Duluth for Work and Exploring East Lake After the Chaos

Oh, hey. It's our neighborhood.

The kids wanted to play with the Potato Heads and made our family with them.

There's Theo.

Oh yeah I dyed Meadow's hair teal.

No, wait, there's the real Theo.

I had a job up in Duluth, so I asked Meadow if she wanted to come up with me. She could spend the day with Blake whose done a good job social distancing.

The poor kid has been stuck at home for so long. I stayed back with Theo, I figured these two could have a little trip together.

We arrived the night before and met little Ruth, Blake and Daniel's new dog.

We played in his yard for a bit and then a double rainbow showed up.

It was pretty great in person.

We walked through Blake's new neighborhood, Central Hillside.

Meadow even got to walk Ruth.

She loves walking dogs.

We got some food from the King of Creams and brought it to a nearby park.

Then we played on the playground. I feel better about this in a smaller city like Duluth, but who knows with Covid-19.

The upper stretches of Central Hillside are all new to Meadow and me.

We came back down to the Cities from Duluth the next day.

When they returned we took a bike ride over to our friend Cayla and Amanda's house. Luckily when we biked by we saw Cayla at the neighbors. Amanda wasn't home so we chatted for a bit on the sidewalk.

We had some clothes to return to Amanda so she can sell it at her vintage store, which is currently online only. It was nice seeing Cayla even if just for a bit.

Since Amanda wasn't home we ended going for a walk along East Lake. This was hardest hit area during the riots other than Chicago & Lake.

I'm loving all the murals that are still up.

It was strange to see a restaurant open with patio seating only just block from empty shells of buildings.

Restaurants were supposed to open when the protests started. A few are just starting to open up to dining.

This was pawn shop near Lake and Hiawatha.

This was one of our favorite Indian restaurants, Ghandi Mahal.

I'm pretty hopeful that they'll rebuild since they owned the building.

The area is in a sad state, but I'm hopeful that much of Lake Street will get rebuilt. At least I hope so.

Comments

Backcountry Camping with Kids in Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Day 1 Back in May I stumbled upon Theodore Roosevelt National Park. I had no idea there was a National Park in North Dakota and that it was the northern end of the Badlands. Usually our summer vacations coincide with Scott's work trips. Since he didn't have any this summer I thought we should take advantage of actually taking a vacation. What, my workcations are always classics? I suppose a second real vacation this year wouldn't hurt. We definitely have more time than normal. As long as we took Covid-19 precautions and avoided people. We finally settled on a time to go. Blake joined us so we borrowed our dad's van so we could ride together. Scott had just driven from Michigan the day before. Blake had met my parents in Wisconsin to get the van and then drove from Duluth to pick us up. I offered to drive since I literally only drive twice a month. I was still pretty tired from a long drive home. Since we were near Fergus Falls we had to stop by the abandoned state ho...

Japan Family Trip - Part I: Exploring Sangenjaya, Shibuya, Harajuku and Shinjuku in Tokyo

After a 12 hour flight and years of planning we finally made it to Japan. I'd been looking for a decent deal to Japan for ages. Tracking on Google Flights. Searching different points websites. Then finally a flight showed up on Points Yeah the same week Meadow and Theo were off for 3 days. After a nervous half hour of transferring points from our credit card to KLM Air France, we got 4 direct tickets to Tokyo Haneda! Day 1 But first we had to fly and fly and fly. Ready for our longest flight ever. At least we were lucky and got a direct flight. Theo looked nervous. I couldn't really see the kids too well since I was stuck in the center rows with strangers. Meadow, Brooke and Theo got the better end of the deal. He had been worrying about this trip ever since he learned we were going to have to sleep on the plane. Meadow was excited to see that the flight had anime. First time in a long time that I've had a meal on the plane. My chicken curry was pretty good. We got an...

With Spring Comes Biking

Whenever daylight savings changes I flip the mattress. (I know I'm a little late) Every new season I change the duvet cover. Scott actually helps me this time. Yup, I'm cool like that. I was a little worried we had too much dough so we got out every pan that could be used for muffins. I was wrong, we only needed two pans. By the time we actually eat "breakfast," at least that's what Brooke calls it, Peanut has already finished most of his Organmix. I know, we spoil the little runt. Speaking of Brooke's fascination with breakfast, she will not eat anything that resembles lunch for her first meal of the day. So, even on the laziest Sunday, breakfast comes before lunch. As you can see Brooklyn really loved her muffin-fast -- even if it was already 1 p.m. While I finish up some dishes Brooke cleans the kitchen. Did you know that Brooke is a cleaning expert (really, she'll clean your house or cook for you. H...

Search This Blog