Friday, November 14, 2008

Travel Tuesday... Friday, November 14th

I don't remember if I mentioned earlier that Christopher and I were heading "Up Nort" this weekend. If you're not from Minnesota, you should know that "Up Nort" is simply Minnesotan for "Up North"--meaning somewhere in the upper third of the state. In fact, after 4 or so hours of driving, yesterday, we landed in Tofte--a very small town right on the North Shore of Lake Superior.

We stopped in Duluth along the way to get lunch at Grandma's restaurant (an institution in Minnesota--and host of an annual marathon, although I can't imagine running a marathon after eating off their menu!), then walked over to watch a 730-foot-long ship come through into the port under the lift bridge. (Okay... that was a lot cooler than it sounds.)

After we checked in, we stopped at a local grocery store for a few provisions (including a frozen pizza) so that we could settle into our home for the weekend. We're basically in a one-bedroom apartment, so we've got a full kitchen, a fireplace, and a small deck which faces east. Lake Superior is about 30 feet from our deck, so we could hear the waves crashing even after it got too dark to see them.

We also partook of one of the bizarre pleasures of this part of the world around 7:30 last night: Sitting in a whirlpool tub--outdoors--when it was only about 40 degrees out. The full moon had just come out, and the sheltered (there are glass walls around the pool area) tub was giving off clouds of steam. I usually get overheated in hot tubs, but whenever I'd start to feel that way, I'd just put my arms out on the sides and cool down right away. It was amazing. 

We came back to our apartment and stoked up the fire and listened to the waves...

This morning we actually set an alarm so that we could be up in time to watch the sunrise. Christopher has stayed here before and has told me about doing this. Personally, I thought he was insane to get up at 6:30 when on vacation, but this morning as the sun broke through the clouds I completely understood.

Today we're headed even farther north. We're not planning to go as far as Thunder Bay, Ontario, but we both have our passports, just in case. 

I'll let you know how it turns out when I get a chance to write my next Travel Tuesday report... possibly a Saturday one.

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