why is MN the best place ever for bike riding. it really is.
― LA river flood (lukas), Wednesday, 28 July 2010 20:23 (fourteen years ago) link
it feels kind of ancient, the north shore makes you feel small
― then an image appeared: a pizza pie (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 28 July 2010 20:23 (fourteen years ago) link
check out some of the city's awesome hiking/biking trails, they're f'n everywhere
― Danny Dyer (dan m), Wednesday, 28 July 2010 20:24 (fourteen years ago) link
i need to do more "real" road biking in mn
― pies. (gbx), Wednesday, 28 July 2010 20:24 (fourteen years ago) link
the path up the shore basically follows the path of 61
― Danny Dyer (dan m), Wednesday, 28 July 2010 20:25 (fourteen years ago) link
oh shit for real?
*googles*
― pies. (gbx), Wednesday, 28 July 2010 20:25 (fourteen years ago) link
I think it's a rails-to-trails thing, it goes a looong way. Also the path of the Grandma's marathon iirc.
is fitzgers the super old restaurant, like 100 yrs old, that has the mural/border around the tops of the walls that has the cool fox hunting painting all around?
― then an image appeared: a pizza pie (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 28 July 2010 20:25 (fourteen years ago) link
I think that might be the Pickwick, but I am not sure. Fitger's is a hotel/brewery/restaurant/store complex.
― Danny Dyer (dan m), Wednesday, 28 July 2010 20:26 (fourteen years ago) link
We went on a family vacation to Duluth and all we did was sit in our hotel watching Reagan getting shot, etc.
School friend had cabin by Two Harbors, totally gorgeous.
― stoic newington (suzy), Wednesday, 28 July 2010 20:26 (fourteen years ago) link
if there was better economic opportunity in Duluth I would srsly consider moving there
― Danny Dyer (dan m), Wednesday, 28 July 2010 20:27 (fourteen years ago) link
great place to watch a president get shot IMO
― then an image appeared: a pizza pie (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 28 July 2010 20:27 (fourteen years ago) link
they have their own branch of Pizza Luce too
― Danny Dyer (dan m), Wednesday, 28 July 2010 20:28 (fourteen years ago) link
hmmm
i thought about doing a rotation up there, just to check it out.
i'm thinking about residency already, and while part of me wants to peace out from MN again and move to either NM or the PacNW, another part is like "fuck it, stay here," and is considering duluth as a possible target
― pies. (gbx), Wednesday, 28 July 2010 20:29 (fourteen years ago) link
Fitgers is in fact totally awesome! Never would have remembered the name, but its in kind of a biggish complex on the main drag, right? kinda reminded me of a factory tall ceilings etc maybe?
― CHEESECAKE VOTING FRUIT HATING SCUM (jjjusten), Wednesday, 28 July 2010 20:30 (fourteen years ago) link
there are a surprising number of hospitals for a town of 80k
― Danny Dyer (dan m), Wednesday, 28 July 2010 20:30 (fourteen years ago) link
welcome to minnesota
― pies. (gbx), Wednesday, 28 July 2010 20:30 (fourteen years ago) link
oh man so many bizarro awesome things in the vicinity too. Devils cauldron! Magnetic Rock! Eagle Mountain!
― CHEESECAKE VOTING FRUIT HATING SCUM (jjjusten), Wednesday, 28 July 2010 20:31 (fourteen years ago) link
it (Fitger's) was originally a brewery, now houses a brewpub + other stuff
full disclosure: my gf works there, for another month or so at least
― Danny Dyer (dan m), Wednesday, 28 July 2010 20:31 (fourteen years ago) link
oh duh, devils kettle, not cauldron
― CHEESECAKE VOTING FRUIT HATING SCUM (jjjusten), Wednesday, 28 July 2010 20:34 (fourteen years ago) link
get smoked fishes here
― Danny Dyer (dan m), Wednesday, 28 July 2010 20:35 (fourteen years ago) link
I was thinking of the Pickwick, not Fitzgers...the Pickwick is the super old restaurant...pretty midwest "supper club" food but still it's reaaally cool inside...here's a detail of the stuff around the ceiling I was talking about:
http://countrymouse.blogharbor.com/_photos/Duluth%20Horns%20Pickwick%20Pub.jpg
― then an image appeared: a pizza pie (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 28 July 2010 20:39 (fourteen years ago) link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judge_C._R._Magney_State_Park#The_Devil.27s_Kettle
more info about devils kettle. hooray for bizarre outdoorsy crap!
― CHEESECAKE VOTING FRUIT HATING SCUM (jjjusten), Wednesday, 28 July 2010 20:44 (fourteen years ago) link
magnetic rock:
The trail goes through a burn area over exposed bedrock, then to deep woods and a strange looking monolithic rock with magnetic properties. Under normal circumstances, a glacial erratic (a boulder dropped from a glacial ice sheet) wouldn’t get much attention in Minnesota. They are, after all, just big rocks that you can find almost everywhere, including in people’s front yards. But this one is special, not just for its magnetic properties, but also for its appearance. The rock’s dimensions are 10 by 20 by 30 feet and it is shaped like a big monument that seems to have dropped out of the sky. Multi-colored lichens cover the rock’s surface giving it various shades of yellow and orange. Its magnetism comes from the mineral magnetite, common to the underlying bedrock of the Gunflint Iron Formation. Special attractions: The rock (bring a compass to test out its magnetic properties) and wildlife.
― CHEESECAKE VOTING FRUIT HATING SCUM (jjjusten), Wednesday, 28 July 2010 20:57 (fourteen years ago) link
I was going to go to a minor-league baseball game last time I was there (Duluth Huskies, iirc?) but it was rained out. 'Sposed to be a really fun, cheap, drunk (if you want) time.
― Danny Dyer (dan m), Wednesday, 28 July 2010 21:00 (fourteen years ago) link
Also the 2-3 universities in the area lead to a lot of good house shows/small-venue music.
^^^see that's what i assumed? like, city of 85k that is a college town has to be sorta fun, right? though tbh what is there other than UMD?
― pies. (gbx), Wednesday, 28 July 2010 21:01 (fourteen years ago) link
concordia?
St. Scholastica, I think? and UW-Superior (OK, not actually in Duluth, but cmon)
― Danny Dyer (dan m), Wednesday, 28 July 2010 21:02 (fourteen years ago) link
Soup-town is like Duluth's little brother, that also happens to sell liquor later
every show i've played in duluth w/a band has been really strange and interesting
― then an image appeared: a pizza pie (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 28 July 2010 21:05 (fourteen years ago) link
if you like giganitic mechanical things there are regularly 1000-ft lake freighters to gawk at + a museum made out of a retired ship
xp oh man I wonder if you have played with my gf's band or any of her friends... I've seen some really strange and interesting stuff there too
― Danny Dyer (dan m), Wednesday, 28 July 2010 21:05 (fourteen years ago) link
that reminds me: Homegrown Music Festival in May is a rockin' good time
― Danny Dyer (dan m), Wednesday, 28 July 2010 21:06 (fourteen years ago) link
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3206/2989273455_effcaa7318_o.jpghttp://farm4.static.flickr.com/3132/3132627578_897e35950d.jpg
ok now note dude in front of rock to establish scale
http://www.ntoddblog.org/photos/minnesota/magneticrocke.jpg
― CHEESECAKE VOTING FRUIT HATING SCUM (jjjusten), Wednesday, 28 July 2010 21:08 (fourteen years ago) link
sorry i have become distracted by "weird shit in northern MN that has nothing to do w/duluth itself" ill stop now
neato!
― pies. (gbx), Wednesday, 28 July 2010 21:13 (fourteen years ago) link
Who is the H.P. Lovecraft of Duluth?
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 28 July 2010 21:15 (fourteen years ago) link
that guy
― goole, Wednesday, 28 July 2010 21:17 (fourteen years ago) link
i've always been curious about the band Father Hennepin, which i think was Starfire's band (the Starfire from the Low song)
― then an image appeared: a pizza pie (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 28 July 2010 21:19 (fourteen years ago) link
idk re lovecraft, but the good old Glensheen Mansion is good for some creepy creepy times.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glensheen_Historic_Estate
it is also crazy huge, and pretty well preserved. The furniture (attn museum curator dorks) is almost entirely the original stuff from 1908, not repros.
― CHEESECAKE VOTING FRUIT HATING SCUM (jjjusten), Wednesday, 28 July 2010 21:23 (fourteen years ago) link
^^^the whole street that place is on is amazing, big big houses overlooking the lake
― Danny Dyer (dan m), Wednesday, 28 July 2010 21:25 (fourteen years ago) link
I love Duluth. I love being able to walk 4 blocks up a steep, steep grade and feel like I've gotten a good workout. I love the eccentric used bookstore. I love feeling like I'm in 1870s San Francisco. I love the Electric Foetus. I love that rocky, rocky beach just north of the Glensheen Mansion. I could spend hours there. Love it when the water turns rusty from taconite, and when the ice piles up on the shore. Ahhhhahahahhhahhahahh.
― gato busca pleitos (Eazy), Wednesday, 28 July 2010 21:28 (fourteen years ago) link
Used to go there every summer to visit grandparents and uncles ... iirc Grandma on one occasion had to chase a bear out of her garden (inside the city limits)
― Brad C., Wednesday, 28 July 2010 21:29 (fourteen years ago) link
was wondering why you weren't on this thread yet tbh eazy
― Danny Dyer (dan m), Wednesday, 28 July 2010 21:29 (fourteen years ago) link
Been busy, but now I'm daydreaming.
When I was in fifth grade, I wrote an 11-page heist drama that ended with a car chase, and the "bad guys" driving toward the Lift Bridge while it was raised, and, Smokey-and-the-Bandit-style, splashing into Lake Superior.
― gato busca pleitos (Eazy), Wednesday, 28 July 2010 21:32 (fourteen years ago) link
http://image66.webshots.com/666/7/5/98/2658705980027605543BIhNqg_ph.jpg
― Danny Dyer (dan m), Wednesday, 28 July 2010 21:33 (fourteen years ago) link
stupid broken image
http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/9524/lastplaceonearth.jpg
― Danny Dyer (dan m), Wednesday, 28 July 2010 21:35 (fourteen years ago) link
Haha, yes, that's my impression of downtown Duluth, on that stretch near the casino.
― gato busca pleitos (Eazy), Wednesday, 28 July 2010 21:49 (fourteen years ago) link
oh yeah the crazy multibuilding bookstore is kinda unhinged and insane
i really need to get back up there soon
― CHEESECAKE VOTING FRUIT HATING SCUM (jjjusten), Wednesday, 28 July 2010 22:28 (fourteen years ago) link
~road trip~
― pies. (gbx), Wednesday, 28 July 2010 22:33 (fourteen years ago) link
apologies, it was not cloquet. it was proctor
i guess i do have duluth related insights, my dad grew up there, and his father worked on the railroad in proctor, which sounds like basically an alien existence to me. i never knew my grandpa particularly well and most of the memories i have of him were being scared of him. anyway, when he retired, with no musical background he ended up buying some kind of electric organ. after he passed and they were cleaning out his belongings, someone found a cassette tape he'd made. it opened with his creaky old voice announcing 'this... is my music...'. followed by ten to fifteen minutes of straight up drone music. i know i've heard this tape once, i know someone has it somewhere. i really really need to find and acquire this recording of grandfather folk-drone
― global tetrahedron, Tuesday, 1 February 2022 15:39 (two years ago) link
xxpDoesn't matter how hot it gets in Duluth, it's air-conditioned!
― nickn, Tuesday, 1 February 2022 17:20 (two years ago) link
It's hard for me to equate 'climate refugees' with current tech workers who probably make their own keffir
― Andy the Grasshopper, Tuesday, 1 February 2022 17:29 (two years ago) link
lol
Awesome Final Jeopardy answer today. All 3 contestants got it WRONG. 2 guessed Green Bay, and the other Minneapolis. Not bad guesses, but no. pic.twitter.com/GxtC7zk6Nv— Bruce McGuire (@dunord) February 15, 2022
― underminer of twenty years of excellent contribution to this borad (dan m), Tuesday, 15 February 2022 02:20 (two years ago) link
I disagree btw, Minneapolis is a bad guess
― underminer of twenty years of excellent contribution to this borad (dan m), Tuesday, 15 February 2022 02:21 (two years ago) link
yeah who the hell thinks minneapolis is on the great lakes?
that said i don't think i would have gotten it right.
― call all destroyer, Tuesday, 15 February 2022 02:35 (two years ago) link
I got my first vaccine shot last March in Duluth (no MN residency required) and explored the city for the first time in 15-20 years. Had no idea about the cool distillery/BBQ/taproom district that had sprung up since then.
― deep luminous trombone (Eazy), Tuesday, 15 February 2022 22:54 (two years ago) link
Yeah the west side of town is on the come up for sure.
― underminer of twenty years of excellent contribution to this borad (dan m), Wednesday, 16 February 2022 01:10 (two years ago) link
anyone know what the deal is with the Cargills buying up property on park point
― gbx, Wednesday, 20 March 2024 22:56 (six months ago) link
they are billionaires and terrible people who are going to build some ugly shit hole compound is the sense I get
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 20 March 2024 23:07 (six months ago) link
like are they buying the whole thing, it's nuts
― gbx, Wednesday, 20 March 2024 23:50 (six months ago) link
Similar to the Monaco real estate guy buying up more than 13 properties in Carmel, CA.
I think I've only driven around Park Point, usually just to the end and then turning around, maybe gone to the beach there once.
― paisley got boring (Eazy), Thursday, 21 March 2024 00:03 (six months ago) link
My wife is running the Grandma's Marathon in Duluth in June. We've never been. We're staying in the Lincoln Park area. Any current recommendations for dining? Looking for something casual and comfortable for Saturday night after the marathon. Breweries/Brewpubs with good food would work for this or at other times as well.
I'm also going back through the thread. I am way more excited than I was originally seeing all the enthusiasm for the city. Thanks in advance.
― il lavoro mi rovina la giornata (PBKR), Sunday, 31 March 2024 21:24 (five months ago) link
Fellow Brit I bumped into here in Rochester MN sent me some recommendations he'd given some friends, if we were ever up Duluth way too. Dunno if it's any use but it's what I have.
https://www.vabenecaffe.com/https://northernwaterssmokehaus.comhttps://www.bettyspies.com/https://fitgers.com/restaurants-nightlife/
― continue without dissembling (Matt #2), Sunday, 31 March 2024 22:41 (five months ago) link
Va Bene is great, and hanging right over the lake. New Scenic Cafe is fantastic, but a little ways north up Highway 61. Duluth Grill is just south of town and nearly a mandatory stop for our family when we're heading that way. Love Fitgers for the old school vibe.
― bulb after bulb, Sunday, 31 March 2024 22:52 (five months ago) link
Thanks for the recommendations. Looks like some fun places. For Fitgers, which restaurant do you recommend?
― il lavoro mi rovina la giornata (PBKR), Monday, 1 April 2024 10:58 (five months ago) link
We're a month out from being in Duluth. It looks like we are going to rent a car so I think we're going to do the drive up the North Shore one day. We will probably try to hit Glensheen Mansion as well. I am excited!
Still figuring out dinner the night before the marathon. We might try OMC Smokehouse out of convenience (right next to our hotel). Might be ok, but my wife prefers a cleaner meal (chicken breast, sweet potato, and greens) for pre-race dinner. Any deli/marketplace in that will have grilled chicken or other foods for takeaway that could be reheated in our hotel microwave/oven?
(Maybe I should just be less self-conscious about cooking in the hotel room?)
There are so many breweries and barbecue places (this is excellent)!
― il lavoro mi rovina la giornata (PBKR), Sunday, 19 May 2024 11:55 (four months ago) link
*deli/marketplace in Lincoln Park area*
― il lavoro mi rovina la giornata (PBKR), Sunday, 19 May 2024 11:56 (four months ago) link
Dunno exactly how close it would be but Whole Foods Co-op (not that Whole Foods) is my first inclination for something like that.
― underminer of twenty years of excellent contribution to this borad (dan m), Sunday, 19 May 2024 13:32 (four months ago) link
Fitger's for local beerUncle Loui's Cafe for breakfastWhole Foods Co-op for food (note: not an actual Whole Foods, but an actual co-op)The Scenic Cafe for fancy dinnersZeitgeist for cocktails
― Danny Dyer (dan m), Wednesday, July 28, 2010 3:20 PM (thirteen years ago) bookmarkflaglink
Evergreen joek
― underminer of twenty years of excellent contribution to this borad (dan m), Sunday, 19 May 2024 13:33 (four months ago) link
Thanks! Whole Foods Co-Op doesn't look that far by car.
By any chance do you know how crazy the area around the finish line in Canal Park gets (closed streets, congestion, etc.)? In other words, how far might one have to walk to get an Uber or cab?
― il lavoro mi rovina la giornata (PBKR), Sunday, 19 May 2024 16:08 (four months ago) link
I was never around for the marathon but I would imagine it's very busy.
― underminer of twenty years of excellent contribution to this borad (dan m), Sunday, 19 May 2024 17:54 (four months ago) link
Thanks. Hope my wife is able to walk afterwards!
― il lavoro mi rovina la giornata (PBKR), Monday, 20 May 2024 01:14 (four months ago) link
We had one of those perfect vacation days in and around Duluth filled to the brim with new experiences. We had a hearty breakfast at Duluth Grill (multigrain pancakes had such a satisfying texture), drove up to Enger Park for the views, stopped by Bob Dylan's childhood home for a few quick photos, and drove out to Park Point and walked on the beach. Then we left Duluth and drove up Scenic Highway 61 listening to Highway 61 Revisited (yes, I am a cornball) and marveled at the foxgloves the entire way. We went to the Split Rock Lighthouse and walked on the stony beach at the Split Rock State Park, then backtracked to Gooseberry Falls State Park. The Falls were nuts! Someone said earlier in the week they had 9 inches of rain North of there and the falls were incredibly muddy and violent.
On the way back to Duluth we stopped for an early dinner at New Scenic Cafe, which was very good. They had awesome wines at gentle prices, the smorgasbord platter was delicious, and we had a duck dish and fried fish sandwich that was crispy, spicy, and perfect. Went to bed at 9pm happy and satisfied.
― il lavoro mi rovina la giornata (PBKR), Friday, 21 June 2024 15:37 (three months ago) link
nice, sounds like fantastic day! (have seen lots of falls footage this week after that monster rain)
― bulb after bulb, Friday, 21 June 2024 16:07 (three months ago) link
The postcards in the gift shop all showed polite little waterfalls.
― il lavoro mi rovina la giornata (PBKR), Friday, 21 June 2024 21:25 (three months ago) link
Sounds great. Love Gooseberry Falls!
― paisley got boring (Eazy), Saturday, 22 June 2024 01:28 (three months ago) link
Also, thanks dan m for the Whole Foods Co Op recommendation - it really fit the bill.
― il lavoro mi rovina la giornata (PBKR), Saturday, 22 June 2024 01:38 (three months ago) link
Glad it worked out! I'm gonna fish out my copy of the Duluth Grill cookbook as a substitute for not having visited the area in too long.
― underminer of twenty years of excellent contribution to this borad (dan m), Saturday, 22 June 2024 02:07 (three months ago) link