I returned from a trip to Manitoulin Island to a busy week in Duluth. I visited the Ojibwe Cultural Foundation, where I learned about traditional and contemporary first nations art.

Much of the historic or traditional arts is sacred, not for photography or display, so contemporary revisions are put on display, like this contemporary:

There was also an exhibit about the residential school system, an important exhibit at the time of reconciliation in Canada. I wonder whether we will begin a process like that in the United States.

I slept in the Waves & Woods bed and breakfast (where the eggs and the honey were crafted on site) in Little Current, where I went to sleep watching a sunset on Lake Huron. (Manitoulin is the largest island on a freshwater lake in the world.)

From there, a marathon drive through Sault Ste Marie, across the upper peninsula, stopping at Bookworld in Marquette (where I saw Lucie A.’s Locally Laid proudly displayed in the new nonfiction area). A crash through Ashland in Wisconsin swung me past former Duluthian Joe Croteau’s game shop, Ashland Fun and Games.

I arrived in Duluth in time to watch a friend play volleyball at Skyline and to clean my apartment before family arrived for Tall Ships.

At times, the lines were up to seven hours, they told us — even with the fast pass, more than an hour.

This frustrated some of my family.  Not me, though, my highlight had no lines — for me, the highlight was the duck.

Thursday night, we went to Azteca, which is (I think) under new ownership. I need everyone in Duluth to eat there, not even to eat there, just go in and order a Horchata. There are so few places in Duluth to order Horchata. I love this cinnamon rice drink treat.

Friday, I also visited the art in Bayfront, where I bought beadwork from visiting Ecuadorian crafters. And I ate at Duluth Grill, because every out of town visitor wants to eat there. I don’t much appreciate their ketchup-alternative, but it’s an event for visitors.

I visited Kathy McTavish at the Duluth Quantum Computing Project — there is still time to attend and learn from the master. And I visited my friend at the Caribou in Canal Park —  Tall Ships is a boon to the Canal. At points, he was making a drink every five seconds.

That’s what the last few weeks have felt like — rushing around, summer is almost over. Festivals are coming hard and fast because so is Fall.