Duluth and the North Shore in Aug/Sept issue of National Geographic Traveler

Paul Lundgren Aug 27, 2012 10 Comments

“Road trips up the Minnesota shore of Lake Superior begin in Duluth, an industrial harbor town at the southern end of a wooded triangle called the Arrowhead and two-lane Highway 61. Also called North Shore Scenic Drive, the paved boundary between woods and waters delivers views of the ancient volcanic basalt cliffs that plunge into Lake Superior, so vast it merges with the sky on the horizon. At the turn of the 20th century, outbound ships loaded with northern Minnesota’s prized iron ore ranked Duluth among the U.S.’s busiest ports.”

Road Trip: Northern Minnesota

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10 Comments

Bret

about 12 years ago 

This is my home.

wildgoose

about 12 years ago 

Cool article. I'm gonna by the magazine today if I can find it.  

Now ... on to the inevitable PDD fact-checking mill.  I'll start.

I've heard the lift-bridge signal possibly 10,000 times or more in my life, yet I wasn't quite sure about the "deep, vibrating honks—long-short-long-short" line.  I'm pretty sure it's two longs and two shorts. Verification please?

Also, the "Ojibwa" have not been tramping along the Gunflint Trail for thousands of years.  Thousands of years ago the people who they are referring to were living along Canada's East Coast or else journeying westward on an epic quest that would bring them to ... Duluth for the Mahnoomin a.k.a. the good berry that grows on the water a.k.a. wild rice, which is indeed one of America's most nutritious native foods.  There is some debate about this, but the Anishinaabe or the Ojibwa probably arrived in the area in about the 1500s, but I'm just an armchair historian.  Again, verification, please?

And aren't there supposed to be fact-checkers in-house?  I'm a little disappointed I kind of have a "Yes Virginia, if the Sun says it's so, then it's so" attitude about National Geographic Magazine. But hey, it's great to have the exposure and Bart Sutter got a great, deserved shout-out with his spot-on analysis: Even a trip to the grocery store is a commune with the ancient and sacred in Duluth.

NateL

about 12 years ago 

One long & two shorts: Captain's salute

One long & one short: Request to raise bridge

I think?

HappyHippo

about 12 years ago 

Long-short-long short = Raise the bridge all the way.

Long-short-short = Raise the bridge halfway (like for a Vista boat.)

I am pretty sure - I used to work in an office in Canal Park with a view of the bridge.  I could be totally wrong, though!

Lithis

about 12 years ago 

The honks I hear most often are the long-short-long-short and long-short-short. The (free) Maritime Museum in Canal Park has a display that lists many different honks and gives their meanings. I believe the various big boats give both honks, so I don't think long-short-short means raise the bridge half-way. Long-short might be the signal to raise it half-way, but I'm not sure.

mevans

about 12 years ago 

I don't think the honks have anything to do with lifting the bridge as most large boats talk to the bridge operator via radio well before they reach the bridge, and the honks are typically done while the boats are in the canal.

emmadogs

about 12 years ago 

Great article, thanks for posting it.  Just sent the link to various loved ones.

The Big E

about 12 years ago 

Wildgoose is correct regarding the fact that the arrival of the Ojibwe in the western Great Lakes region is relatively recent.  The Dakota (and their ancestor/predecessors) have been here longer.  Anton Treuer puts the gradual migration from the east (either Hudson Bay or St. Lawrence valley, depending on who you believe) beginning c. 1500 years ago, with Ojibwe "well-established at Sault Ste. Marie and the surrounding area..." and gone from their eastern places of origin by the time the French showed up in the Great Lakes region in the early 17th c.  But my understanding (and Treuer seems to back this) is that it wasn't until post-European contact (with the combined pressures of disease and trade) that the Ojibwe expanded into the western Great Lakes region--see Treuer, p. 12-13.

Ryan Sharrow

about 12 years ago 

Long-short-long-short: raise the bridge
Long-short-short: captain's salute

Most small vessels only use the bridge raise request, whereas the ships typically use the salute after the bridge has raised.

wildgoose

about 12 years ago 

Thanks Big E and all for the fact checking.

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