Tourists travel far and wide to see Tall Ships up close in Duluth
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Tourists travel far and wide to see Tall Ships up close in Duluth
Hundreds of tourists travel to Duluth for the Festival of Sail. Tall Ships have not visited the Twin Ports since 2019. The Tall Ships are up and close in Duluth’s harbor. The festival runs all weekend in Harbor Plaza near the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center. The high dive challenge takes place on the Minnesota Slip Bridge and Aerial Lift Bridge on Friday and Saturday. The Parade of Sail kicks off the festival on Friday at 11 a.m. and runs through Sunday at 11 p.m., with tickets available for $10.00. For more information, visit the festival of Sail website or go to: http://www.duluthfest.org/festival-of-sail/tall-ships-and-high-dive-challenge.
Jeff Anderson, one of the many tourists to travel to Duluth is from Hudson, Wisconsin. He is one of many newcomers to the Festival of Sail.
“This is the first time I came to this festival. I think it’s pretty doggone nice with all the sailboats and coast guard. Now they’re going to be doing the high dive,” Anderson said. “My problem is we bought tickets for the Minnesota Twins. So we have to leave tonight to go to the game tomorrow. But otherwise we would have never bought tickets knowing how nice this was.”
Another first time visitor for the festival is Cassandra Hermann, she’s visiting from the Twin Cities. She and her family decided to take check out the Tall Ships during a camping trip.
“I had no idea it hasn’t been here for six years. We brought the kids camping to go see them. This is my first time at Tall Ships. It’s got a great vibe,” Hermann said. “We saw the Big Rubber Duck, it’s the first thing the boys said, ‘Big Duck, Big Duc!’ The ships are awesome, we haven’t walked by yet but we might get tickets and go.”
But it’s not just tourists who travel to the Festival of Sail. There are even Duluthians who haven’t seen the Tall Ships. Allison Larson and Gregory Anderson were out on their scooters in Canal Park before checking out the sea vessels.
“I think it’s pretty cool. I’ve never seen them up close before, so it’s kind of a neat experience to look at these ships,” Larson said. “Yeah and I saw them as a kid. So seeing them now it’s kind of interesting. You see the Lift Bridge and everything. It’s just kind of a really cool aesthetic and having them here,” Anderson said. “We’re kind of just passing through, but definitely come on down and check it out. Grab some food, mini donuts. We got a beach down past the lift bridge so go take a dip in the water, but it might be a little cold.”
Even with the hot and humid temperatures, hundreds of tourists travel for this one of a kind summer event. Blake Woodward, was selling Baja Smoothies for thirsty visitors. He says it was his first summer serving people cool drinks while looking at these unique ships.
“Oh yeah it’s amazing that people are out there sailing on the lakes with these. They’re all made out of wood and not steel,” Woodward said. “The smoothies are very refreshing and they definitely cool you down on a hot day. Strawberry banana is probably the most popular but the piña colada is really good too.”
Events are planned all weekend in Harbor Plaza near the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center.
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