7/1 Walk to Duluth Lift Bridge & Lunch at Grandma's

The first group of photos is from July 1st when I was able to see three ships come or go.  The second group were taken on July 2 when I walked the three blocks to the bridge and the shopping area.  July 1st was foggy and cool, but two lake freighters came in and one left.

You can tell when one is coming, by the way, because the bridge operator blows a very loud horn one long and two short blasts to welcome the ship to harbor.  The ship then returns the pattern as a thanks. 

The bridge is closing.

Aha!  This is the Mesabi Miner, which has come to load cement.

When they hear the horns, lots of people come out of their RVs and head for the end of the marina, where you can walk out on the break wall.  I was camped in a prime spot, very close to the end, so had a better view than most and could get out there fast.

You can tell by the sky that this was taken later on, when the fog had lifted.  Here comes another freighter.

It is the Michipicoten.  According to a couple of web sites, this one mainly hauls iron pellets, or taconite, around the Great Lakes.  It is Canadian owned. 

And just as we were all getting ready to head back, we noticed that the Federal Biscay, which had been loading wheat across the harbor was being pulled out.  She is taking wheat from the Midwest to Italy!!

The next day, the sky was blue and clear, and it was getting HOT, so I headed down the road to the bridge to walk around the shops and have some lunch.  On the way, there were several little homes on the opposite side of the road, and one woman was supervising her neighbor burn the weed seeds next to the roadway so they would not sprout.  She said he gets carried away, so when he starts using the thing that looked like a flame-thrower, she gets out and follows him so he does not burn the plants!

She and one other neighbor have taken a piece of gravel and rock-filled land across from their homes and made it into a lovely garden!  The marina is just on the other side of the pier in the distance.

Very, very pretty and keeps people from illegally parking there. They have no water source on the other side of the road, so have to spray with a hose and hope a car does not come or haul water in buckets. 

I imagine this will be even prettier later in the summer. 

I walked out onto the east pier first.  The bridge is halfway up.  It does this every half hour so the smaller boats and sailboats can pass through.  They will not lift it for every small boat, so you have to time your trips in and out.

The pier/breakwall on the other side.  Downtown Duluth is in the distance.

I know from the online sources that this is the Juno.  It is waiting to pick up grain also.

Looking down the sand spit at the beach and some homes.  There is a park at the very end, but I did not feel like driving down there, and it was much too far to walk.

The bridge is down so if I hurry I can get across before it lifts again.

The shops and restaurants just on the other side.  Grandma's in on the right.  Here is a little history:  http://zenithcity.com/archive/legendary-tales/grandma-rosa-brochi/

It has two levels and a couple of different outside dining areas, but I felt a little awkward taking too many photos inside.  Good food, by the way.