Aquariums are always fun places to visit, so the Great Lakes Aquarium in Duluth was our first stop on the way to our Harvest Host stay for the night at North Ridge Winery. The highlights were watching baby alligators getting trained to come to a personal feeding marker, seeing two volunteer divers go into a big tank to hand feed the sturgeons and other fish, and observing the large tanks in the ocean’s alive exhibit area where an octopus was “playing” with a large hamster ball that had fish treats in it. These intelligent creatures do need enrichment. The alligators were being taught, i.e. rewarded with food, to come to a specific color and shape marker. This training helps them be calm and cooperative in their adulthood captivity. There were many rescued critters finding a home here with their story on the wall to explain what happened. Squirtle the turtle was found in a back yard and brought in because albino creatures have a tough time in the wild.

We ate lunch at Buffalo House just off I-35 south of Duluth. They had a wonderful wild rice burger for the vegetarian and house-made chips. We also stopped at the Kismet candy store a little further south along I-35.

We spent some time in the shade this afternoon at Fish Lake County Park knowing we needed a bit of a/c in the 90 degree heat, but had to conserve battery charge as we won’t be plugged in tonight. Shade makes all the difference in the van being comfortable. It had a really nice beach and dock for local people to enjoy. Lack of shower facilities kept me out of the water, but I found other entertainment, including taking Catnip on a walkabout.

North Ridge Winery was lovely. We enjoyed wine flights with cheese, crackers and chocolates. Called that supper! Then we walked their nine-hole disc golf course that took us back into the buggy and mushroomy woods. It was over 90 today, but cooled right off at sunset. Very nice for sleeping.

We drove back home the next day, stopping at a small park in Clear Lake to eat lunch and stretch our legs.