Sunday, September 22nd
We woke up at home had some coffee and loaded up the car. We had to stop to drop the dogs off for boarding and then we hit the old dusty to get up to the North Shore for some changing leaves!! Our first stop was Castle Danger Brewing in Two Harbors, MN. After a couple cream ales we were off to Cove Point Crossings for some sausage pizza and thai chili wings! it was a really good meal. After lunch we tried to go to Gooseberry State Park but it was crazy busy and we couldn’t even find a parking spot. Next we went to Split Rock Lighthouse State Park to hike the Day Hill Trail to get some views of Lake Superior and it’s majestic coastline. It did not disappoint. We then wanted to stop at Father Baraga’s Cross as we’ve been up Hwy 61 dozens of times and have never stopped. It was a short easy walk down to a monster head stone style cross right at the mouth of the Cross River. There was salmon going up river and it was super fun to just sit and watch all of them! Next we went to Eagle Ridge on Lutsen Mountain to check into our room which we were 30 minutes early for so we headed up the gondola to the top of the Moose Mountain for a pint and picture. The leaves were pretty great up in northern Minnesota so we walked around for a while, had a beer and just looked out at the lake and hills. After the Gondola we checked in and made our selves at home for the next couple nights. We then walked up the main road to Poplar River Falls and then went to Moguls for dinner in the next resort over. We had walleye cakes for an appetizer and I had a grilled chicken salad and Katie had the wild rice soup. It was all pretty solid! Then we just went back to the room and hung out on the balcony and went to bed.
Monday, September 23rd
We woke up and had our coffee and then hit the road to Grand Marais. We stopped for some donuts at Worlds Best Donuts. We’ve had them before and they were just ask good! Worlds best? meh. Our next stop was Susie Island Overlook in Grand Portage. The views were really pretty. Then we went to the boarder for our first ever vehicle boarder crossing. The vehicles in front of us just stopped quick and cruised right through. We however were told to pull off to the side. We waited and 2 officers came and told us to exit the vehicle and asked me about my conceal and carry permit. I said I have my permit on me but I do not have any firearms on me. He asked where I typically keep it.. well on me of course but for this trip I left it locked in our safe in our room. They asked Katie if she had one and she said no nervously laughing they asked her why she was laughing and she said I don’t know. Then they kind of searched the car and looked around. Never really asking or saying they were going to search it. They gave us our passports back and we were on our way to Diamond Willow Amethyst Mine. It was about an hour drive which was really pretty and surprisingly different than Minnesota. We spent about an hour digging through the piles of rocks and got a pretty good haul! We left and went back to Minnesota with no trouble at the boarder this time. We stopped at Grand Portage State Park and hiked to to High Falls. It was pretty! Then we went to Grand Marais again to stop at our favorite restaurant there called Angry Trout Cafe. We each split a Shrimp sandwich and fish sandwich. Both of which were really good and washed them down with a couple beverages. It was a beautiful sunny day so we enjoyed the patio for a bit and then walked around. It came time to leave and we just went back to the room as we were pretty tired after a long day of driving and hiking. We went to dinner at Moguls again and it was pretty solid once again.
Tuesday, September 24th
One of my favorite things to do in Northern MN is to get up before the sun and drive deep into the woods on back / service roads and look for wildlife. We saw a couple deer this time but that was it. It was an absolutely beautiful drive though none the less and I’m super thankful that we are able to do these types of things. After our cruise we went to Britton Peak and Oberg and got some extraordinary views of the lake and shore. Last year it was so foggy so this was a super nice way to make up for that! Clear, crispy, dry and cool weather for us! So lucky! We headed back south and went to Caribou Falls. It was a super pretty and is a easier hike. We like it and recommend it. Lots of stairs at the end but no big dealio. After all this driving and hiking we went to a new to us restaurant called Bluefin Grille. It was right the lake and we got a sweet spot on the patio! It was a beautiful day and the sun was warm and the cool breeze was coming right off the lake and the waves were making rhythmic splashes on the rocks not 6 feet away. A great way to spend lunch. On our way back to our room we saw there was no one in the pool area so we quickly changed and drove up there! It’s only 150 yards from our room but we figured it’s chilly so walking back cold and wet wouldn’t be great. We enjoyed the pool and hot tub. Funny enough the pool was heated super well and it felt like bath water so we used the pool mostly! After that we hunkered down in the room for the rest of the day enjoying beverages, ramen and playing games on the patio together! It was a really great day.
Wednesday, September 25
Katie woke up and looked at her phone and she had a notification for auroras in the area! She got up and looked and there was just a tiny bit above the building next door to us. Maybe tonight! We had some coffee and waited for the sun to come up and went to Caribou Lake to hike the White Sky Rock trail. It is pretty much just going straight up a rocky hill climb to an overlook. It was gorgeous and sunny! After that we headed up Caribou Trail and then headed to Cascade River State Park and did the Cascade falls trail. We’ve worked up quite the appetite at this point so we went to another new to us restaurant, Cascade Restaurant and Pub. It was 10 minutes before they started serving lunch so we just hung out and had a beer while we waited. The food was okay and kind of spendy. We got back to our place and went right to the pool/hot tub again as there was no one there at that point. We went back to Moguls for dinner as it was our last night here. We went to bed super early tonight in anticipation of the northern lights being out. Katie woke up around 1130 and checked and they were out!! Seeing them right from our balcony over the Ski area was super special and amazing! We watched them for about an hour and called it a night!
Thursday, September 26
We got up slow, had coffee and packed our things. We stopped at Gooseberry Falls State Park on the way down the shore and did a hike there. We then stopped in Duluth at our favorite woodfire pizza place, Vita Pizza. We walked around the boardwalk for a while and then got some ice cream from Love Creamery. After that we called it and headed to the dog boarding place to pick them up and then went home. This trip was great. It wasn’t peak fall colors but it was really good still!
