Day 1, Lake Superior Circle Tour

We left my house at 10 this morning. Got off the freeway at the Thompson Hill Information Center to see if we could get some information on Skyline Drive since basically all I could find online was that it was difficult to follow the route. Skyline Drive follows the ridge of the hill above Duluth.  Very helpful person there gave us a map and some useful information and said they have finally got around to posting signs just two weeks ago. We would have been hopelessly lost without the signs--the road meanders all over the place! Climbed to the top of Enger Tower for a great view, did not spot any hawks at Hawk Ridge (but there were some way cool owl decoys), and ended by driving Seven Bridges Road (all bridges constructed by the WPA folks and all still beautiful) back down to London Road, then back into Duluth and our hotel.
We're staying on Canal Point right next to the lift bridge. We checked in and then started out to drive to Lake Point, a spit of land that separates Lake Superior from the harbor. When we got to the bridge, the lights were flashing and the bridge was going up. Perfect timing! Everybody just abandons their cars and goes to watch the giant ore boats passing under the bridge. We got to see two, one right after the other. Then everyone goes back to their cars and drives over the bridge.

We drove out to a park where we could access the sandy beach on Lake Superior. I had read that it is warm enough to swim there sometimes. Well, not in late September! I stuck my toes in and it was frigid. We then went back to town and strolled around for a while. Had dinner at Grandma's. After dinner, I went to walk on the bridge to see what you can see. Not much in the dark! Although the bridge is lit up.