Day 51-- The city of Bemidji- A brief tour.

Around Bemidji, MN.

Babe and Paul Bunyan at the Bemidji Visitor Center.

Tonight's sunset is a bonus for all.

   Inasmuch as a Chiropractic visit was on the agenda today we stayed in town and took care of business first. Bemidji is a town of some 10,000 residents and with  Bemidji State universty located here it increases the population by some 4,700 persons, so a little over 15,000 is the number. The University campus by the way is on the shore of Lake Bemidji and the students are well taken care of. There is a swimming beach ON campus, with many types of boats available for their use, Canoes kayaks, sailboats and other craft. Today we saw a few of the students sun bathing near the beach and one gal was dressed and already to take a dip into  what must have been, freezing water as the ice just went out a few weeks ago. But then, BRRRRmijians are hardy folks. Their park where the beach is,  has many bath houses and facilities for the students. I did NOT see any fishing shanties

The city is laid out around the southern and southwest end of Bemidji Lake. Paul Bunyan Drive is a main thoroughfare and is a one way street.  One thing that stood out as we drove around, were the many  "Help Wanted" and Now Hiring" signs that were up. The unemployment rate in the city is 5.9% as opposed to the state average of 4.5%. It is a comfortable town and I felt at ease here.

The press box on the football field named Chet Anderson Stadium

Here is the beach that is on campus  with some of the "toys".

A photo of the courthouse was nearly mpossible to get as 

all of the new buildings were built around it (Municipal

services and other civic offices. Only the tower shows here.

Tomorrow we head east to Duluth MN. It is a short trip, and actually the shortest of the entire  trip. There are two very good sites for birding there and one, Sax Zim bog, is very well organized and has stations along the roads to explain what to look for. We shall see. 

This is one of six towers on the bridge over the Mississippi River.

On one side it has the river's name and on the other, the towns  name.

We travered this bridge at least 16 times and crossing the 

Mississippi River was never easier.

The pride of the city is seen in some of the displays especially those concerning "Paul Bunyan and 'Babe'". They play a major part in the city's spirit and economy. We did mention the PB trail that runs for 150 miles and is the longest, continuous, PAVED trail in the US.