Skip to main content

Brooke Takes the Kids to Duluth and Gooseberry Falls

This weekend called for summer temps. I looked at going camping but most places were already booked or not open yet. Last minute I decided to go to Duluth. Once Meadow was out of school we headed up.
 
I had asked Brooke if it was OK to go to a MN United soccer game with my buddy Nate on Saturday. I didn't think she was gonna go to Duluth and the North Shore while I stayed home!

Ruthie needed to go on a walk so we tagged along.
 
 
Of course our walk brought us to a playground. 

Observation Park had a nice observation viewing area. 
 
That seems fitting.

Blake chose this playground because it had big rocks. Meadow bouldered her way to the top. 

Blake's BnB staple breakfast is now waffles. Complete with mimosas for the adults thanks to Daniel. 

I mostly wanted to come up this weekend to go to some of the north shore state parks before peak tourist season. We drove up to Gooseberry Falls for the day. I guess everyone else had the same idea as the parking lot was overflowing. 

Theo insisted on wearing Meadow's hiking backpack.

Once we got past the waterfalls and onto the hiking club trail we didn't see a single person. 

We enjoyed the views on our own. 

The water was a bright blue green color in real life. 
 
Looks blue-green to me.
 


After our hike we had lunch by the Middle Falls.

Even though it was cooler up here than in Duluth it was a hot day. I wish I had brought shorts but they're still in storage with all my summer clothes. 

We then made our way down to Lower Falls which had a lot fewer people. 



Blake and Meadow had fun looking for agates. 

We had spent almost all day at the park and only saw a small portion. We'll have to go back again with Scott. 

The kids said they wanted sushi for dinner and Blake honored their request. 

We played outside until it got dark. 

We were hungry for dessert so Meadow made her famous chocolate chip cookies. 

Meanwhile I was watching Minnesota United over in St. Paul after watching the NFL Draft party on Cheesehead TV. After some outdoor drinks with the guys I went to the game with I biked back to Minneapolis.


Of course I had to get a burrito from Taco Taxi on the way back.

The next day was much cooler. We made our way down the hill towards the lake. 

On the way we stopped to find a geochache. Meadow got a new kitty charm from the cache. 

Our first alley geocache. 


Meadow and Blake wanted to comb the beach again for more agates and sea glass. 





We stopped at another playground on the way home. 

Meadow collected a hug bouquet of dandelions. 

On our drive back to Minneapolis we made a pitstop at Jay Cooke State Park. We got here around 6:00 which means all the tourist have already left. There was only a few other cars in the parking lot.


Meadow was in her element here. We haven't been here since she was little and she forgot all about it.



We only planned to stay for a quick half hour. 


We ended up staying for almost an hour.


Until next time Duluth.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Yardwork, Ikea and Pumpkins

My new parents-in-law got us a dehydrator for the wedding. Knowing we were going to be cleaning up the garden and going to farmer's market, we took a gander at our millionth kitchen device during breakfast.   Scott added granola to his oatmeal.  The oatmeal was rather bland, just the way Brooke likes it.   Scott was actually cleaning up so I had to take a quick photo of him as proof.  Scott told me he was, "putting a blanket down for Peanut," while singing. During the winter months peanut needs a warm place to peer through the window. Seeing as it was nearly November, I setup his blanket for him. Seeing as the farmers market season is dwindling down, we headed to the market...once again. The close proximity to the cities central farmer's market has to be one of the best assets of living in NoMi. We were both amazed by the bounty of produce still on sale. We quickly filled up our first bag and took it back to the car....

Back to the BWCA - Red Rock to American Point via Voyageur Canoe Outfitters

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. 

Little Bohemia Lodge and Labor Day at the Three Lakes Cottage: 2025 Edition

We happened to be driving through Manitowish Waters so figured this was finally my chance to go to Little Bohemia Lodge . Brooke's wanted to go here forever. So why not? Even if you arrive when the restaurant opens, expect to wait. Better yet, make a reservation if you plan on going. Rookie mistake on our part. But I guess it could be worse than hanging at their old school bar with some brewskis and Shirley Temples. There seemed to be a lot of open tables. Sounded like they were understaffed.  Most had went back to school for the season. I did not expect the famed bullet holes to be right next to the tables. There were holes everywhere.