Bemidji? You Bet Cha

The drive from Ashland, WI to Bemidji, MN was only about 4 hours and pretty uneventful.  The scenery was more Northwoods trees, bogs, and lakes.  We did see the headwaters of the Mississippi River where it begins as just a trickle!  We had left Ashland around 8:00am and made it to Duluth, MN at 10:15 or so. We decided to take a bit of a side trip to check out the famous Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge.  What a nice, clean, easy to navigate city.  I think the population is less than 100,000 so getting around was easy.  We would like to come back some day and spend some more time there.

Welcome to Minnesota

 We found a good parking spot just across the water from the bridge and got even luckier when at 10:30 the warning bells went off and the bridge started to rise.  All that sailed under the bridge were a couple of large tour boats and some pleasure craft.  I checked the schedule and the next freighter through would be at 2:30.  We didn't have time to wait but we drove around town and made our way across the lift bridge.  Then it was back to Rt 2 and westward toward Bemidji.

  

The bridge is down

The bridge is going up!

  

We drove across the bridge...while it was down!

We arrived in Bemidji a bit before 2:00.  Met Al on a downtown street, checked out Colleen's new apartment, and walked to lunch at a BBQ place called Foozies.

  

Welcome to Bemidji

Alfred Bernardo looking like a guy from Valley City, ND....which he is!

  

Population 16,000 but they have a brewery

After lunch we walked around Bemidji...which took about 30 minutes...checking out a couple of stores and some sights including the iconic Paul Bunyon and Babe The Blue Ox statues as featured in the movie, Fargo.

  

Shaynowishkung, in Ojibwe “He who rattles,” was the first to settle on Lake Bemijigamaag, the Ojibwe name for Lake Bemidji.

Not sure what this has to do with anything but it was in front of a bank and we are Peanuts fans.

This is happening here now.  The college fishing championship held on Minnesota’s famed Lake Bemidji, and connected fisheries in Bemidji, Minn. The event is hosted by Bemidji State University (BSU) and Visit Bemidji.  ESPN is here to cover the event.

After all of that we checked into our hotel, the Hampton Inn, right on Lake Bemidji.  

  

A very pretty view from room #238

We rested up a bit and then met Al for a snack...lunch was late and big so we didn't need a big dinner. We met at a place right next to the hotel and were able to sit outside and enjoy the view.  By the time the sun went down we were ready to call it a night.  

We met up at the Green Mill

Colleen was to fly into the Bemidji airport around 11:00 so Al had to wait up for her. We will catch up with her in the morning!