What are you doing here?
Thursday, September 2, 2010 at 5:40PM Not you, THEM:
The boats. There are five of them. We're not talking little fishing boats, I mean BIG boats, of the cargo ship, 700-1,000 foot variety.
Boats like these:
I didn't have my telephoto lens with me, so you can't see them well. But they're there.
On the other hand, check out the clouds. They were sitting over the Lake like a blanket of fluffy roving, and you could see the sun at the corners of the blanket.
They were dredging the canal at the same time -- five boats and a dredging is a lot of activity for one morning.
Surprisingly, boat captains do not prefer to run aground while entering the port of Duluth.
Because we're Minnesota Nice, we get out there at the crack of dawn and dredge it for them.
There's a reason Duluth is the world's largest inland port. It has nothing to do with geography. It's that we're the nicest.
The Ice House is a fixture of the Duluth waterfront -- it's an abandoned structure that used to serve as a storage location for... ice. Ice cut from Lake Superior. So people could have cold drinks and keep their food fresh.
Now teenagers congregate at the top of it and jump off in the summertime.
Adults do not do this. If you are an adult and you're jumping off the ice house, it's time for a reality check, folks. You are no longer 17. The jig is up.
I can see a glimpse of the Lake from the second floor of my house -- I'm lucky to live two blocks from this beautiful body of water.
I will tell you something about the people that live here. We put up with a lot of flack about the cold, and there is definitely some cold.
But we never, never get tired of looking at the water. We never stop admiring the boats and the clouds and the ice and the waves and the breeze.
It ain't the tropics, but I wouldn't want it to be -- I sunburn too easily.
And I work with large quantities of wool.
Reader Comments (12)
It's beautiful! :)
And I love your way with words :)
I agree with Rhonnie, you are hilarious, and I wonder if the big boats are waiting out the big storm in the atlantic?
OMG, I never knew that was an ice house, not that I would have known what an ice house was w/out you telling me.... I've been up to Duluth 4 times or so and I could never figure out what the heck that building was! LOL Thank you.
So that's what the building is. I wondered when we stood there watching the teenagers jump off. The waterfront area of Duluth is wonderful. So much so that DH and I plan a return trip one of these days.
This post reminded me of when you were a tour guide on one of those big boats. And I wonder if your readers would like to read about a unique experience that happened to you while you were giving a tour on one of those big boats when you were in college? I'll bet they would want to hear about it.
beautiful! I'll have to schedule a visit to my dad one of these days (Washburn, WI).
Yes, why don't you tell them about it, mom?
I will have to dig out my photos to do the story justice. :) It might be nice to hear it from your perspective too. :)
i'm totally coming out there and jumping off that ice box house thing. boo-yah!
Every time Steve and I start talking about where we might live once he retires, the phrase, "But it's not near the water" is an automatic elimination. :-)
I know the story of Yarnista working on the boat giving tours, but i had NO idea that there were pictures to back it up! Please post the pictures Yarnista's Mama, especially of Yarnista's reaction. What a great story, Yarnista's life's stories would make a very funny movie. Maybe Yarnista's next career move?
Is it that chilly in Duluth that you must wear coats already?