Dive in!

We're headed for the best week of summer on the North Shore, with hot sunny days in the forecast and the cool clear waters of Lake Superior awaiting our plunge.

So it's good to know that the Minnesota North Shore has the cleanest beaches of the Great Lakes. The North Shore has little urban development and a lot of cold water, two factors that work together to keep the lake clean here.

Whether you can actually swim is another story. As a kid on the North Shore, I found August the one and only time we could splash around in the water. It wasn't really swimming, but we'd get mostly all wet. My favorite thing to do was to find a ledge of rock with secure seating but still exposed to the waves. We'd let two-foot waves roll in and wash over us as we clung to cracks in the rocks.

Now, as a resident of Duluth with a sandy backyard, I'm glad to know that my kids can swim and not get rashes or diarrhea from the water.

For some snarky comments from smug Twin Citians about this, check out the discussion from the Star Tribune.