Alli: Once again we found ourselves with a light schedule. The day consisted of a cruise around the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore and later a hike to the sea caves. Still, we had to get an early start, seeing as the boat tour was a good hour away from our hotel.
Once there, we picked up our tickets and stood in line, all the while admiring the boats and lakeshore view that surrounded us. The cruise lasted a little over 3 hours - and it was worth every minute! Sitting in the comforting shade of the lower deck we snapped picture after picture of the distant islands, sea caves, and lighthouse. The boat also had a section of glass-bottom windows where we could often see the rocky shores and treasures of the lake (aka an old tire) as we approached the shorelines of the islands. We also passed a couple other boats, one in particular being a fishing boat with what seemed like a thousand seagulls floating around it waiting for its nets to emerge. At the end of the tour the captain told us that one passenger had been selected at random to win a prize at the local gift shop. Unfortunately, it wasn't any of us; but that didn't stop us from taking a look around. In the end I bought a teal mug, and Dad, an orange shirt.
Our final stop of the day was the Sea Caves trail in Apostle Island's National Lakeshore. The trail was about 5 miles round trip, through nasty humidity that made it feel hotter than Satan's balls. The path wound through the trees, over small bridges and up and down steps strategically built an awkward 1 1/2 strides apart. Just as I was about to reach my breaking point, I started to make out the sound of waves crashing, and within minutes the shimmering blue waters began to peak through the trees. Though the hike had been brutal, the view from the top of the cliffs was indeed, very beautiful. As we peered over the side of the cliffs, we saw a small group of kayakers wading in a sea caves below and envied the cool breeze they were getting off the water. We ended up walking down a little further, taking a couple more pictures before turning around and making the dreaded trip back to the car. We ran out of water towards the end, but somehow we still made it back alive. On our way to our hotel in Duluth, MN we stopped at a gas station and treated ourselves to ice cream and an ice cold root beer. Probably gaining back all the calories we had just burned off. Still worth it though.
Though we were all worn down, and after checking into our hotel, we decided to walk around the Canal Park area for a little bit to check out the areas shops and parks. We then ended the day having dinner at a restaurant near the hotel, before making our way back for a refreshing shower and a good night's sleep.
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