Many times, over the Fourth of July we go up North with friends to Turtle Lake, but for a variety of reasons that was not happening, so we decided to go to Duluth for the weekend. We've been meaning to go forever, and the Brewery Passport we have been working on really motivated us as there are a few places in the book in this area.
This is long overdue and I did not take many notes, so details are going to be sketchy, but I wanted to post the information and photos I do have.
We stopped at Gordy's Hi Hat in Cloquet for lunch. First time. Bit of a line, but went quickly and food didn't take that long.
The burgers were great, I was not crazy about the onion rings or the fries. The onion rings were really greasy.
We checked into the hotel, the Radisson in downtown Duluth. Supposedly it has been remodeled, but it still needs work. I'm going to leave it at that. They do allow pets, which is nice, but we were relegated to the annex rooms in the back, so no lake view for us. Or King bed. Boo. I used hotel points for most of the nights and ended up getting my points back for one night, which was nice.
Stopped at Bent Paddle brewing for a Brewery Passport stamp.
Finger's brewhouse. She great beers that no one really ever talks about. I loved the apricot wheat.
We sat on the pier at Fitger's overlooking the lake an enjoyed some food and beverages.
tuna tartare
It rained pretty hard for awhile so we went back to the hotel to get Maya. Once the rain let up we went down to Canal Park and sat on the patio at Canal Park Brewing.
some more snacks
I think we called it a day after Canal park Brewing, plus it was kind of challenge to have Maya along as she did not enjoy being in the hotel room alone very much. Let's just say we visited Duluth's dog parks frequently.
For breakfast, we went to Duluth Grill. This place is worth the wait and as good as everyone says it is.
excellent sourdough toast
breakfast melt sandwich
After breakfast, we collected Maya, packed up the car and drove up the North shore to Grand Marais. It was a very pretty drive, though the weather got colder and rainier the farther north we went.
Asian wings
pork sliders
We had lunch and beverages at Voyageur Brewing Company, which was also dog friendly.
Donuts at Wold's Best Donuts n Grand Marais
We stopped at Gooseberry Falls for a little hike
We made one last brewery stop at Castle Danger brewing. I don't think it was in the passport, but their beers are all over in Duluth and quite good.
We dropped off Maya at the hotel and went over to the Anchor Bar for burgers. It is an interesting little place, and the burgers are the real deal. Fresh cut fries too.
I think we called it a day after burgers and all of the fresh air.
Sunday morning we headed to At Sara's Table at Chester Creek for breakfast. Breakfast burrito for John.
Hippy breakfast for me- it was basically scrambled eggs with potatoes on the side. After breakfast we walked around Canal park, but it was a lot busier down there than when we arrived on Friday.
We grabbed lunch at Sir Benedict's, up by Fitger's.
Maya got tired out from all the action and excitement. It is hard to get her tired sometimes!
We sat on the patio at the Blind Pig as they had live music inside and it was pretty loud.
This pretzel was huge....
The rathskeller under the Blind Pig. Apparently it is an old jail and haunted. It is certainly dark and creepy. We stopped in at the casino across the street as well, but it was super smoky and rather sad. They did have a few table games though.
View from the overlook rest area on the way out of town.
We had a great time in Duluth, and even Maya enjoyed it a lot. The dog parks in Duluth leave a bit to be desired though and I think next time around just one or two nights will be enough.
