Fool for the City

When I see my inner city child
I be walking on a cloud

'Cuz I'm a fool for the city. . . .

- D. Peverett


This is the story of the first "city" that I knew of. When I was just a wee pup, there was only one place that I had been to that could be called a city. Now, I know that most of you, thinking that I'm from Minnesota, would consider Minneapolis or St. Paul to be the city I'm writing about. Nope. I first lived on the iron range, and my first city is Duluth. She's a damned nice one, at that. This story also includes the city of Superior, WI; because, quite frankly, it's pretty difficult to separate the two.

This blog-entry also ties in with the previous two, in that it's part of my trip to the "our generation" reunion at Hoyt Lakes, MN. On Friday, after visiting Pattison State Park and then pulling into Superior, WI, I noted that I visited the Richard I. Bong WW2 Historical Center.

One very large interest that I have is in world war 2 history. I knew about the R. I. Bong Center for awhile, and told myself that sometime, when I was in the city, I'd visit. I just had to see his reconstructed airplane, Marge. On this trip, as I wrote in the previous blog-entry, it was right there on the corner where I had to make a turn. And I had the time. It's a very cool place, to me, and I had a good time when I was there.

Major Richard I. Bong was the U. S. A.'s ace of aces in WW2, with over 40 confirmed kills. He flew P-38 Lightnings in the Pacific, and received the CMH in 1944. He died while test-piloting a new jet-aircraft being developed towards the end of the war. He grew up near Superior, and that's why the Center is here. He also has a park and a major bridge named after him, here. The reconstructed P-38 is modeled after the P-38j that Maj. Bong flew in the war.

The only problem I had with the Center was a sign, just outside of the large display area, that said, "No video cameras - No flash cameras". Fine and dandy, until I realized that I couldn't figure out how to get my camera's flash to not go off. Grrrrrr. So I can't show you the stuff I saw there, just stuff outside. Sorry. I have since rectified that problem - I had my niece show me how to turn the flash off. :)

Anyways, to (kind of) make up for that, here is a link for the Center itself:
http://www.bongheritagecenter.org/
While browsing this site, I didn't see any photos of the restored "Marge", but there is at least one b/w photo of the original. I will also say here that the restoration is quite impressive, one can walk all the way around it and also view the cockpit area from the walkway above. Also on display there were about a dozen models of many different aircraft, some of the ones that Maj. Bong flew and some of the ones he shot down. They also had an original Norden bombsight (most of it, anyway - very, very cool) and an uncrated Allison engine used in the P-38.

The following photos are mine, taken where I could take them, without catching any possible hell for it. :)

This is the outside of the Center from the parking lot.
And this, well, this is something the sailor in me had to take a picture of. It's a ww2 floating mine - I had never seen one before. Kinda reminded me of an episode of Gilligan's Island. :) "LOOK OUT SKIPPER!!!!" :)

This is a photo taken from the parking lot showing Lake Superior with Duluth and the north shore in the far background. The line of dark green trees is a narrow spit called Minnesota Point.

The Richard I. Bong WW2 Heritage Center is right on U.S. 53, on your right if you're westbound, left if eastbound. It's easy to spot and even easier to get into the parking lot. Go visit. I highly recommend it. I sure had fun.

After I left the Center, I proceeded west on U.S. 53, because that went almost continuously to my destination. Little did I realize that, shortly after this, I would be facing a crisis. You see, I have this phobia of not liking steep ledges. This extends to bridges that are "too high". Basically, I know 'em when I see 'em, and the bridge over Duluth/Superior harbor that carries U.S. 53 is one. However, once I got going, there was no alternative but to continue. I fought my panic, and focused on the center of the lane, not daring to look over the edge or change lanes. I got over the bridge OK, but vowed "never again".

Also, as an aside, this phobia of mine has nothing to do with the bridge that fell down in Minneapolis. I'd been over that bridge more than once and didn't have a problem, and I've had this phobia for a lot longer than that recent (and tragic) news event. No, this is just me being me and having to deal with that.

After having had a very nice weekend at the reunion, I once again returned to Duluth on my way back home. Now, you're thinking, how am I gonna deal with the bridge problem? For me, that was easy. I'd driven through the Duluth area before, and I knew a few tricks. :)

Basically, I knew that the other major bridge, the Richard I. Bong bridge, would also be unacceptable for me to drive across. But I knew of another bridge, south of the main harbor area. That route also offered the chance for me to take the scenic route through Duluth.

I came into town, southeast-bound on U.S. 53. I missed the turnoff to Skyline Drive and had to juke around a bit in downtown Duluth. After regaining my bearings (I have nice maps in the car) I was southbound on that aforementioned Skyline Drive. As I wrote, it's definitely the scenic route. It has more than a few pullovers to stop and take a look. Here:

This is a slightly-zoomed photo of Duluth/Superior harbor. If you make it bigger, you should be able to see the aerial lift bridge near the left-center.

This photo is an unzoomed image panned just to the right of the previous photo.

And a further pan to the right. Both photos show the infamous U.S. 53 bridge.




After awhile, Skyline Drive turns from paved to gravel. This photo is a view of the local geology - which is quite interesting in it's own regard.

Just a little further on gives this view.

And the view of the bedrock directly behind the previous shot. Note the foxmobile's corner. :)

After this, Skyline Drive goes down in elevation, and, after that, I took the highway that goes over the St. Louis River at Gary, MN. It was wierd, because about 20 years ago, when I first drove that route, the bridge was a pretty unique affair of pounded spikes about 2 inches apart that I worried would tear up my tires when I crossed it. That bridge is now gone, and the highway goes over a double-deck bridge, auto traffic under rail. Cool bridge, only at tree-top level. :)

From there, I was on WS 105, which took me to WS 35 in Superior. I then retraced my earlier route to U.S. 2 and then to U.S. 53, this time going eastbound. U.S. 53 was a straight shot to I-94 near Eau Claire, which I took the rest of the way back to BRF.

I really had a good time on this reunion weekend, and I hope that I conveyed that in these 3 blogs. I know the photos can't match actually being there; but, for those who will never be able to go to see these things, I hope they'll provide a good taste of what these places are like. I hope you all enjoyed the photos and stories. Please let me know what you think!