If you have a mental image of Duluth, Minn., most likely it's of a remote and frigid spot on the nation's winter weather map, a place you wouldn't want to visit even if someone paid your way.
But Duluth in summer is a great delight -- a cool and sunny place of beauty and many surprises. And it's the gateway to the lakes and woods of northern Minnesota and the splendid North Shore of Lake Superior.
Duluth was founded as a railroad town in the mid-1800s. It became a bustling port and industrial center, especially after the discovery of iron ore on the Mesabi Range (about 50 miles north of Duluth) in the late 1800s. At one time, Duluth, "the Zenith City of the Unsalted Sea," boasted more millionaires per capita than any city in America, and the turreted brownstones they left behind are among the finest examples of turn-of-the-last- century architecture in the upper Midwest.
By the late 1970s, however, hard times in the steel industry -- the chief user of Minnesota iron ore -- caused a near-depression in Duluth and the Iron Range. U.S. Steel, the city's major industrial employer, closed its steel mill. Layoffs were numerous, with unemployment climbing past 15 percent. Thousands of people left.
It was a grim time; to many, it appeared Duluth's luck had run out.
Then something wonderful happened. Duluth's leaders decided to bet their city's future on its one superb, priceless asset: Lake Superior, the largest of the Great Lakes and one of the largest bodies of fresh water on Earth.
Down came shabby old buildings and other urban blight. In went the Lakewalk: miles of boardwalk and paved bicycling and walking paths winding gently along Lake Superior, with fountains, gardens and one of the best collections of public sculpture to be found in any small city in America. Downtown streets were paved with brick, old-fashioned light fixtures were installed, and skywalks were built to connect stores, businesses and government offices. And many old buildings, such as a long-abandoned brewery, were brought back to life as places to eat and shop and sleep. It was a huge undertaking, and an expensive one, costing tens of millions of federal, state and local dollars.
The effort transformed Duluth, and made it one of the most popular travel destinations in the upper Midwest, luring more than 3.5 million people a year.
On the lakefront
Duluth is more than its lake, of course, but the lake -- the one the Chippewa called Kitchi Gammi, or "great water" -- is the biggest draw. The Lakewalk connects many of the lakefront's most popular attractions, such as:
* The symbol of Duluth, the Aerial Lift Bridge, spanning the Duluth Ship Channel and connecting the city with Minnesota Point. At regular intervals, and with considerable noise, the Lift Bridge rises to admit boat traffic to the port's busy Ship Channel.
* The Army Corps of Engineers' Canal Park Visitor Center and Marine Museum, with exhibits about the history of the Great Lakes shipping, and good places to watch ore carriers and other bulk freighters go through the Ship Channel.
* Fitger's, the former brewery, now home to a luxury hotel, attractive specialty shops and restaurants, and the delightful Fitger's Brewhouse, which offers tasty, inventive sandwiches and several beers brewed on the premises (try the Boundary Waters blueberry beer or the Big Boat Oatmeal Stout).
* Leif Erikson Park and Viking Ship, which honor the state's Norwegian heritage.
Along the lakefront there are horse-drawn carriage tours, bicycles for rent and many hotels -- with a full range of prices -- with outside dining areas.
Nearby Canal Park Drive has the DeWitt-Seitz Marketplace, another restoration with shops selling tasteful Minnesota souvenirs and original works of art by Duluth-area and Native American artists. It also has the Lake Avenue Cafe, one of the best restaurants in town. Old Town Antiques Mall is a good place to find old books on Minnesota and bric-a-brac, even a stray pope portrait.
The hulking, brick-red William A. Irvin, all 610 feet of it, was the flagship of U.S. Steel's Great Lakes fleet for four decades, until 1978. Saved from the scrap heap, it now sits near the lakefront as a floating museum.
Near the Irvin and "the DECC" -- that's local-speak for the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center -- be sure to sign up for the Vista Fleet's sightseeing cruise. The tour takes an hour and 45 minutes, stopping at midpoint to pick up or discharge passengers at Superior, Wis., across the St. Louis River from Duluth. (Duluth and Superior are the Twin Ports in the same sense that Minneapolis and St. Paul are the Twin Cities.)
The boat's captain gives a detailed and often humorous narration of the activity in the port of Duluth, one of America's busiest inland ports. Better still, the captain makes sure you get a close look at one of the monstrous bulk freighters -- 600 to 800 feet long, designed to carry up to 30,000 tons of coal, grain or taconite iron ore -- or the even more monstrous "self-unloader," 1,000 feet long, built to carry 70,000 tons. Besides the narrated cruises, there are various dinner, entertainment and special-occasion cruises. A word of advice: No matter what the weather onshore, or time of day, be sure to take a sweater or a coat. It gets cold on the water.
Downtown and nearby
Away from the lakefront, downtown Duluth's leading cultural attraction is the St. Louis County Heritage and Arts Center, known to the locals as the Depot. Built in 1892, it was a train station for almost 80 years, bringing in thousands of Italian and Eastern European immigrants to work the Iron Range. Today the quaint structure, which resembles a small French chateau, houses the Duluth Art Institute, the Duluth Playhouse, a children's museum and the Lake Superior Railroad Museum, which claims "one of the Midwest's largest and most varied collections of historic railroad equipment." Also downtown is Fond-du-Luth, one of Minnesota's many Native American-run casinos.
For scenic drives, take East Superior Street to London Road and see some of the fine old houses. The grandest is Glensheen, built by iron-mining and lumber tycoon Chester Congdon more than 90 years ago, residential Duluth's most visible monument to the Gilded Age. Now open to the public, the mansion's 39 rooms hold antiques, artwork and other treasures -- and the story behind a double murder that took place there in 1977. One of the victims was Congdon's elderly daughter; the other was her nurse.
Head "up the hill," taking care to notice the old Central High School building, a marvelous, century-old Romanesque Revival structure with a clock tower, arches, turrets, dormers and elaborate stone carvings. (It is really something.)
As you make your way on one of the many steep streets that climb the long Duluth "hillside," imagine how treacherous the streets must be in iciest wintertime. (Motorists heading uphill have right of way in winter, no matter what color the traffic lights are.)
Skyline Parkway runs atop the hill, roughly parallel to Lake Superior, and takes you to a Duluth landmark, the Enger Tower, for a panoramic view of the city and the lake. In winter, the parkway is closed to all but cross-country skiers and other lovers of snow.
Also up the hill are the Tweed Museum of Art, on the campus of the University of Minnesota- Duluth, featuring works by regional artists and a wonderful, kitschy collection of Canadian Mounties art, courtesy of Potlatch Corp., and the College of St. Scholastica, worth seeing for its impressive castle-like architecture. On your way back downtown, take Central Entrance, the main commercial drag up and down the hill, for another panoramic view of the lake. (You may have the sensation that you are sure to drive straight into the lake, though it must be more than a mile away.)
For another view of Duluth, try the North Shore Scenic Railroad's tour of the city and the North Shore or the Lake Superior & Mississippi Railroad's 90-minute scenic excursions along the St. Louis River. Trains for the latter tours board opposite another of Duluth's many family-oriented attractions, the Lake Superior Zoological Gardens. The zoo, which marked its diamond anniversary in 1998, features more than 500 species of animals, including Siberian tigers and, of course, Arctic polar bears.
Outside Duluth, energetic drivers can make a day trip of the Iron Range, with visits to overlooks, or viewing areas, of taconite mining operations, the Hockey Hall of Fame in Eveleth and the Greyhound Bus museum in Hibbing. Hibbing is where Bob Dylan grew up, though Duluthians will be quick to remind you that Dylan, ne Robert Zimmerman, was born in Duluth.
The North Shore of Lake Superior is more like a weekend trip, or even a week's, with the historic Split Rock Lighthouse; Gooseberry Falls State Park; and Grand Marais, a haven for artists and adventurers, all must-sees.
WHEN YOU GO ...
* For information about the Duluth area, start with the Duluth Convention and Visitors Bureau by calling 800-4DULUTH (800-438-5884) or visiting its Web site (www. visitduluth.com).
* The Depot, visitor hot line for exhibits, hours and admission fees, 888-733-5833
* Canal Park Visitor Center and Marine Museum, 218-727-2497
* William A. Irvin, a Great Lakes Ship, 218-722-7876
* Lake Superior & Mississippi Railroad, 218-624-7549
* North Shore Scenic Railroad, 800-423-1273
* Glensheen -- 888-454-4536
* For information about other Minnesota attractions, call the Minnesota Office of Tourism, 800-657-3700, or visit its Web site at www.exploreminnesota.com.