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Grandparents Minnesota Style. Mike Link
Читать онлайн.Название Grandparents Minnesota Style
Год выпуска 0
isbn 9781591936053
Автор произведения Mike Link
Жанр Книги о Путешествиях
Серия Grandparents with Style
Издательство Ingram
The magic of the holiday season can be encapsulated by a festive display of Christmas lights. People get swept up by those simple, colorful lights; after all, that’s why we tour neighborhoods in search of the best sights, and some areas even give prizes to the fan favorites. If you love Christmas lights, head to Bentleyville in Duluth.
There you’ll see over four million lights as well as much more: campfires for staying warm, marshmallow roasting and making cocoa, festive music to sing along with, and above all, an atmosphere filled with smiles and laughs. Both young and old will enjoy the holiday magic and Bentleyville’s vibrant trails, which wind like a path through a fantasy land.
Rudolph, Santa, and even Mrs. Claus are there to greet the young kids, and the popcorn and cookies are sure to please every age! The Duluth Harbor and the magnificent Aerial Lift Bridge aren’t far away, and they both are lit up and sparkle across the water.
Bentleyville is the perfect place to capture photos that will be treasures for future holidays; memories such as these are significant when they are shared, and these visits are worth repeating year after year. If you make repeat visits a tradition, compile a photo album of each one; that way you can capture both the growth of the grandchildren and the changing displays.
Bentleyville is open from Thanksgiving week through Christmas. The site also hosts a fireworks display on the day after Christmas (the last day it is open). This adds even more color and excitement to a visit.
Bonding and bridging:
Bentleyville began as a holiday display at a private home in the town of Esko. In 2001 Nathan Bentley created a lights display that led people to drive by his house. Not content to just switch up the display, he changed it to a walk-through event in 2003.
In 2004 the family moved to Duluth and he added fires and cookies and soon had 35,000 and then 72,000 people came to see the family display. But that created its own problems: parking, traffic, and so on. Thankfully, Mayor Don Ness stepped in and the celebration became a community event at its new home. The lesson is clear: if we share happiness with others we can truly change our little corner of the world.
A word to the wise:
On Friday and Saturday evenings you can ride the Christmas City Express Train from Fitger’s to Bentleyville. Draped in Christmas lights and full of holiday fun, catching a ride on the Christmas train makes a visit to Bentleyville even more magical.
Age of grandchild: All
Best season: Winter
Contact: Duluth Bayfront Park, Bentleyville Office, 4313 Haines Road, Duluth, MN 55811 • www.bentleyvilleusa.org • Bentleyville Train ride: www.northshorescenicrailroad.org/exspecial-christmascityexpress.html
Also check out:
St. Olaf Christmas Festival, Northfield; (507) 786-3811; www.wp.stolaf.edu/christmasfest
Enchanted Village, Paul Bunyan Land, Brainerd; (218) 764-2524 or (877) 412-4162; www.paulbunyanland.com
Kwanzaa Family Day, Minnesota History Center, St Paul; (651) 259-3000; www.mnhs.org/event/503
Ice Candle and Holiday Gathering, Embarrass; www.embarrass.org/ice-candle--holiday-gathering.html
A child needs a grandparent, anybody’s grandparent, to grow a little more securely into an unfamiliar world. CHARLES AND ANN MORSE
Harbor Fleet
Duluth is almost in the middle of the North American continent, and it is an ocean port! It is on the largest freshwater lake in the world and has saltwater vessels in its harbor. If that is not unique and worthy of a visit with your grandchild, what is?
At the Duluth harbor, visitors have an opportunity that is usually restricted to ocean communities. The port not only welcomes the ships coming for ore, grain and cement, it also makes three of the most interesting vessels available for you to tour. The Great Lakes Floating Maritime Museum is one of the most unusual museums you will ever see. It consists of real boats—an ore boat, a Coast Guard cutter and a tugboat—still floating in the water.
After watching all of those big freighters come into the canal and pass under the lift bridge, don’t you wonder what it must be like inside one? The William A. Irvin is there to help you and your grandchild answer this question. After forty years of duty on the Great Lakes, it is now tied to shore. This huge ship is still floating and ready to go to work if needed, but for now it is yours to explore. Show your grandchild where the ore was kept, lead her through the crew quarters, take a peek at the 2,000-horsepower engine, and impress her with the gargantuan size of the boat.
Right behind the Irvin is my personal favorite: the tugboat. This World War II vessel has quite a history. It towed ammunition across the English Channel, was sunk near the end of the war, and was raised and recommissioned to work in the St. Lawrence seaway. Finally, it moved into retirement in Duluth.
The third boat is the Sundew, a large Coast Guard cutter that took care of buoys and broke up the ice in harbors in Lake Michigan. It was built in 1944 and is afloat with stories. The Coast Guard has been a real safeguard for mariners. Their vessels and the men and women who work them have participated in countless rescues across the oceans and the Great Lakes. Their stories of heroism are an important part of the tour.
Bonding and bridging:
The boats exhibited in the harbor fleet are built in very different ways and for very different jobs. Each has a specific purpose. We move vast loads of iron ore in the big laker, we move barges and boats with the tough but maneuverable tugboat, and the cutter is our lifesaver—a boat of heroism and quiet reliability.
As grandparents, we can help our grandchildren understand that they too have a purpose. They may not be good at everything they try, and that’s okay. We must guide them toward finding the skills they possess, so they can discover their talents and realize their purpose in life.
A word to the wise:
Your fleet tour should include a visit to the Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center in Canal Park. You can combine the maritime museum with a walk along the canal to see the lift bridge and to watch the ships come in. The lift bridge going up and the freighter passing beneath is a magnificent sight that can be found nowhere else in Minnesota.
Age of grandchild: 7 and up
Best season: Summer
Contact: William A. Irvin, 350 Harbor Drive, Duluth, MN 55802 • (218) 722-7876 (during season), (218) 623-1236 (off season) • www.decc.org/william-a-irvin
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