The end of June we decided to take a trip up to Duluth with our good friends Jim and Melissa (The Rothsteins) and we could not have asked for a more perfect trip! The weather was unbelievably gorgeous and everything truly was just perfect.
We left Thursday morning around 9 and made it to Duluth right at noon. I called around to see if places were making reservations and we decided to eat at The Silos right off of Canal Park. The restaurant is attached to a hotel that was built a few years ago. We were able to sit outside and it was actually very hot!
After lunch we walked around Canal Park and stopped at Grandmas Saloon for a drink. We decided to head to our resort which was about an hour and a half away, We stopped on the way at Larmont Cottages resort for a drink. We loved this place, the views were gorgeous and so were the cottages. We decided to mark this resort down to come back possibly next summer.
We stayed three nights in Beaver Bay at Cove Point Lodge. This pic was take from a point that we hiked to every morning. We really liked this resort, but with COVID, things were definitely different. There was no housekeeping service, so we took all dirty towels and garbage into bins in the hallway. They would leave us a bag of toiletries and fresh towels every morning. There was also no air conditioning, which normally would be ok since you typically get a cool breeze from the lake. Not this week, it was HOT and not much of a breeze.
Every morning Brad and I would be up around 5:30-6, we'd make coffee and head out to sit by the lake. You can see the point that we would hike out to in the mornings.
The sunrises were amazing.
The North Shore is my happy place. I would rather come up here than anywhere else. This is where we vacationed when I was growing up, where Brad and I honeymooned, spent our 10 year anniversary, a couple trips with our girls and when I surprised him with a 4 day trip in January a few years back. There is something magical about the North Shore and Lake Superior.
Of course I found my heart! Not sure if I've blogged about this before, but a few years ago I was having one of those "weeks" where everything seemed to go wrong times ten. I finally sat in my room and cried out to God asking if he ever listened to me. I walked outside and right in front of the door was a leaf in a shape of a heart. Ever since then, I find hearts EVERYWHERE! And the best part is that the girls and even friends will find a heart and text it to me.
On Saturday we decided to drive up to Grand Marais and do some hiking/shopping.
We took a 2 mile hike to Devils Kettle just beofre Grand Marais, and it was incredible! The hike there isn't too hard, but there are about 200 steps, so the way back was ROUGH!!
Devils Kettle is 2 waterfalls, the one of the left actually goes into a hole that I believe empties out in a river down the road and into Lake Superior. It's so freaking cool!
Melissa and I got lots of compliments on our "MinneSorta Nice" tshirts!
After the hike we drove into Grand Marais and had lunch at the Gunflint Tavern which we had eaten at in the past. This time was a bit different as there weren't any waitresses, so we ordered food online and had to pick it up. It was a bit of a cluster, but the view made up for it!
Coming back from Grand Marais we found a winery in Lutsen, so of course we stopped! You did need reservations, but we were able to grab a table for 45 minutes. The wine was delicious and again sat outside and it was just gorgeous. After the winery we stopped at the chalet in Lutsen for a drink, but service was terrible, so we left after one.
We got back to our hotel and ordered pizza and ate in the lobby by the fireplace and enjoyed a few glasses of wine.
These 4 days were absolutely incredible, and I'm SO grateful we were able to make it work!
