district. The company moved its headquarters to southern Wisconsin in 2000. Supermarket chain Super One Foods is also based in the Twin Ports, with its headquarters in neighboring Hermantown.
Duluth is a center for aquatic biology and aquatic science. The city is home to the EPA's Mid-Continent Ecology Division Laboratory and the University of Minnesota–Duluth. These institutions have spawned many economically and scientifically important businesses that support Duluth's economy. A short list of these businesses includes ERA Laboratories, LimnoLogic, the ASci Corporation, Environmental Consulting and Testing, and Ecolab.
The city is popular for tourism. Duluth is a convenient base for trips to the scenic North Shore via Highway 61 and to fishing and wilderness destinations in Minnesota's far north, including the Superior National Forest, Voyageurs National Park, Lake Vermilion and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. Tourists also may drive on the North Shore Scenic Drive to Gooseberry Falls State Park, Baptism Falls (Minnesota's largest waterfall), the vertical cliff of Palisade Head, Isle Royale National Park(reached via ferry), Grand Portage National Monument in Grand Portage, and High Falls of the Pigeon River (on the Canada–US border). Thunder Bay, Ontario, can be reached by following the highway into Canada along Lake Superior.
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