Vacation, part 3

We toured the S.S. William Irvin, an iron ore ship that was built in 1938.  

This ship is 610 feet long and 60 feet wide.  It was retired in 1978 because it was too small!  When it was in use it had 9 officers and 32 crew members.  That is about twice the size of a ship's crew nowadays.  

It has 18 hatches; each hatch cover weighs five and a half tons!  

Those rings are to a chain for the anchor - they are huge! 

It was one of the first ships to have a coal conveying system - carried coal from the bunker to the firebox.  It burned 2,400 pounds of coal per hour.  

The stairs were steep and narrow, hard for two and five year old little legs.  

This was a survival suit - it floated in the water and was insulated to keep from suffering from hypothermia.  

Very simple living conditions.

The formal dining room for the Captain and guests.  The crew ate in a school lunch room type setting.  

Steering the boat.

It is not a requirement to be able to see over the wheel to steer.  :)

We watched as ships came into port.  The weather was gorgeous and it was a beautiful day just to sit and watch.

Majestic.

We checked out the Duluth Children's Museum, too.

Everyone was pooped!

We hit the road to drive the north shore of Lake Superior.

We stayed at a log cabin hotel.

This was the view from our room.

Calm, quiet and serene.

Sunset on Lake Superior.

A perfectly peaceful evening -- we dined on the deck and enjoyed the scenery.