7/20 - Duluth - Skyline Parkway

The weather looked much better today so we thought we'd be safe trying the Skyline Parkway drive to see the view. Unfortunately, the smoke from the Northwest fires is still in the area and was lying in a thick blanket over the harbor and lake. The views would be spectacular without the smoke. 

Duluth harbor 

St Louis River

The St. Louis River enters Lake Superior through Duluth harbor. It forms the border between Wisconsin and Minnesota for about 15 miles west at which point the border heads south in a straight line. Both these pictures show how much the views are obscured by smoke.

We continued along Skyline Parkway to Enger Park, a popular local attraction. At the top of the park is Enger Tower which has an outstanding view. It was dedicated to Bert Enger (1864-1931), one of Duluth's most notable citizens, by Crown Prince Olaf of Norway in 1939. Enger was a Norwegian immigrant who started as a common laborer and became a very successful merchant. By a very generous gift, he enabled the city of Duluth to develop the park on land surrounding the tower. When he died he left two thirds of his estate to the people of Duluth.

Enger Tower

Japanese gardens in Enger Park

Gardens in Enger Park

We continued along Skyline Parkway until it abruptly ended. The scenic drive continued after this point but we couldn't determine exactly where it was. By that time we were ready to give up on the smoky views anyway. Besides that, we were getting hungry and that takes precedence over everything else.

Duluth houses, one with multi-decks

We had to wander around neighborhoods to get back to where we needed to be. The houses in the picture above are typical of some of the neighborhoods but certainly not all. The interesting thing about this group is the house that has three tiers of decks built on and around it. You can hardly see the house for the decks. The owner has a lot of maintenance to do to keep that wood in good shape. He's also going to have a problem painting the house when the time comes.

We had a delicious lunch at Olive Garden, got groceries at Walmart and headed home. I then took Lovie for a walk and her retractable leash broke. Not having a spare leash of any kind made it mandatory to go the nine miles back to Walmart for a new one. The trip turned out to have a silver lining because we'd been wanting cherries and found them the second time around. We didn't see them the first time because they weren't on the list. If things aren't on the list they become invisible even if we've been talking about them just minutes before. 

Jim put the boats together while I went back to Walmart, in spite of the heat which nearly did him in. It was upper 80's and he had to work in the sun. Temperatures are supposed to be much lower over the next few days but may be accompanied by rain. We'll appreciate anything cooler, rain or no rain.