The kickoff to our Boundary Waters trip started with a cookout in Duluth. Right along the rocky shores of east Duluth. Burgers and playing in Lake Superior, what could be better for this little bub. We camped at Jay Cooke state park for the night, then drove back to Duluth for some Duluth Grill breakfast. Had we known that we were meeting with Blake and Daniel on the far side of Duluth, we'd have stayed in Two Harbors. But I guess it worked out. Duluth Grill is still delicious. Meadow is now in her, "Why are you taking photos of me" phase. We had some time before getting to Voyageur Canoe Outfitters so stopped in Grand Marais.
So it was our 15th Anniversary this year. I tried talking Brooke into coming with me on my longest work trip of the year, but we decided that the whole family would travel to Washington state instead. So I was on my own for a week or so starting in Burlington, Vermont. My actual first destination was Potsdam, New York, but it was either a flight into Syracuse or Burlington and my schedule worked better to fly in via Vermont. After getting some ramen at Burlington's Ichiban I made my way up north around Lake Champlain to New York state. My route took me through Rouses Point, New York. I had crossed that invisible line that separates New England from New York. I'm not sure I'd ever quite seen architecture quite like this. It felt like a yankee take on New Orleans architecture. After breezing through Chateaugay, Malone and a number of small almost Canadian cities, I made it to Potsdam. The town was full of Italian joints, so of course I got dinner at Lee's Hawaiian Gril...