Two Harbors, MN

Continuing north. We drove to the Minnesota Welcome Center near Duluth to collect a bunch of very helpful info. Took Old Highway 61, aka the North Shore Scenic Drive, to the town of Two Harbors. Went to the city campground but they were full. Turns out to be a very good thing. We stopped at a rest area on Lake Superior, had lunch then took Gopher for a swim while we decided what to do. Visited the lighthouse which is Minnesotas oldest operating lighthouse. Walked out on the breakwater to get a good look at the still operating taconite loading piers. A ship had just finished loading. After that, we headed to the downtown area just to look around. It turns out this is Two Harbors Heritage Days weekend. There were other RV's parked just passed the RR tracks near the old RR station so we pulled in. What a find!!. All the events are taking place within a few blocks of where we are. There are helicopter rides, a craft show, old car show, street dances, on & on. All the very typical small town fair sort of things. One of the most interesting events is a rally of Railroad Motor Cars/Put-Put's. They are small vehicles used to transport RR workers for different reasons.
On Saturday there was a parade. As is typical of small town parades, every group, organization, politician, etc. was there. There was a mom pulling a canoe with wheels loaded with kids. ?? One "float" was a semi pulling a flat bed trailer with bales of hay. Sitting on the hay were a bunch of guys who obviously had started drinking beer very early in the morning. They were waving to everyone they knew in the crowd. Two of them, could no longer wave; they mostly sat there and rocked back & forth.
We went to mass at 4:30. A very small & plain church.
At 7:00 the entertainment highlight of the weekend took stage right by the RR station. A guy direct from Las Vegas who did Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra & Elvis impersonations. Enjoyable, but it's obvious why he's playing in Two Harbors to a crowd of perhaps 50 people, rather then in Vegas.
This one one of the most enjoyable weekends of the trip. On the road, we seek out these small towns. That's where you'll find the *real* America. Not in D.C., or NYC, or LA, but in places like Two Harbors, MN. The little kids watched the parade, Mom pulled a canoe the guys drank two much beer, & Elvis sang some songs. What a fine day.