Duluth Girls' Trip

Hello again, friends!  I know it’s been awhile, but gosh, I’ve been busy the last week or so.

I had last week off from work, so on Monday I ran same errands to get ready for the big Girls’ Trip to Duluth with Diane and Molly.  I finally decided around 10 p.m. Monday night I should probably pack a suitcase as we were leaving at 9:00 Tuesday morning.

Tuesday morning--a beautiful day for a drive, I might add--we were off and running just after 9 a.m.  I had considered asking Molly to drive until we were north of the Cities since she is used to that metro traffic, but I decided to tough it out.  It went fine, and I don’t care what Molly says, that little incident in the construction zone was not a near death experience!

Shortly after that, Captain called because he needed some calibration numbers for his sprayer which I have stored on my phone.  We pulled off at the next rest area--which is a usual stopping point for Captain and I when we head north--and I called to give him the numbers so he could start spraying corn while we were gone.  

We had timed our departure from home so that we would hit Toby’s for lunch.  Diane had never been there and was quite impressed with the food.  Molly passed on the frosted sugar cookie from the bakery given her sugar high reaction during the state bowling trip a couple of years ago...she was literally bouncing off the walls by the time we got from Toby’s to Duluth that time!

Anyway, we rolled into Duluth mid afternoon; too early to check into our hotel, so we stopped at the Visitor Center on the south end of town and then drove along the Skyline Drive/scenic byway overlooking Duluth.  Highlight there was Enger Park, including climbing all five flights of steps to the top of the tower to see nearly endless vistas of Duluth, Canal Park, and Lake Superior.  We walked through the garden areas which looked completely different from when Captain and I stopped there in September...obviously.  

By then it was nearly time to check into our hotel.  I had managed to snag reservations at Comfort Suites right in Canal Park with windows facing the lake!  Before we checked in, we walked right next door to the museum and canal pier to watch a boat come in off the lake.  Awesome!

After checking in and resting (don’t judge, traveling is hard work!) for an hour or so, we went out to check out the little shops in Canal Park before heading to Little Angie’s Cantina to meet Molly’s high school friend--who now lives in Duluth--for supper.  The food was just as good as we remembered from state bowling, and this time Molly was legal age to get the fish bowl margarita!  Molly and Kelly stayed at Little Angie’s to have another drink and catch up, so Diane and I headed back to the hotel to sit out on the back patio and enjoy the lake view and cool breezes.

We had the funnest time watching a man and his 5-year-old grandson feed the seagulls.  The little boy would throw his bread cubes up in the air, and the gulls would snatch them mid-air, while the grandpa stood very still holding the bread cube in his hand (kind of looked like the Statue of Liberty) and the gulls would fly in, hover a second, and take it right out of his fingers!!  They had the best time, so we couldn’t help but smile watching them.

When it started getting chilly on the patio, we headed in to change into swim suits and hit the hot tub.  We met a nice mother-daughter duo who were in Duluth for their annual girls’ trip and had a nice conversation with them before we headed back to the room...pretty much exhausted!  

Molly got back to the room a bit later, so we visited a bit and went to bed.  I must say, I don’t normally sleep well in hotels, but either the bed or the pillows (or both) were so comfortable, I had the best night’s sleep ever in a hotel room!

Wednesday was for exploring.  We stopped in Two Harbors to walk out on the pier to the harbor light and spent some time watching a family of ducks in the harbor.  Then it was on to Gooseberry Falls for a couple of hours before heading back to Two Harbors for lunch at The Pub, a little place Captain and I had been to last fall.  We had a relaxing hour there and then hit the road again, this time to Split Rock Lighthouse.  

Except for last fall’s Edmund Fitzgerald ceremony, it has been at least a decade since I have been to Split Rock...nope, I bet it’s been two decades because Young Man was just 5 years old when we took him and our nephew there.  At any rate, it was fun to do the tour again and see all the stuff.  I have a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that a six-ton lens spins around like it’s on a cloud.  Amazing!

Baby Brother's friend from high school is now the maintenance foreman at Split Rock Lighthouse, so I took a minute to say hi to him before we left.

We debated going further north to Tettegouche State Park, but we were all pretty tired and we still wanted to stop in Two Harbors (again) at Castle Danger Brewery.  By the time we got back to the hotel, we pretty much just collapsed in various beds, couches, and chairs for an hour or so!

Supper that night was at Grandma’s...another place I had never been until now.  The food was amazing and the portions were HUGE!  After all the hiking and eating, a trip to the hot tub was in order before turning in for another night of restful sleep, but not before we walked out to the back patio and got a night photo of the lift bridge. Back in the room (it was too chilly to stay outside), we watched a boat come in off the lake, which was new for me since Captain and I are never in Duluth after dark. That was pretty impressive to see as it was lit up like a small town...which I guess it is when you come right down to it.

Thursday morning we got packed up and checked out in good time.  We headed to Glensheen for the tour there--another first for me.  It reminded me a lot of the Plummer House here in Rochester.  Well, except for that murder business.  Still, a very beautiful home with a lot of interesting tidbits about the decor and social customs of the times (early 1900s).  

Our last order of business in Duluth was to drive the north end of Skyline Drive along what is called Seven Bridges Road because--hey--there are seven stone bridges on this narrow gravel road.  

When we stopped at the first bridge, Molly suggested a game of Pooh Sticks.  For you non-Winnie The Pooh fans, this involves each person tossing a stick off the up-current side of the bridge and running to the down-current side to see whose stick makes it under the bridge first.

My stick came through first, but once it hit the still waters past the bridge, it just kept circling because Molly had given me a curved twig.  I call cheating because HER stick--straight as an arrow, mind you--shot right past mine.  However, karma is always at the ready with a comeuppance lesson, and her stick got hung up on some rocks in the rapids.  But, it was still ahead of mine, so I had to concede the race to her.  

We waved one last goodbye to Canal Park on our way out of town and headed home.  

I have always enjoyed my trips to Duluth and the North Shore with Captain, but it was awfully fun to do a trip with just “us girls” for a different perspective.

Happy travels to you!