The American Spirit Docks at Zug Island

So I had one more ship to catch.  Since lunch took me a little bit longer than I expected, I had to catch her a little further down the River but that is okay because I planned on doing that very thing anyway.

 I decided to stop at Riverside Park first.  It is still closed and I'm hoping that they will find a way to open it at some point in the future.  They say there is some sort of environmental issue there but somehow I doubt that.

 One of the reasons I like Riverside Park is because it gives me a chance to see the Westcott in action.  I haven't done that in so long lately, it was kind of a treat.

 The other reason I like it is because it gives me a chance to get a nicer shot of the Ambassador Bridge.

 Then I headed over to Del Ray Park because I wanted to catch the American Spirit as she headed to the Zug Island dock.

 I'm not sure where she was coming from.  I'd imagine it was either Duluth or Two Harbors but she was going to Zug Island.  She would be delivering iron ore there.

 It's kind of neat to watch the ships head into Zug Island because they make a turn around in the River.  First they try to get close to the other coast and then they start to turn.

 It's amazing seeing how smoothely they pull this off.  Especially when you consider this is 1000 feet worth of ship plus several thousand tons of cargo.

 The geese are impressed.

 She almost takes up the length of the river.

 Her turning complete, she starts to head into the dock.

 A few careful adjustments.

And she's home.  Shortly after this, she will start to move her crane over and start unloading.  This process will take a while.  Then she will head back up to Lake Superior and start over again.