For the last several years, we have gone to the North Shore in September to celebrate our anniversary. I am not sure exactly what it is about Lake Superior and its shoreline that is so soothing. Is it the constant sound of the waves? Is it how the vastness of the lake makes any stress/worry/problem in my life seem inconsequential? Is it the pervasive smell of seagull poop? I don't know, and I really don't care. All I know is that it is something that I need for my inner self every year.
Most years we have reservations at a small resort in Little Marais about halfway up the Shore called Superior Lakeside Cabins. This year...we had nothing. Part of that was because my vacation request at work wasn't finalized until the very last minute and part of it was we just weren't sure what the crop was going to be doing and if Captain might be picking beans.
So Tuesday morning, we loaded up and headed out on a wing and a prayer that we wouldn't be sleeping in the truck for two nights. We sailed through the Cities just fine, but I am always glad Captain does the driving because I just can't handle interstate traffic through Saint Paul. It was truly a beautiful day for a drive with just a couple of stops at rest areas on I-35 and a lunch break at a KFC that offered a lunch buffet. Before we knew it, we were pulling into the rest area/information center just outside and above Duluth. That first look at the harbor and the lake always, always takes my breath away. After picking up some informational brochures, we headed into Duluth.
Some background information is needed here. Normally we would cruise through Duluth and head much further north where we would day trip from our cabin to the many state parks...Tettegouche, Cascade, Temperance River, Gooseberry Falls, and Split Rock. Sometimes we would get really adventurous and go all the way to the Canadian border with a stop in Grand Marais. One of these years we will get passports so we can actually go into Canada instead of just look at it from a distance. Anyhoo, this year, we approached the whole trip differently and decided to do the south end of the North Shore.
So, in all the years we have been to the North Shore, we have only ever seen a boat come in off the lake once, and that was 15 years ago. So many times we were just blowing through on our way further north and didn't have time to stop, or conversely, we were blowing through on our way home and didn't want to take the time to stop. Silly us!
So back to this year's trip. Captain had checked out the Duluth shipping news website and found that there would be a multitude of boats coming and going in Duluth during the three days that we would be there. As we were walking around at the Information Center, they had those telescope/binocular things that you pay a quarter to see way far away. Our investment of 25 cents showed us that, by cracky, there was a boat out in the lake headed for the canal.
So we boogied back to the truck and headed for Canal Park. Parking is always easy by the Canal, so we snagged a spot close to the Army Corps of Engineer Museum on the Canal. We had some time to walk clear out to the lighthouse at the end of the pier before the boat was getting close enough that they raised the lift bridge (plus a little sailboat was headed out to the lake). We walked halfway back down the pier for a good vantage point to watch the boat come in.
Folks, those things are HUGE! The one coming in on this particular day was in the upper 700-foot range, which is actually quite a bit smaller than the 1000-footers the often come in. But, it was still massive!
With that excitement behind us, we jumped back in the truck and headed out of town. We decided to take the old Scenic Highway between Duluth and Two Harbors instead of our normal choice of the Expressway. Yeah, bad idea. There was construction going on, and I am pretty sure we were driving in an area where the road was actually closed. But we made it to Two Harbors just fine. We saw that the tourist info office was open for business, so we pulled in to ask about lodging options.
The very nice lady working in the office told us that she had just taken calls from two resorts near Gooseberry Falls that they had openings, one reasonable and one sort of high-end. She very kindly starred their names in the guidebook she gave us. She also had helpful information on dining choices within a 20-minute drive. We thanked her and headed back on the road.
This particular point of the trip is fairly typical of showcasing how polar opposite Captain and I are in our approach to things. I like to KNOW stuff; Captain is more of a wait-and-see kinda guy. His choice was let's just drive and see what we see. My choice was (because that sleeping in the back of the truck thing was lurking in my mind) hey, let's use this new fangled contraption called the cell phone and call these people!
We sort of compromised. When we got to the turn off for the less expensive of the two options, their sign said "no vacancy." This seemed quite odd to me since it hadn't been a full half hour since they had called the tourist info office and told them they had an opening. So we pulled on the frontage road and called them to double check.
Why yes, they did have a cabin available for the next two nights! Seeing as how we were about 45 seconds away, this worked out well. While I was jumping up and down in my seat with excitement because I wouldn't have to sleep in the truck, Captain asks what the price was. Huhn...I never asked because--hey--I didn't care! Again, a spotlight on our oppositeness. Captain never seems to grasp the concept that I plan for these trips and set money aside every payday to cover the cost, and I try very hard to figure expenses on the high side so that I am sure we have enough funds. Thus, it didn't matter what it cost (and I was pretty sure it was going to be in our budget) AND it would save me from sleeping in the truck.
I probably shouldn't keep saying we'd sleep in the truck, as I am quite positive that there would have been motel choices further up the road, but I didn't want to stay in a dang hotel. I wanted to be ON THE LAKE, and I was willing to pay a little extra money for that luxury. So there!
Regardless, we had the cabin and it was just the cutest little thing ever! Please see the photos I posted on Facebook for those; I don't want to take up space on this post with too many pictures. The only drawback of the cabin is that there was no TV. This is somewhat of a crisis for Captain, as (a) he is a newshound and starts jonesing if he goes more than 12 hours without a news broadcast and (b) he likes to fall asleep to the TV. Suck it up Bunky, you'll live.
After we got settled in, we realized we were going to need some supplies, such as coffee for morning. If I don't have coffee in the morning, people can get hurt. Plus, we needed some supper. We hit the grocery store in Silver Bay (20 miles north) for munchies, coffee, and beverages. Quick stop back at the cabin to unload those and then headed to Two Harbors to find food. As we were heading back that way, we were passed by The Little Old Lady From Pasadena. I kid you not! This woman had to be 90 years old, and she was INTENSE. Steering wheel gripped at 10 and 2, eyes straight ahead, and gas pedal smashed to the floor. She FLEW by us! Made me laugh right out loud.
By luck and happenstance, when we were driving around in Two Harbors, we stumbled across the Castle Danger Brewery. Captain is always up for trying new beer so we stopped in. We had the nicest conversation with the bartender/owner! I am not a beer drinker by nature so I wasn't sure this was going to be fun for me, but I explained that to the barkeep and he recommended one of their more mild lagers for me. Good choice! I would actually drink that again, but probably not any time soon. Captain, on the other hand, likes the darker beers such as Guinness. First he tried the second strongest lager they had, which he liked. Then the bartender talked him into trying their stout, which he said put Guinness to shame. All I remember from the description on the menu was that there was a hint of licorice in it. That just doesn't sound good to me, and I like licorice!
He pulled the tap to fill the glass, and it was black as pitch, my friends, with a lot of foam. He set the glass in front of Captain, who instantly went to take a drink. Barkeep and I both told him to wait for the foam to settle down a little bit first. A few seconds later, he took his sip and completely agreed with that it was superior to Guinness. I tried a sip of it and let me tell you, I wouldn't drink that unless I hadn't had anything else to drink for days and was on the point of death. And then I would still probably think twice. Give me top shelf whiskey any day! But Captain liked it so all was well.
On to supper, and on the advice of our friendly neighborhood barkeep, we tried the Irish Pub down the street. We always try to eat local versus chain when we are vacationing, and this place fit the bill nicely. I should have taken pictures of the interior, but I was too busy watching the Twins game on TV. It had a beautiful, old, hammered copper ceiling, exposed duct work, and brick walls...just amazing character. But better than that was the clientele. You could tell that this was THE neighborhood bar [insert "Cheers" theme song] because as we were sitting there, a couple came in and before they even got to their bar stools, the bartender had their drinks out and in front of them! Captain can relate to this because when he goes to our local saloon in Mantorville, they know he is going to want a mug o'Mich, please (kudos to Scott and Corrine). Love that kind of personal service!
There was one guy who came in who had to be at least 80 years old, walking with a cane, snow white beard down to his chest. He nursed his one beer, commiserated with his stool mates about the day's happenings, and meandered back out the door for home. Kinda cute, actually. I could picture him doing this every day, just getting out and mingling instead of moping at home. You go, my elderly friend!
So, with full tummies and happy hearts, we headed back to our home away from home to enjoy some adult beverages on the deck for an hour or so before heading to bed. We opened the window facing the lake and drifted to sleep listening to the crash of the waves. It was the perfect ending to a pretty awesome day!
Stay tune for tomorrow's installment of Day 2!
No comments:
Post a Comment