I could live in Duluth.
Yes, I had my doubts, and my very first impression left me a little disappointed- all I saw was an industrial town with scrap yards and quarries. But soon, this city of 86,000 had my heart.
Duluth, Minnesota borders Lake Superior and supplies an absolutely stunning view. From the beaches, the opposite side of the lake is out of sight. The sand is fine and soft and I knew immediately I could spend many days relaxing there. When Noah and I first arrived, we parked the car and walked to the lighthouse. The weather was gorgeous- probably in the 50's and we enjoyed the silence of the lake together and eventually ventured to the beach. We threw some driftwood into the water and (Noah) jumped on some ice. This was also the day that I became a true Duluth-ian when I flung sand into the lake in the traditional fashion.
After a couple of hours running around the beach, we checked into our motel- the Downtown Duluth Motel. Not to that say Noah has bad taste, but the outside of this place looked like the setting for one or two shady business deals. However, the room itself was surprisingly nice and we didn't run into any trouble during our stay. That evening, we took a walk through the city and I got the feeling I was walking in downtown Des Moines. Buildings stood tall on either side of me and a few shops filled the corners. It felt like home for me! When we crossed over the interstate into "tourist country" I suddenly felt as though I was on Main Street Ames and this was when I really fell in love. Duluth somehow had managed to combine my beach-town-dream-home, the comforts of a small town , and the familiar big city feel. The main strip was home to several beautiful lakeside hotels, some trinket shops, some bars, and a few restaurants- including Famous Dave's, so you know I'm down! We walked around for a while and finally decided that we should stop in at the Canal Park Brewing Company. Noah enjoyed the Nut Hatchet- 3rd place winner in the 2014 World Beer Cup, and I had a brew with a name nearly unpronounceable: the Neoprenanzug Malfunction. It was a German wheat beer. Anyone who's curious about some local brews should definitely check out the CPBC if they find themselves in the area! On our way back, we even snuck into the Inn on Lake Superior to have a few s'mores- don't worry folks. We paid to sleep there the next night, we were really only borrowing in advance!
The next morning we found ourselves facing a snow storm- huge, giant snowflakes were falling from the sky, creating a beautiful scene over the city and the lake. However, your truly was not too excited for this turn in weather. Noah however was ecstatic, and he decided this would be the proper time to take me to Chester's Bowl- a ski resort in the winter that turns into quite the trek when closed. Let me tell you, climbing a ski hill is more challenging than it looks, and yes, I'm being a baby about this. But the view from the top and moment of silence we enjoyed was worth it. It was still lightly snowing, so we couldn't see far, but up almost above the tree line was a pretty cool place to be standing. If it had been more clear, I'm pretty sure the lake would have been visible. We ate a picnic lunch in the car and took the scenic route- Skyline Highway back into town. The highway took us through the hills and around some very scenic outlooks that reminded me of my trip to Colorado- only instead of mountainous valleys, there were lots of homes. Still, a very beautiful afternoon, and afterwards we checked into the Inn. This place was gorgeous and I am absolutely thankful for the money Noah spent to stay there. The Inn features a rooftop heated pool which we definitely took advantage of later that night- man was it hard to get out!
Noah and I were both fairly tired by this point in our trip- we had spent most of our time outside wandering around, so we decided a trip to the beach to watch the sunset would be a perfect way to relax before heading in for the night. So out we went, at about 6:00. We had about an hour of good daylight left and he wanted to take me to Park Point, a place he remembered from previous family vacations. We tried searching the internet, but couldn't quite find the place, so we decided to just drive in the general direction. At one point, Noah decided to turn off onto a residential road, which we discovered only had two or three houses on either side. The road ended in a dead-end sand pit: can you see where this is going? We were doing fine but then we slowed down and as the front end dug deeper and we lost traction, we both knew we had made a huge mistake. A couple of back and forth maneuvers and we were stuck fast. We learned quickly that snow and sand are two completely different things to remove a car from. We dug for about 30 minutes before we decided it was time to ask for help from the neighbors. We struck out immediately, and for his part, Noah remained optimistic. I have to take a moment here to say that I am very proud of the way Noah handled me and the entire situation. Though he had just as much of a clue as I did on how to get us out, he was calm, cool, and collected. When I entered meltdown mode, he took my hands and let me sit in the car to breathe it out. He never once snapped at me and as much as I'm sure he was anxious, he kept a good face. We eventually did get the attention of an area resident who, without his help, I'm sure we would still be stuck. Although David gave me the feeling he might in fact be a murderer, he supplied us with some carpet, pine branches, and cardboard that eventually got us out of the pit. Two and a half hours later, having completely missed our sunset, we parked the car on safe pavement and walked over the small hill keeping us from the lake at the end of 22nd Street. We sat on the beach and watched the water, exhausted from the digging and thankful we weren't kidnapped and locked in David's basement...or maybe that last part was just me. When we made it back to the hotel, we rinsed off the sand and spent a couple of well deserved hours in the sauna and heated pool. At 10 o'clock we ordered Domino's pizza for dinner, and let me tell you, that was the best damn delivery pizza I've ever had. We definitely slept well that night, and not just because of the king size bed.
On Monday morning Noah had scheduled a tour with the Altec plant there in town. Altec is the company he has a current internship at, and he has a pretty good shot at getting a job offer next Spring. We toured the facility early that morning- which went very well- and even found an old railroad bridge to climb around on afterwards. Since we had checked out of the hotel, we decided to try our luck at Park Point again. This time we found it, and we spent a couple hours running around, playing in the water, jumping on ice floats, and getting covered in sand. Again the weather was perfect, but we had one more thing on our vacation wish list to accomplish. We headed to Goodwill and each found ridiculous shirts, then made our way back to the beach to literally roll around in the sand. We wanted memories made in these shirts, so any time we wear them, we think of that time. This was Noah's idea, and I don't know about you, but I thought it was pretty sweet. We left Duluth that afternoon, right as it started to rain. We probably couldn't have planned it better if we tried.
Of course we spent time just laying around in the hotel, doing nothing, it was vacation after all, but Noah and I share at least one thing in common: we like to be adventurous. We spent so much time outside and I know we didn't even scratch the surface of all the nooks and crannies to explore. We walked along the boardwalk one evening, and one afternoon we just drove around the neighborhoods pointing out houses we'd like to live in. We found a thrift shop and fantastic bakery hidden among the houses, and there's even and Electric Fetus in town!
Despite the fact the Duluth is seated in Northern Minnesota, I know I could live there. I'm not sure how I know, but the place felt like a home to me almost immediately. I could see myself walking through the city, or driving in the hills on a fall day taking in the scenery, or relaxing on the beach on a summer afternoon. Something about the atmosphere called to me more than anything, and above all, I loved it apart from Noah. Being there with him was amazing and I can see our lives there, but it wasn't his company that made my decision. I loved Duluth for my own reasons and I absolutely can't wait to go back.
