FRIDAY 8-22-08

I woke up before 6am and heard rain. I got up and pulled in anything getting wet. I closed the windows and laid down a while. At 6:15 or so I cooked sausage and eggs and we cleaned up the boat and packed our stuff. Around 7:45 we left the island and headed to the lodge. It was still a long way away and took a long time. It was a cloudy dark day and we were sad to leave our boat on Birch Lake but talked about all the fun we had. We got to the lodge unloaded our stuff and settled up with the front desk.

They refunded the deposit and after gas ice and the boat rental our total was $1,004.00. We were amazed at what an amazing time we had for a grand. The owner gave us directions for a scenic dirt road drive and we took that to Lake Superior then drove down the coast of the worlds largest lake. We stopped every few minutes for a scenic overlook or lighthouse or waterfall.

The first overlook was some rail car thing and a mining town.The overlook was not very impressive but it was our first glimpse of the lake and fairly high. On a clear day it was rumored you could see Wisconsin.

Then we drove on to a nice marina in a bay.  The water was crystal clear and calm in the bay.

After exploring the area a bit we decided not to leave the path to hike to a huge rock and instead drove on to Beaver River and stopped to run along the rocks in a small waterfall.

The next stop was the Splitrock Lighthouse.

It was packed and $8 a person to see and take a tour so we looked through the trees and drove on. Just down the road was another state park for the Gooseberry Falls.
This was free, beautiful and lots of fun. We got to climb around the falls and find several of the various falls that were in the park.
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We played and explored for a while and the clouds moved aside for a bit and it got hot and sunny. On the way to the car I got really hungry and we drove to Twin Harbors and stopped at a bar and grill. It turned out to be more bar then grill ans so after our beers we passed on the frozen pizzas they served.  Our stomachs were drained and the one beer made us tipsy.  So Heath made sandwiches from our cooler in the car as I drove on. We stopped just before Duluth to watch the massive waves crash on the rocky shore.

Then we drove on to Duluth. H called hotels and I drove around the city. There were some really cool hotels in cool places but they had huge prices or no rooms. A Best western 1/2 mile from the touristy Canal area for $130 was the best deal we found.

We booked a room, parked and walked down to the water. There was a lot to do and going on. We watched their famous bridge go up and down and looked at the lighthouse there and explored the city for a few hours.

Then we went to the hotel and took hot long showers and took a nap. Then we got dressed up and headed back to the canal for dinner and drinks. It was sprinkling a bit but not enough to get us wet. We looked at menus on windows for a while. We did not want to eat at a chain that we have in KC and we were in the mood for more Walleye. (this is a local fish we tried at lunch in Babbitt) We ended up at Hell’s Kitchen. It has nothing to do w/ the TV show. This place was a goth decorated place 2 semi famous chefs ran together. I got a walleye BLT and Heath got a walleye quesadilla and we split them.

We tried out several of their special brews too. The food was good but not my taste and made my stomach feel strange. After dinner we walked some off and stayed out of the stronger rain by going through the shops. This bored the heck out f e so we headed to one of the many bars in the area named after Grandma. After a big beer I had Jack and Cokes and H had Mojitos. Then we walked most of the way back to the hotel and had a few more drinks at another bar before heading back tired and full of drinks.

We got a block from the hotel before we came to a side street that was closed. A bar had reserved the street to have a street party with a band and outside drinks and a huge crowd.
Well we could not pass this up and got more drinks. We danced and partied and wandered the area until the police shut down everything and reopened the street for traffic. Then we finally headed back to the hotel and crashed hard.