The Truth About Duluth

My sister Susan and I, along with her dog Blackberry, stayed at a Motel 6 in Duluth, Minnesota during our recent road trip, and I must say, I was really impressed with the city. It is located on a hillside overlooking Lake Superior, and features neighborhoods with large Victorian homes overlooking the water. It also has pretty parks lining the shore. I took the photograph on the left from the observation tower in Enger Park. I read about it on the internet, and was kind of surprised to find there were no signs leading to it. I just had to take various streets leading upwards until the entrance to the tower appeared.

On the last day of our stay, we drove along the lakefront and stopped at Leif Erickson Park, near the center of town. There is a beautiful rose garden there, although we were hesitant to enter it, since a sign said dogs were not allowed. Although Blackberry seems to think she is a real person, with all the rights that that entails, she actually is a dog. However, after seeing a number of local dog owners breaking that rule, we decided to walk along the path toward the waterfront, careful to stay off the rose garden itself, even though Blackberry would have enjoyed all those smells.

Along the lake is a path that seems to extend all along the shore. Next to it is a scenic railway line that heads north beyond the city, taking tourists past all the natural wonders of the area. As we headed back to the car, we spotted an old EMT ambulance, with "Neebish Island Misfits" prominently lettered along the side. It was parked right in front of a fire hydrant (naturally), and begged the question "What the hell?" I googled it later, and although I found Neebish Island, located in St. Mary's Channel between Lake Superior and Lake Huron, I saw no reference to it's misfits. They are probably ashamed of them. And one other thing - those fire plugs all have tall sticks attached to them. I assume that is so they can be located when the city is covered in snow. If so, it looks like they get a hell of a lot of it in the winter, which I suspect starts there in just a few weeks.

The previous evening, we had dinner on the patio of the Canal Park Brewing Company. We checked in, were told the wait for a table would be about 20 minutes, and that they would text us when a table was ready. We then went to sit on the breakwater, along the biking and walking path, just in front of their patio, as seen in the photograph on the right. After about half an hour, I checked back, and was told that they tried to text us twice. Evidently, they had put in the wrong phone number (I just hate texting, by the way), and so we wound up dining on the patio after sunset, which in September, in Duluth, can be a bit chilly. We had to be outside, since we had Blackberry, and the previous evening, as we were dining at the Tavern on the Hill, a really pleasant and lively place across the street from the University of Minnesota - Duluth, we got a phone call from the Motel 6 front desk telling us that Blackberry, who we left in the motel room, was constantly barking, and they were receiving many complaints. Not that Blackberry is spoiled or anything, but I had to drive back to the Motel 6, pick her up, and drive back to the restaurant, leaving her in the car. On the bright side, I had time to have two War Pigs Foggy Geezer IPAs. I wonder if I can pick up a six pack of that here in Denver? One can only hope.