More Photos From Duluth

Here's a random selection of more vacay photos that include scenes from: Hawk Ridge, the balcony view of the Inn on Lake Superior, Goosebury Falls, Split Rock Lighthouse, Iona's Pink Stone Beach, Two Harbors, the woods near the Northern Rail hotel, and a whole lot of Schmoopiness :) Thanks for reading!

Leaving Las Duluth

Welp, it's our last day here in this lovely haven of tranquility. Sigh. We enjoyed some complimentary s'mores last night out by the fancy fire pit, lakeside. It was a cool night, the s'mores, crashing waves and relaxed visitors felt reminiscent of times long ago when life was sweet, simple, youthfully fleeting. We took a stroll along the rocks until we were too chilly to continue, then slept like babes in the fluffy, warm bed.

After an ample and tasty breakfast, we took a long walk almost the entire length of the pier. I collected a few large stones to bring home as reminders of this time, also some driftwood that was interesting and flat. There was a light rain, and being a workday here the walk was only sparsely populated with friendly retirees. Reluctantly, we came in for some coffee, newspaper reading and hot showers.

I primped myself up with some gorgeous bracelets that I found yesterday for $1 each: two are round stones of Black Onyx and Aventurine, and three are gemstones chips of Amethyst, Amber and what I think is either more Aventurine or Aquamarine. I've decided I want to wear more funky jewelry, and I love gemstones. We're spending some final moments on the balcony listening to the waves before heading out to Hawk Ridge Observatory to see (finally) some birds of prey. We toyed with the idea of visiting the aquarium, but it's too lovely out here to be inside.

Then it's off home to the little furry nutters!
Love & hugs,
R&J

Duluth

Reporting from Duluth tonight! We're currently nestled into a room at The Inn on Lake Superior with a view directly out to the enormous Superior. It's serene, comfy and warm inside which is great because while it was short-sleeve weather here yesterday, it is two-layer and long-john's weather here today! It's a posh room in one of the "greenest hotels in the country" apparently. They have these awesome large rock soap holder thingys that's inspired me to find some for our bathrooms (that I'll try to remember to post a photo of), and "Bare Earth" toiletries with Eucalyptus & Lemon Myrtle. Yes, I get excited about the free stuff :)

Our stay at the Northern Rail hotel was quaint and restful, but we had loads to see so we checked out a couple hours early to get a jump on the mornings activities. We headed up first to Gooseberry Falls State Park where we had the nicest hike! It was nice and cool this morning, so we didn't get too overheated walking. As expected, we've got tons of photos. There were these cute little red squirrels (which only look cute, I've heard they're actually quite mean and nasty) that I kept trying to get photos of, but the little buggers are fast! Dodgy and mating, it seemed, as they'd make these loud clicking, chattery noises while chasing other red squirrels round and round the tree stumps. I only caught a couple of photos of birds, and surprisingly, we've hardly seen any hawks the past two days. And I'm still on my quest to spy an owl, but alas, none to be seen yet.

Off to Iona's Pink Pebble Beach just up the road, which we have few photos of because it was a disappointment. In my naivete, I envisioned a glittering, sparkling beach covered in shiny, bright pink pebbles, the kind you'd like to make a necklace of. What's there is rusty-pink-ISH, dull, flat stones that are less appealing than regular ones and there were funny little bugs crawling all over them. We didn't stay there long, and my imagination again proved more wonderous than real life. Sigh.

Split Rock Lighthouse! This was awesome to finally see, even though it was completely covered in scaffolding. Originally when we were planning our wedding, I had wanted to elope at Split Rock. I'd never been there, but I love lighthouses and water, and thought it would have been so romantic to exchange vows overlooking Mother Nature's glory. We finally decided that a wedding would quite possibly be the only adult rite-of-passage for us non-breeders (besides the final rite of passage-death-which really isn't enjoyable) and figured on a celebration near home to appease the family :) Anyway, the lighthouse was amazing, but not near so much as the view. It's a massive rock overlooking the lake, which looks like liquid tourmaline and gigantic rocks all around. They had a great hiking trail and also steps going down to the shoreline where we hung out for a long while. Again, I found myself not wanting to tear myself away from my element, the sea, but it is derned cold out there. I put a finger into the water and holy caca, FREEZING! I marvel that Gretchen and I once actually swam in Lake Superior. Brrr!

By this time, the day was getting on. I'd been up since 5, John not too long after that, and it was already past lunchtime. We'd already hiked a good several miles between the two parks. Our original notion was to visit Tettegouche State Park, then try to make it up to Grand Marais for at least a swing-through. Well, it's quite a ways from Split Rock, and since we've got to get John home for work by Wednesday, and also try to relax and enjoy some down time, we opted to skip the high North and just head back to Duluth for the night. Grand Marais will have to wait for another trip, sadly. But I think enjoying your surroundings, whereever they happen to be, relaxing, having fun and not being on too-tight a schedule is crucial to a good vacation. Duluth is serene, quiet, pretty and there's actually stuff to go do which is nice for us city-slickers who bore easily.

So we're here in our room overlooking the lake, enjoying our last night of this two-day excursion, and goofing around together. We're about to head to the Green Mill for some supper (this cool-sounding place, Thirsty Pagan Brewing, is just too far for such a limited menu and we don't feel like driving any more). Maybe we'll be in the mood for a drunken podcast :)
Hope all is nice & warm at home!
Love & hugs,
R&J

Scenic

Northern Rail Hotel, Two Harbors & Duluth

Wildlife scenes!

Two Harbors

We got a late start to the day yesterday, leaving home around 11:30 or so, and got up to Duluth in time to enjoy a quick lunch at Angie's Cantina, then off to bask in a lovely, warm day out on the pier with throngs of seagulls who tail every boat in sight. I know many people think they're a nuisance, but I absolutely adore seagulls, so I was in bird heaven. They're so funny to watch, and there were so many it was like an orchestra of seagull cries. They've got such a funny little shape to them, their beaks, tiny round heads and birdy legs :) Although, I was glad none flocked at us for food like they were doing to other people who were giving out bread or pooped on us.

There was an enormous cargo ship coming through at the time, so we got to see the lift-bridge open up for it. All the crew was waving at everyone on the pier. We walked up to the lighthouse and took tons of photos of the gulls, each other and marveled at the grand scale of Lake Superior. It really is an impressive, gorgeous lake. Although I could have stood there for hours, the day was getting on and we headed off to book a room at the Northern Rail, which is a hotel made from converted rail cars! We're in the Lighthouse Porter Suite, which faces the woods and is quaint as all hell. It's what you'd expect for "Up North" decor, and the general manager of the place is as friendly as can be.

We settled into our room, took a nice snuggly nap, then off to explore Two Harbors. We had a lovely walk where we saw 5 deer grazing along the lake that didn't seem disturbed by people in the least. There was a little lighthouse way out in the lake that had a cool gangway that everyone was walking along and even some guys out fishing on it, so we watched the sun setting as we strolled along. It was quite chilly, and the fresh, damp was refreshing. We opted for a simple dinner of sandwiches, fruit and Chex Mix from a local grocery instead of a heavy dinner. We're pretty tired of eating out already, so this morning's simple continental breakfast of oatmeal, bagels and muffins was appreciated.

There is reportedly a friendly wolf that scouts the area, but we didn't see him last night. Poo! I was so hoping to see a wolf up close! However, there are three little deer that were hanging around last night, and then again this morning they were out grazing on the lawn. I got tons of photos that I'll post as soon as John uploads them. He is currently snoozing with his glasses on, and though I'm tempted to join him, I get cranky if I nap too long, so I think I'll just meditate or read my Julia Golding book.

Anyway, it was brilliant to have a night's sleep without a heavy kitty weighing down my chest all night, and we're having a peaceful vacay. We've only got one more day, so we plan on driving up to Grand Marais to see the waterfalls, also hitting Goosebury Falls, Iona's Pink Stone Beach, and another place that I can't recall how to spell. Ok, more later!
Love & hugs to all :)
R&J

PS: We plan on doing a podcast later tonight!! I know you're all waiting with bated breath for that, nyuk-nyuk ;)

May 1&2

We're still hanging chill at home, so I thought I'd do a quick update of the past couple of days. We had a leisurely morning on Friday of simple breakkies, John went out for a run and then we took the car in for an oil change. After having a small lunch at Applebee's (using John's winning certificate courtesy of the Twins), we connected with our best pal Chris to go see Wolverine (not horrible, but not great, either) at the Rosedale cinema. Deciding it was best to not drive him home in rush hour traffic, we opted to hang at Leaning Tower of Pizza for some 'Za and sodas. Off to home where we were so pooped out and still stiff from the walk at the Arboretum, we crashed out watching the game on the couch and subsequently missed the public sky viewing at the astronomy lab that I'm sure was quite cool, the theme being "Galaxies & Dark Matter". We'll have to catch the next one.

May 2, our anniversary, started a little rocky for me. Vesta, our naughtly little monkey-cat, has this habit of walking on me all night long. So she's been really active the past 5 nights or so, and my crankiness at the lack of sleep just cannot be hidden at this point. So even though I meant to get up early and get a jump on the day (as I've been meaning to for the past 5 or so days) I was so freakin' tired I had to just sleep in. Although, I do remember Hubby coming in and singing the "Happy Anniversary" song to me that made my morning :)

When I finally did surface, Hubby was already planning another run (the man is a jogging machine lately! You go, my Love!) so I decided to do the Wii workout. John made us yummy smoothies and sammies, and we lazed around until 2 o'clock when we headed out to see our friend dance in the Festival of Nations! It was really cool, and I hadn't been to the FoN since my dad used to perform in it (many moons ago) and John had never been there. It's like the State Fair, but way better food and wares. We watched the Japanese, Egyptian, Hungarian, Scottish and Dutch dances at the main stage. Our friend danced in the Egyptian set and their troupe was excellent! She'd told us, "Sparkly ladies with canes!" and she was right; they were very sparkly! Of course, the Egyptians do it with such flash that it's hard to beat their routine :) Although, the Hungarian (and anything Balkan) routines have a special place in my heart since that was my dad's speciality.

I sampled Chicken Curry with Rice and Roti at the Pakistani booth while John went back to the Motherland (Norway) and sample the Viking in a Blanket (saugage in lefse). Later, we sampled the Samosa's from Somalia, very delectable! I love African spices, so earthy but not hot. We caught up with our sparkly cane lady in the food area and wandered around looking at the wares and wishing we all made more money with which to purchase cool stuff. We caught some musicians from India, Hungaria, Spain and Ireland who were all impressive. Then off to catch the Egyptians in their second (and different) dance set of the day. Again, awesome! After that the Chilean and Korean musicians played some incredible music that provoked almost every child seated to get up and start a furious little swirling dance reminiscent of a May Pole dance :) It was just cute.

Deciding that our anniversary celebration wasn't quite complete, we later went to The Loop for dinner to support our local neighborhood establishments. We enjoyed a very romantic dinner of walleye and chicken sammies (with, ahem, salad instead of fries) in a cushy booth, a cosmo martini & beer in hands, and marveled at our 11 years of marital bliss :) YAY!

Anyway, next post should be from Grand Marais! Whoo-hoo!