Duluth, Minnesota

After North Dakota, I knew I was headed Minneapolis, but first needed to kill a few days somewhere else in Minnesota. So, I pulled up Google Maps, looked to find city name I recognized & that was east of Fargo. Hello Duluth! Needless to say, I knew nothing about it prior to my arrival.

Getting there from Fargo was fun, as it involved a transfer to this little fella for the final segment into Duluth:

The jump seat in back, amongst the luggage, was open, so why not‽

The driver really could t understand why I wanted to sit there, and kept yelling back to check on me during the drive.

Things started off nicely in Duluth, as they had a pristine bus station right in the center of town:

But, yikes, downtown clearly peaked many, many years ago.

All the buildings were stone & brick & strong, but wow did they look and feel old, and whole blocks were just deserted of establishments & people (I didn’t do a good job of capturing this in my pics 🤷).

I was excited, as I was going to be staying in my first hostel on this #workabout, but that also was grim looking from the outside, but had some charm inside:

Duluth is at the southwest end of Lake Superior, and the big landmark in town is the Aerial Lift Bridge:

It dominates the city, and you see it from everywhere. The “modern” part of town is right next to the bridge:

The area is sooo touristy (yep, Duluth is a tourist town!), though, so I didn’t spend much time there. The lake itself is huge & pretty enough:

Downtown is at the end of the lake, and then there’s a big ridge behind downtown:

When you’re up on the ridge, the lake becomes the dominant feature. When I first saw this, I though it was an airplane, not a boat:

Although all the buildings in town were old, there were some gems:

The library was also great:

But I kinda felt like I was sitting on the bridge of the Enterprise:

But I’m not sure I’ve ever seen an more industrial looking city:

The Lincoln Park neighborhood was great, though, with a nicely refurbished main streets with the requisite lovely shops, restaurants, and brew pubs:

Speaking of, the brew pubs are crazy with cannabis/THC, selling gummies at the bars, and even putting it in their brews:

Maybe I’ve heard of Duluth because their curling team is “famous”?

Anyway, I had a nice enough time in Duluth, as long I kept my expectations low, and focused on nostalgia:

From the owner of this joint after I told him I loved his chili dogs: “Stop on by again next time you’re back; we’ll be here.”