Invincible

August 20, 2008 -- Duluth, MN

After surviving an incredibly busy several weeks at work I am taking some time off for a "stay-at-home-vacation". Just slowing down a bit has been a challenge but this morning I'm feeling relaxed and enjoying my time away from work. Last Night T stopped at the library and brought home a few sailing magazines and a newly published book about the Duluth Boat Club. It is Invincible: History of the Duluth Boat Club by Michael J Cochran. This morning I sat down with my cup of coffee to flip through it and look at the pictures. I was totally captivated by the remarkable history of the people and the city that created the "best and largest water club in America" in the early 1900's. It is hard to imagine the personal philanthropy of a guy like Julius Barnes that paid for much of the development, facilities and training of rowers in the heyday of the predecessor of the
Duluth Rowing Club. It is hard to imagine also the social structure of the time that created the need/opportunity for such an organization with social and recreational facilities at two places on Park Point, one up the river at Spirit Lake and one up at Pike Lake that eventually became the Auto Club and eventually the AAA's Pike Lake Golf and Recreation Club.

According to the author of Invincible, it was the automobile that doomed the Duluth Boat Club by reducing the need for close-to-home social and recreational opportunities. I wonder if our current energy situation and the direction we need to go with reducing the amount of driving we do will mean that the efforts to revive the Duluth Boat Club will meet with greater success in the near future. After reading this book, I had to hope that this would be the case.