Jul 9, 201112:32 AMThe Bucket List
Vista Fleet
vistafleet.com
I cannot conceive a way possible for someone to live in the Twin Ports area for any length of time and claim that they have never seen Lake Superior. Take I-35, go to Park Point, stroll the Lakewalk, peer out from Enger Tower, see a movie at Leif Erickson Park, stay in a hotel, cross the bridge—you simply cannot miss it! Yes, we’ve seen the lake but my question is instead this: have you seen the shore?
Being out on the Lake Superior is like eating an ice cream cone from the bottom up: it is an entirely new experience! The standpoint of a kayak, canoe, or boat lends a new view of Lake Superior and the Vista Fleet adds comfort and class to the experience as well as a promise you’ll get back to shore without burning arm muscles.
The Vista Fleet offers two-hour sightseeing tours that cruise under the lift bridge and around the harbor. Lake Superior and the North Shore are any picture-taker’s box of chocolates: resplendent in natural beauty and different from day to day, spot to spot, month to month. Have a picture inland looking out? The Vista Fleet is the perfect way to capture the view looking in.
Okay, so maybe a picture isn’t motivation enough, how about food? The Vista Fleet offers Pizza Sightseeing Cruises that would be perfect for any group of people that is out to enjoy a beautiful day in Duluth. Or, if you prefer more color in the sky for the ambiance of your meal, their Sunset Dinner Cruises are worth every last bit of precious Northland daylight. The Vista Fleet also offers special cruises for holidays, birthdays, celebrations or events.
My high school graduation was the special event that brought me out on Lake Superior aboard the Vista Fleet a few years ago. Most of the Vista Fleet cruises take place during the day but for a segment of our all-night grad party we cruised the harbor at night. I remember the cool air, the glow of the Skyline and the North Shore, and the stars overhead as I listened to my classmates sing along to the music on the dance floor just below and laugh with each other as we enjoyed the high school peer dynamics one final time.
The Vista Fleet made for a great memory and marked a special night in my life and it also gave me a new appreciation for the greatest of the Great Lakes. Out of all the things to do in the Twin Ports, the Vista Fleet ranks as one of the most unique for it takes the familiar and puts it in a new light. One of the best views of Lake Superior is over a rail, feeling the water move rhythmically beneath the ship.
