NPS Adventures 2026: St. Croix National Scenic Riverway

Wisconsin only has two National Park Sites -- Apostle Islands and St. Croix National Scenic Riverway both in Northern Wisconsin. I was determined to cross both of them off this summer. We are not much for scenic riverways but a stamp is a stamp. 

St. Croix National Scenic Riverway is formed by the St. Croix and Namekagon rivers. It has two separate visitor centers. One for each river. Since the Namekagon Visitor Center was in Trego and minutes away from the pizza train, it made for a quick and easy stop.

The Namekagon Visitor Center is open seasonally 10-5. Inside the visitor center there is a few displays on river wildlife and a short film. We got our stamp and checked out the display.

Unlike Obed Wild & Scenic River that we visited earlier this year, we did not actually check out the Namekagon River or the St. Croix for that matter. I thought there might have been a nature trail by the visitor center but just led to more parking.

We did end up crossing over the Namekagon River on our train ride. So we did end up seeing the river after all. It is a great river for kayaking and canoeing. 

If you are not real outdoor enthuaists, you can still explore the St. Croix National Scenic River Visitor Centers or take a train ride and cross either river from the tracks. I've learned over the years, don't skip the rivers and battlefields. Stop, get your stamp, talk to a ranger, and maybe learn something new. 

2026: Baseball Stadium Tour -- Wade Stadium

This summer's vacation did not bring us to a destination where we could get to a new Major or Minor League Stadium. When I saw that the Duluth Huskies were home when we were going to be in Duluth, I convinced the hubby to go to his first Northwoods League game. 

The Duluth Huskies are part of the Northwoods League, a collegiate summer baseball program in the Upper Midwest. They play their games at Wade Stadium in Duluth. Tickets were $13/box seats. We got first row behind home plate. Parking is free in the lot or on the side streets. 

Wade Stadium is an old stadium that has been updated. The hubby says it reminded him of old Goodland Field in Appleton or Carson Park in Eau Claire. It has a big covered grandstand behind home plate with additional seating down the lines. There was a walkway in front of so we weren't tight against the screen. Even though they were box seats, there were just bleacher seats with backs. The bleacher seats were just metal bleacher seats.

We opted for dinner at the ballpark. The food was good. They had Coke products but luckily they had Cherry Coke for me. We got food right when we got there which was a good thing because by game time the food line was quite long. 

The game itself was okay. Most of these kids are probably not going to pro but you never know. Some of the pitches were 42 mph. We did find it interesting that they used 3 umpires where High-A in Appleton still only uses 2. It was still baseball and it was a nice night for it.

Wade Stadium is definitely worth visiting. If you are in Duluth in the summer, check out the Huskies if they are home. It is good family fun. They work hard to make it a fun experience. 

3363. Ride the North Shore Scenic Railroad in Duluth

The hubby wanted to go to the Lake Superior Railroad Museum and I wanted to take a train ride up the north shore. Since you boarded the train from the Lake Superior Railroad Museum, it was a great way to knock off both of our train desires for this trip. 

North Shore Scenic Railroad offers several different train rides of various length through the week and year. I really wanted the one that went all the way up to Two Harbors but that only ran on Thursdays. We opted for The Northwoods Explorer which was a 2.5 hour trip. it was $40/person. 

The description stated "The trip travels through downtown, along the shoreline of Lake Superior, through the historic Congdon Neighborhood wooded area, and then through the majestic Northwoods, crossing several stunning streams along the way, and crossing bridges that are over 50 feet high!". It sounded like a great train ride. 

The hubby and I both said it was probably the worst train ride we've been on so far. I was bored and at first I thought it was because we've several of these train rides and maybe I was just over them. The hubby felt the same way.

Why was it boring? Once you got outside of downtown Duluth there was not much to see except trees and just birch trees at that. The stunning streams were dry. The bridges were not that impressive. 

We enjoy hearing about the surrounding area using by a conductor either in the car as they pass through or maybe over a speaker. This was a pre-recorded message that was very monotone and kind of cheesy. 

We did see a freighter on Lake Superior. That was probably the highlight.

The train itself was fine, a little old. They had concessions for sale. It was also cold on the train. So if you go wear a jacket. 

I wonder if the trip up to Two Harbors would have been better? Who knows but you probably still don't get to see much of Lake Superior. There's just too many trees. 

Overall I was disappointed. It did fill some open time in the afternoon that I would have had to fill with something. 

Maybe we are just become train snobs along with pizza snobs. If you want to ride the North Shore Scenic Railroad, I would stick with the shorter version. The beginning has the most to see anyways. 

3366. Go to the Lake Superior Railroad Museum in Duluth

The hubby offhandedly mentioned wanting to go to the Lake Superior Railroad Museum in Duluth. There was some train or something there he wanted to see. Since we were going to the U.P. and the Apostle Islands, heading over to Duluth for a train museum didn't seem like a bad idea. Besides there was a train ride I wanted to take.

The Lake Superior Railroad Museum is located in the restored St. Louis County Depot downtown Duluth. It is open 10-5 daily. Admission is $14/adult. If you book a train excursion on the North Shore Railroad tickets are half price. There is very small parking lot at the back of the museum which is free or you can park in the ramp nearby. We got lucky and got the last spot in the lot. 

The Lake Superior Railroad Museum has over a dozen different different trains. 

They have a whole car devoted to the different China serving sets that each train service had. I love looking at the China sets. It's a bygone era we will never get back. 

We've been in mail cars before. A lot of museums have them since it was how mail was transported across the country quickly. What made this mail car special is you could try pulling the level that would grab the mail bag on the mail pole at the station as the train zipped by. It was a not as easy as it looked.

They had a Soo Line Caboose. The hubby always likes those.

Like many museums we've been to, they had a snowplow. Except this one you could go in. That was fun. The windows are tiny and the plow is massive that it's hard to see.

Of course there's always an engine you can go in and "work the controls".

There were even trains outside.

We checked out the rest of the museum. The Immigration Story was under construction so not much to see there. 

We did see the grand hall which was enormous. 

The museum is great. I would highly recommend checking out when you are in Duluth. It is a great rainy day activity. 

3362. See the Aerial Lift Bridge in Duluth

 The hubby really wanted to see the Aerial Lift Bridge in Duluth. More specifically he wanted to see it in action. Since we had plenty of time before we had to go to the train museum, we spent some time at the Lake Superior Visitor Center which is right by the lift bridge with hopes of seeing a ship pass through the shipping canal. 

The Aerial Lift Bridge was built between 1901-1905 and updated in 1929. It spans the Duluth Shipping Channel rising up to allow ships to pass underneath it instead of opening like a draw bridge. 

There is plenty of viewing along the Canal Walk of the lift bridge. 

We got lucky. The John G. Munson was leaving port that morning. We could watch real time updates while inside of the museum. When she left port, we headed outside to watch it go through the shipping canal despite the rain.

When a ship nears the bridge, the bridge closes to traffic and slowly begins to rise allowing the ship to pass beneath the bridge. It is a sight to see. It does move slowly.

The John G. Munson also moved slowly out of the canal. The workers would wave to us as they passed through the canal.

Once the ship clears the bridge, the bridge deck is lowered to allow cars across the canal again.

It is quite the sight to see. I thought seeing the Arthur M. Anderson go through the Sturgeon Bay Shipping Canal was impressive this was just as impressive. There is just something watch these Great Lakes freighters navigate these shipping canals back into the open lake. 

If you are ever in Duluth, check out Canal Park and the Aerial Lift Bridge. Maybe you can see a freighter come through the shipping canal as well. 

3362. Go to the Lake Superior Marine Visitor Center in Duluth

The hubby wanted to see the lift bridge in Duluth. The Lake Superior Marine Museum was right by the lift bridge so I figured we could do both.

Lake Superior Marine Visitor Center is located in Canal Park. It is open daily 9:30-6 in the summer and admission is free. There is a pay to park parking lot adjacent to the museum. It only costed us a couple of bucks to park for a few hours.

Lake Superior Marine Visitor Center is ran by United States Army Corps of Engineers. It features two floors of exhibits.

There is several replicas of cabins and even a pilothouse.

There is a two story engine to check out.

There are stories of ships and shipwrecks.

There are viewing windows where you can watch ships go through the shipping canal. To avoid waiting around for ships, there is even a real time monitor of arrivals and departures. 

Since it was National Lighthouse Day, there were activities around the visitor center to take part in. We each made our own postcards.

We did venture outside in the rain to watch a ship depart through the shipping canal. The visitor center announces the name and the details of the ship as it passes through the canal even outside. 

Lake Superior Marine Visitor Center is a great place to explore while you wait for a ship to arrive or depart through the shipping canal. It is definitely worth checking out. 

Donut Adventures: Voyageur Donuts

I made it one of my many life goals to have donuts in every state. I try to find local donut shops where ever we are visiting. We have several favorites that we try to visit when we are in the area. So when we decided to visit Duluth, I knew I had to try to find donuts in Duluth and I found Voyageur Donuts.

Voyageur Donuts is located downtown Duluth in the Canal Park area. It is slightly hard to find if you are not looking for it. We drove by it the first time. It is inside the DeWitt-Seitz building. It does have it's own parking lot. Voyageur Donuts is open 7-5 Sun, Mon, Tue, and Thu. 7-6 on Fridays and Saturdays. They are closed on Wednesdays. 

Voyageur Donuts is walk up shop. There is some outdoor seating. They offer donuts, coffee, and other beverages. They have classic, signature, and seasonal flavors which are all cake donut based. Each donut is $4. I thought it was a little pricy for the size of the donut. 

The whole reason we went here was there was a donut called "The Steve" -- a plain ass donut. Since we are friends with a Steve, we had to go and get a least one Steve. 

The hubby got The Steve. I went with the smore. 

The donuts were okay. The hubby said The Steve was greasy.. so it's now a Greasy Steve to us. My smore wasn't as greasy but still was slightly greasy. The flavor was good.

I also got a iced chai latte. It had a very strong tea flavor. I did not enjoy it. I like more of a mild tea flavor. 

We knocked donuts in Minnesota off the list. If we get back to Voyageur Donuts great but I would be open to finding other donut shops in the area if we are ever in Duluth.