Bob Berg / Lake Superior Magazine
Duluth welcomes the tall ships
Cloudy skies and the threat of rain did little to dampen Duluth’s enthusiastic greeting for the fleet of nine majestic ships that is visiting the port during the four-day Tall Ships festival.
As has become tradition for this triennial event, the festival kicked off with the Parade of Sail on Thursday afternoon. Three waves of three ships each delighted the thousands of spectators in Canal Park who lined the piers, Lakewalk and harbor waterfront.
Two of our team members hitched a ride on the U.S. Brig Niagara during the parade. Konnie LeMay, the magazine’s editor, and Paul Hayden, our publisher, streamed the experience live to our followers on Facebook. Two other editorial staffers – Phil Bencomo and Bob Berg – snapped photos and broadcast a few videos from land.
Festival organizers expect more than 300,000 attendees at the event, which continues through Sunday.
+ Don’t forget to visit the Lake Superior Magazine booth! You’ll find us between Bayfront Festival Park and the Great Lakes Aquarium, near the waterfront.
Bob Berg / Lake Superior Magazine
The World’s Largest Rubber Duck didn’t venture onto Lake Superior for the Parade of Sail. Instead, it floated around in the harbor, entertaining spectators between waves of tall ships. Our own Bob Berg snapped a few great photos (like the one above; see more here), and some of our contributors posted impressive images, too. Here’s one from Juli Kellner and a video by Dennis O’Hara.
+ The Duluth News Tribune got a fun shot of the duck that looks straight out of a 1950s sci-fi movie.
+ Dawn LaPointe’s image shows just how enormous the duck is.
Could shuttered Silver Islet dock be revived? “Officials with Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Parks Canada are slated to visit the shuttered dock at Silver Islet, on the Sibley Peninsula, east of Thunder Bay, according to the community's harbour manager,” reports the CBC News. Locals hope the feds will restore the dock and then turn it over to the community for management.
Mysterious box found near Superior not a danger: “Federal, state and local agencies have determined a box found near the mouth of the Poplar River marked ‘radioactive’ was a false alarm,” writes Shelley Nelson for the Superior Telegram.
Isle Royale fees to change: The national park has proposed a slew of changes, including upping the daily fee from $4 to $7 and accepting federal recreation passes. Kids 15 and younger would get free admission under the proposal; currently the cutoff is age 11. Comments on the plan will be accepted through September 30.
Heritage markers disappeared from two Ontario shipwrecks, writes the CBC News. Divers use the buoys when exploring shipwrecks.
Backpacker says Bayfield is one of America’s best trail towns.
Upper Peninsula TV anchor proposes to reporter on air: Here’s the video, which is equal parts heartwarming and hilarious. The couple met at and work for WLUC in Negaunee. (She said yes!)