National attention

Grand Marais’ Dockside Fish Market was featured in the Travel section of Sunday’s New York Times as one of four restaurants in the U.S. “that celebrate their stamping grounds in ways that go beyond ingredients.”

The article, headlined “A Sense of Place, on the Plate,” noted the business’ ties to Grand Marais’ long — but mostly long-vanished — fishing heritage. Owners Harley and Shele Toftey operate one of the few remaining commercial fishing operations on the North Shore.

“It’s a dying thing,” Shele Toftey told the Times. “It’s a great livelihood, but it’s a hard livelihood.”

The article mentions, among other items, Dockside’s fried herring fillets and fried whitefish. It makes special mention of its herring roe, called Superior Gold Caviar, “that burst with a mild, briny tang.”

We’re No. 1! In this hemisphere!

Q. Where is the second-best adventure travel hub in the world?

A. Duluth, according to Outside magazine’s April Outside Travel Awards issue.

The magazine credits the trails, Spirit Mountain, Lake Superior, and its proximity to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. It calls the city a “magnet for aerobic fiends who train year-round” and recommends taking a room at Fitger’s Inn.

Outside’s Best Adventure Hub in the whole world, by the way, is Kununurra, Australia. But no one beats us in the Northern Hemisphere.

Passport Day in the USA — not

“I hopped off the plane at LAX with a dream and my cardigan.” Oh, wait. That’s Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the USA.” This is something totally different.

Saturday was supposed to be Passport Day in the USA, but it has fallen victim to government sequestration. The day was going to be reserved for those who needed to renew a passport or get one for the first time with no appointments for routine or expedited service.

Passport-related info is available online or by calling (877) 487-2778.

Eh? just hopes Christmas doesn’t get cut next.

Does the DTA travel to San Diego?

The DTA won’t travel round-trip to San Diego. (2011 file / News Tribune)

Currently staying in San Diego, Duluthians Rick and Sheila Olson plan to head back north this month for the birth of their grandson.

Rick likes to keep up with what’s going on in Duluth by visiting duluthnewstribune.com. (Thanks, Rick!) One day while getting his news fix, Rick saw an ad for the Duluth Transit Authority that suggested her type in his address and desired destination. This is what he got after typing his San Diego address as the pickup spot, a Duluth address as his destination and the desired date and time:

“Sorry, we don’t have transit schedule data for a trip from San Diego to Duluth at the time and date you specified,” the automated response from the DTA said.

So, Rick wanted Eh? to find out when the next DTA bus will be on its way to his place in San Diego so he and the missus are ready. (Plus he expects that senior-citizen discount.)

“The DTA didn’t say they didn’t have a bus going to San Diego,” Rick said. “They just said they didn’t have one on the date and time I requested.”

Sorry, Rick. Something tells us you’ll be waiting a while.

Hawaii motorists safest from deer

Motorists in West Virginia have the highest likelihood of slamming into a deer of drivers in any of the 50 states, according to State Farm Insurance Co.

State Farm reported Tuesday that, according to an analysis of its claims, West Virginia drivers have a 1-in-40 chance of hitting a deer within the next year. It’s the sixth straight year West Virginia has topped the list.

Pick your poison, Hawaii. Residents there are the least likely to hit a deer, about 1 in 6,801, or about the same as being hit by lightning.

Minnesota drivers have the eighth-highest likelihood of striking a deer on the road, about 1 in 79.7 (down from sixth place last year). Wisconsin is just ahead, in seventh place, at 1 in 78.7.

South Dakota moved from third to second on the list at 1 in 68; Iowa (1 in 71.9) drops from second to third; and Michigan (1 in 72.4) is a close fourth, jumping one position from fifth. Pennsylvania (1 in 76) drops one spot to fifth.

And in a poll released by deer, deer on roads still are more likely to be hit by a motor vehicle than deer that are not on roads.

Passport answers in Duluth

In an effort to explain the current passport system, the U.S. Department of State is setting up a one-time, one-stop shop for all things passports Friday in Duluth. Representatives from the department’s Minneapolis Passport Agency will be at the main post office at 2800 W. Michigan St. in Lincoln Park from 9 a.m. to noon.

Representatives from the office will accept passport book and card renewals and other changes. Usually that work needs to be done through filling out forms and sending them by mail to the Minneapolis office.

Friday will be an opportunity to hear detailed information about passports, spokeswoman Suzi Iverson-Rivers said, especially since the rule changes on the border with Canada that require them. The passport card was introduced in 2008 to help border residents with frequent land and sea travel between the U.S. and Canada. The card also works on entry to Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda.

The 10-year cards cost less: $55 compared to $135 for a book. The department also offers a passport and card combination for $165. A book still is required for all air travel and all other travel outside of North America.

The Department of State issued 12.6 million passports in 2011. Use of the cards has gone up greatly in the four years they have been sold, 1.1 million in 2011 compared to 189,560 in 2008.

Because of the demand in Minnesota, the department opened the office in Minneapolis in 2009. There were 259,164 books or cards sold in the state last year.

Minnesota fall colors help

Becky Pratts, of Duluth, spends time over her lunch hour to photograph colorful fall leaves along Skyline Parkway at Chester Bowl “before they’re gone.” (2007 file / News Tribune)

We are full-on into leaf-peeping season and, while it is definitely not an armchair exercise, there are some things you can do at home to make the most of any trips into the woods.

Resources are abundant online with reports on how much color can be found in a favorite destination like the North Shore.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and managers at the numerous state parks along the North Shore are your best bets for timely updates on leaf color. They also have photos from park visitors. Find the reports at dnr.state.mn.us.

The U.S. Forest Service also is tracking the colors in its vast lands in the northern part of the Arrowhead region.

Another source for information is Explore Minnesota, with the added benefit of area events to pair with your peeping.

 

Northern Minnesota gets nod from National Geographic Traveler

Northern Minnesota was highlighted in the August/September 2012 issue of National Geographic Traveler. (Screenshot)

Duluth, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and plenty of places in between were highlighted for the world to read about in a recent issue of National Geographic Traveler.

A review entitled “Road Trip: Northern Minnesota,” written by St. Paul-based writer Berit Thorkelson, in the August/September 2012 issue mentions Canal Park, the North Shore Scenic Drive, Gooseberry Falls State Park, Split Rock Lighthouse, the Gunflint Trail and other spots familiar to Northlanders.

Take a look at the article and then make the drive up Highway 61 to see for yourself.

Room left on Honor Flight Northland trip

The Honor Flight Northland group gathers at the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., in this 2011 file photo. (2011 file, Steve Kuchera / News Tribune)

Honor Flight Northland has a few seats available for World War II veterans on its next two flights to Washington, D.C.

The flights are Sept. 25 and Oct. 9. Veterans can apply for a spot on the flights by calling (218) 409-6110, e-mailing honorflightnorthland@hotmail.com or by going to honorflightnorthland.org and clicking on the “Applications” tab.

Honor Flight is a national network taking veterans to see the World War II Memorial and other memorials in Washington at no cost to the veterans. Honor Flight Northland serves veterans from Northeastern Minnesota and Northwestern Wisconsin.

You shall not pass — I-35 in Duluth

Motorists will encounter closed lanes and ramps on Interstate 35 in Duluth on Tuesday and Wednesday as crews smooth the pavement by grinding off bumps.

On Tuesday, the right southbound lane on the bridge between 27th Avenue West and the ore docks will close from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Beginning late afternoon Tuesday or Wednesday, the ramp from southbound I-35 to southbound I-535 and the ramp from northbound I-35 to southbound I-535 will both closed for several hours.