Around the Circle This Week: July 28, 2017

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Paddlers take on big water

It’s been a busy summer for paddlers with grand ambitions on the Great Lakes.

Sam Cook writes for the Duluth News Tribune about a kayaker who recently crossed Lake Superior:

Mike Stout of Prior Lake, Minn., made the trip in two legs. He paddled from the Pigeon River near Grand Portage to Isle Royale, camped a night there, then paddled on across to the Keweenaw Peninsula near Houghton, Mich. Stout, 56, paddled alone with no boat accompanying him.

It was 70 miles across open water, always an uncertain proposition, but he was challenged more by currents than the weather, he says in the article.

Meanwhile, Traci Lynn Martin is currently approaching the Apostle Islands on her year-long paddle adventure. She hopes to set the record for the longest expedition on a surf ski (similar to a kayak). She started in southern Lake Huron, following the western shore up to Lake Michigan. After circumnavigating that Great Lake, she paddled up the St. Marys River to Lake Superior. She has logged 1,725 miles so far and plans to do the top of Lake Superior in August.

The Ironwood Daily Globe’s Richard Jenkins interviewed her when she stopped at Little Girl’s Point in Michigan.

Not far behind is the kayaking duo of Peggy Gabrielson and Joe Zellner. Under the moniker 2 Paddling 5, they’re circumnavigating all five Great Lakes this year, also starting in southern Lake Huron. They had to take a brief hiatus last month after their support trailer was totaled, but Peggy and Joe, from Grand Marais, Minnesota, were paddling into Munising, Michigan, on Lake Superior on Friday afternoon.

They are paddling for the adventure and also to raise money for pediatric brain cancer research in honor of Callie Rohr, who died of the cancer five days before her 10th birthday.

Cruise ship coming to Thunder Bay, other Lake Superior ports

CBC Thunder Bay reports that the new Victory II cruise ship will visit the Big Lake next year:

After a several-year absence, Thunder Bay, Ont.'s Pool 6 dock will once again host a cruise ship next summer.

The newly-commissioned Victory II, which is owned by Victory Cruise Lines, will visit Thunder Bay in late July, 2018, said Paul Pepe, the city's tourism manager.

Seatrade Cruise News has additional details:

Lake Superior cruises will visit Marquette and Houghton, Michigan; Duluth, Minnesota; and Thunder Bay, Ontario, gateway to Canada's heartland. These itineraries also feature Milwaukee, Green Bay and Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin; and Muskegon, Michigan.

+ From the Sault Star: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, has 26 cruise-ship visits scheduled this year, the most ever for the city. Last year saw 20 visits.

Washouts on the Trans-Canada Highway

Heavy rains last weekend caused two washouts near Alona Bay on the eastern Ontario shore, temporarily closing the highway. Brenda Grundt of Wawa News has photos.

The highway is now open, but expect delays when workers are present.

Celebrity sighting: Actor Kyle MacLachlan, of “Twin Peaks” and “Dune” fame, was in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, this week. He stopped at Stackburger for a bite, reports Sault Online’s Craig Huckerby.

Thunder Bay and Duluth fight the emerald ash borer: Thunder Bay is treating its ash trees to stave off the invasive bug, first detected there last summer. Michael Charlebois of TBNewsWatch has details. Duluth is trying a new tactic: stingless wasps that prey on the emerald ash borer, says Baihly Warfield of WDIO-TV.

NYT does the U.P. in 36: For the paper’s “36 Hours” travel feature, a Times reporter explored the U.P. shore from Tahquamenon Falls to Marquette.

A note for Duluthians and visitors: Three downtown avenues (First, Second and Third Avenues West) have been converted to two-way traffic, which should make navigating downtown easier. The east-west streets remain one-way.

Emily’s reopens on the Minnesota shore: Formerly called the Lighthouse at Emily’s, Emily’s Eatery on Knife River is back with new managers and a slightly tweaked menu, reports WDIO-TV.

Fine wines: Since 1999, Bellisio’s Italian Restaurant in Duluth has been recognized by Wine Spectator for its Italian and California wine selections, this year once again earning the Best of Award of Excellence, the second of three tiers of recognition. For the first year, the Salle à Manger at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island also earned that second-tier level for its Calfornia, Bordeaux, Italian and Michigan state offerings. Caribou Restaurant and Wine Bar in Thunder Bay and the Lutsen Resort Dining Room both received Award of Excellence honors, the first tier of the Wine Spectator rankings. Caribou has made that list since 2002 for its Italian, Californian and French wine offerings and Lutsen has been listed since 2008 mainly for its fine selection of California wines.

Ila Borders, trailblazing former Dukes pitcher, returns to Duluth: “The first time Ila Borders, then a member of the St. Paul Saints, pitched at Wade Stadium, she came on in relief and extinguished a one-out, bases-loaded fire by inducing a double play. Borders, the first woman to pitch in a men's professional game, returned to Wade on Wednesday,” writes Louie St. George for the Duluth News Tribune. Borders, now a firefighter/paramedic in Portland, Oregon, was lowered into the stadium on a fire-truck ladder.