Eric's airplane pulled into MSP late on Monday night, August 23. I was SO excited for him to be home and had even stayed up til 3 am the night before to get some remaining check list items completed.We had a busy week planned already, beginning with an anniversary trip to the north shore. We were lucky enough to pick the time of year that offered some great 'end of summer' specials on places to stay, so we splurged a little and upgraded to the 1 bedroom condo with a jacuzzi and full kitchen. It's located in the Lutsen ski hill area, a few miles off of the Lake Superior coast line, so it might not be as heavily sought after either (nobody is skiing in August!)
Tuesday morning we set out on our trip with our first destination being Milaca to have Eric meet his new niece and nephew. We had fun visiting and also some quality time holding/smooching the babies. :)
After adequate cuddling time was achieved (and crap started hitting the fan...) we hit the road to the north shore.
We arrived to our room kind of late because we stopped and ate in Canal park in Duluth on our way. We also grabbed a few groceries to enjoy in our 'remote' area, and to utilize our kitchen. Eric is rather prone to getting on 'kicks' with things, so he was set that we had to pick up what he had been eating for breakfast in Germany for the past five weeks. Rolls with honey and/or Nutella on them. Nutella is mildly ridiculous, its like eating pureed Reese's cups and calling it a breakfast food. He also wanted black tea for the morning... (who is this guy!?) Hilarious.Nonetheless we got to our room and I was disappointed to find that it was too late to use the jacuzzi, since it was noisy for other guests (hotel policy). After whining a little, we crashed in our king size bed with the windows letting in the crisp north shore air.
(click picture to see enlarged)
In the morning we had rolls and nutella, and hit the road toward Grand Marais. A few hours had lapsed, so we were ready for 'the World's Best Donuts' once we got to Grand Marais.
We checked out a few shops and eventually ventured out to our destination, the Gunflint Trail.
We spent most of the day driving up the trail which is roughly 60 miles one way. It got to be more and more remote, so we were constantly on the lookout for moose and other wildlife. The trail ends when it reaches the Boundary Water limits, so we got to see quite a bit of scenery without having to canoe. :) After stopping at a couple lookout points, a small museum and a designated 'moose viewing area' we had used up most of the day. We went back toward Grand Marais to eat dinner and enjoy the coastline at sunset.
We intentionally got back to our hotel with enough time to use the hot tub and eat some anniversary cheesecake. We even pulled the TV over in front of the jacuzzi and ate our cheesecake in the tub while watching a movie. Pretty much a dream come true. hehe
Cheesecake Factory 'chocolate mousse' cheesecake
Day three, we packed up and headed back down south to make a few more stops. We ended up at a lot of places we went last year, but had fun revisiting them. We started at the Palisade Head cliff, stopped at Gooseberry Falls, hit Betty's pies, and eventually checked out Enger tower's hilltop view of Duluth before heading home.
It was a very fun trip, and we were so glad to be able to celebrate our anniversary with Eric back in the US. This North shore thing is beginning to make itself a yearly habit, we'll see what the next year brings!
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