A year and a half ago, Loran and I booked a cruise to Alaska to celebrate our tenth anniversary that happened on July 12. As my Facebook friends can attest to, there were no photos of posts of Alaska, but of Minnesota during that week. Turns out, three moves later, plans had to change and we sadly said goodbye to our Alaskan cruise. The problem with planning so far in advance is you aren’t aware that you’ll be living in a new state and brand new home. However, we rolled with it and instead booked a trip to Minnesota during the same time frame so we would be home for my grandparent’s 60th anniversary party.
We haven’t aged a bit…
Since we’d have ample free overnight babysitters available for our anniversary, Loran cashed in some of his travel credits, earned in Japan, for a free night at the Sheraton in Duluth…the business travel does pay off!
We had only one near-miss on our drive up I35 to Duluth – a very (thankfully) small outboard motor fell off of the boat being trailered in front of us. Loran quickly swerved into the next lane and the power cord on that outboard went above and beyond it’s function and kept that dragging motor tethered to the boat. Our other bummer was the lit ‘check engine’ light on our rental car. The dog-fur laden ‘12 Toyota we’d rented at the Blaine Airport while highly efficient in the mpg department, wasn’t exactly a top performer. After a stop in downtown Superior to see the courthouse where my parents were married and a little drive around town, we detoured to the small, but new, Duluth Airport to trade out our car. Luckily it wasn’t busy at the airport – a tumble weed may have drifted through the terminal – because our transaction wasn’t very clear-cut, but we muddled through and left with a zippier Chevy Cruze, sans engine light an hour later.
Our room at the Sheraton had a view of Superior, and Loran and I readied ourselves for our dinner reservation at Lake Avenue Restaurant and Bar. Located in Canal Park, it was central to action, but tucked away a bit in the historic Dewitt-Seitz Marketplace. Fantastic food, we had a lot of fun conversing and laughing. As we left the restaurant, the lift bridge was up. Any self-respecting Duluth tourist knows you are required to rush to the bridge to see what was passing under. The thrill of the hunt. Will it be a ship?! Or, the letdown of a small sailboat. Thankfully, there is a publication called the Duluth Shipping News, which keeps you informed as to the comings and goings of the ships, along with the important details of where they’re from, what they’re carrying or picking up, age and length. We were just in time to see the Virginiaborg come into port. We then walked down the breaker to the lighthouse, enjoyed the view and then headed across the bridge out to the point to the dunes. Once we got to the dunes, we encountered – mayflies! Eww! Clouds of them were rising up from the reeds. We made it a few feet down the path before retreating to the car, vowing to return in the morning.
Since our time was limited, Loran and I vowed to get up early so we could enjoy more sites before heading back toward the cities. To achieve this, we ordered room service (thanks to more travel credits that needed to be used) and had it delivered at 6:15 am. It was raining when we woke but as we got ready, that slowly eased up and out.
Our first stop was back out towards Canal Park. Wouldn’t you know, the bridge was up. Of course, we did our tourist duty, illegally parked the Cruze and raced to the break so we could watch the goings on. We were there so early, we practically had the place to ourselves (hence, ample illegal parking). Loran, myself, and a few of our senior friends out on a walk enjoyed the departure of the Buffalo. Despite knowing it was going to blast its horn to signal to the bridge, when it happened, I still had a full-body convulsion, nearly dropping my camera into Lake Superior. It also makes me second guess the seemingly awesomely placed hotels right next to the bridge. How neat would it be to watch a huge ship pass right by your window? How annoying would it be when the ships that come in after midnight engage in the obligatory three horn blast to the the bridge, who in turn, blasts back three times. It’s a lot of ruckus that I think would lose it’s magic at 3 am.
Once the Buffalo was on her way into the wide open waters, we utilized the bridge and went back out onto the point. The Duluth Rowing Club was hosting a big regatta that Loran wanted to check out. We enjoyed watching the sculls glide across the nearly glassy water in the bay. It was a beautiful morning to watch some races. After some race watching, we attempted the dunes again, without the mayflies. It was a gorgeous morning on the lake, and I recreated a photo from our honeymoon of Loran skipping rocks.
2003 – Lake Michigan, 2013 – Lake Superior
After that excursion, we did what any couple who willingly wakes up at 6am while on vacation does, we visited some gardens. A stop at Leif Erickson Park and Rose Garden. Since moving to Austin, I’ve missed the spring flowers, but because of Duluth’s mild weather (haha) and Minnesota’s already delayed spring, the spring flowers were in bloom in Duluth – in mid-July! I was able to enjoy lilacs and peonies!
After our garden excursion, we headed back to the hotel to spend the last of our complementary dollars – $3 candy bars for everyone! We checked out and headed further up the shore towards Two Harbors for lunch at New Scenic Café. I’m sure I’ve passed this restaurant dozens of times without noticing it. Now I kick myself for it. I had a prosciutto and medjool date sandwich that I will continue to dream about. We also picked up the heaviest three berry pie that I’ve ever carried for my grandparent’s anniversary party.
We made our way back towards the Twin Cities en route to the 60th anniversary party with great memories after an awesome ten year anniversary. Ten years already?!
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