Bemidiji, Minnesota

Benmidji is the first city on the Mississippi. The name of the city is an Ojibwe term meaning "waters crossing waters".  It is here where the Mississippi crosses Lake Bemidji and flows north before flowing south and east. At the north end of the lake is Bog Lake, where we took a very interesting walk along a boardwalk. Bogs have been described as "Minnesota's last wilderness".  Here we saw lady's slipper orchids as well as blue flag flowers(they are in the iris family).  The latter can be seen in the center of the picture below.

We also saw many pitcher-plants in the bog. They are type of insect-eating plant. According to an interpretive sign along the boardwalk spiders and frogs also benefit from the insects which are caught by this plant.

In the town of Bemidji we took the town's art walk of sculptures and murals. They are made by local artists and are on loan to the community for one year. The theme of the artwork is "A Sense of Place and Its People".  A beaver is pictured below.

We ended our day at the Paul Bunyan Playhouse where we saw the play Spitfire Grill- a wonderful musical with a folk/blue grass flavored score. It has been amazing to us what great talent there is the little towns of northern Minnesota. Saturday night we took in a show at the Woodtick Theater in Akeley. The band put on a wonderful  musical show complete with jokes and comedy acts, it reminded us of the type of shows we have seen in Branson, Missouri.  Most of the band members have been entertaining for at least 20 years. The band also has a new member who is 16 years old.  The performer, Brian Bass, has an excellent singing voice and plays the guitar skillfully as well. The show was certainly worth our time and money.