Seven Bridges

Seven Bridges

What a beautiful colorful weekend we had, the leaves are turning, we have bright yellows, reds and oranges. I want to take a drive up the North Shore, 50 – 60 miles and stop at some spots along the way, Gooseberry Falls, Split Rock Lighthouse, etc. Sharon and I are planning to do so next Sunday, but I’m afraid if we get any more rainy days the leaves will fall faster than they already are. I hope the North Shore will still be pretty with the leaves next weekend yet. I’ll bet that this weekend was the peak.

I’ve also wanted to take a drive along the Skyline Drive Parkway, which is high above the hill overlooking the lake. Since I couldn’t interest anyone in joining me, I took the drive by myself today - some more solitude. I have not been by Hawk Ridge on the Skyline all summer or last fall. It has become more popular each year, and this afternoon, there were cars parked all along that part of the skyline and everyone looking for the hawks that fly over on their way migrating south. They now have signs there with information about the eagles, and birds and I couldn’t believe it, but there was a vendor wagon set up to sell hotdogs and snacks… oh my, talk about making a tourist trap. I was sad to see that! Anyhow, traveling east past the hawk ridge area, the road after a while turns and heads down toward the lake, following Amity Creek. There are 7 beautiful stone one lane bridges along the road. The road is called “The Seven Bridges” Road. When you turn off of Skyline Parkway to the Seven Bridges Road, there is a sign that tells that the road is not maintained between Dec. 1 and May 1. The bridges have been maintained and reconstructed to their former beauty over a period of years. It looked to me like they are all in good shape now. It’s such a pretty drive, that when I came to bottom to Superior Street, I turned around and went up the road again. That time I stopped at a few of the pull off areas by the bridges. At one of them, I took a walk down to the water, and sat on some rocks and watched the Amity Waterfall.

After that I took another road off that road that was called Maxwell Road, just to see where it went. Then when I found where it went, turned around and came down the bridge road again. From there I made a stop to the lovely Lester Park, a city park by the river at Superior Street. From there I went to Brighton Beach by the lake, where I went a few Sunday’s ago. Today there was a brisk wind blowing, like the last time I was there a but the temperature was in the 60’s instead of 50’s, it was very pleasant. The waves were white again, breaking against the rocks. The water was a beautiful blue and there was a boat going out in the distance. The leaves down by the water, didn’t seem as colorful, maybe they haven’t turned as much yet. I was gone from 2 pm until 5:30 pm. What a great way to spend an afternoon. My only regret was that I didn’t have anyone to share it with me. I have good memories, though, of taking that drive every fall and having Bob’s Auntie Mae go with the kids and I. Auntie Mae always appreciated seeing the scenery. Since she didn’t drive, it was something she loved me to do for her. The kids used to like to go too. It’s always more fun if you can share, but oh well, I’m glad I went today, even if I was by myself. It made my weekend!

Here is the web site address that tells the history of the road, the bridges and how it came to be, it has beautiful photos of the bridges.

http://www.amitycreek.com/sevenbridges/page1.html

By the way, Happy Anniversary to our daughter and our son in law Bob. They were married Sept. 30, 11 years ago, they chose this weekend so that their guests from the Twin Cities could come to Duluth for the weekend and see the fall colors. The day of their wedding, it poured rain all day, they couldn't do their photos at the Rose Garden, as planned. The sun did come out just before the wedding, so they got a photo on the church steps of the wedding party, then it rained more. During the prayer time in the ceremony, there was a huge thunder clap. Everyone started to laugh, and the minister said that was The Lord approving of their marriage! It sure did lighten up the ceremony!