Originally published Jan. 31, 2008, on DuluthBudgeteer.com.
Believe it or not, the dead of winter is actually a great time to visit the Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center.
Think about it: A fraction of Canal Park's traditional summer tourist numbers means more access to the museum's myriad displays, educational films and assorted items related to nautical history. (Though this isn't to dissuade summer visits, as the museum's location at the foot of the Aerial Lift Bridge provides for some of the best ship watching in the Twin Ports.)
The visitor center, which opened in 1973 as the Lake Superior Marine Museum and Canal Park Visitor Center, is a free service to the community.
It is operated by the Detroit Division of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and traditionally draws between 300,000 and 400,000 visitors a year. According to an article in North Star Port magazine, it had already received more than 12 million visitors by 2002.
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Winter hours for the maritime museum are 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday. (Regular hours resume March 14.) For more information, call 727-2497 or visit www.lsmma.com .
"Discover Duluth" is an ongoing photo essay series by Matthew R. Perrine that highlights points of interest in and around the region. For more photos from this set, click on the accompanying photo gallery.
