Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Summer 2010 Trip to Duluth, MN and Lake Superior

Hard to believe its July 20th already! With the Wahawk baseball and softball seasons completed, its time to escape for a few days for rest and relaxation.

Sue and I are heading north to Minnesota to do some more exploring. The current itinerary calls for visits to Stillwater, Duluth, Grand Marais, and Two Harbors, MN... and of course all places in between.

Day 1 - Waterloo, IA to Stillwater, MN
Day 1 will be a short travel day (approx. 4 hours). We'll check out the shops, restaurants and watering holes in Downtown Stillwater, MN. We'll stay overnite in Oakdale, MN (got a great deal at one of my favorite Motel chains - Americinn)

Day 2 - Oakdale, MN to Duluth, MN
Day 2 is all about the Duluth Tall Shops Festival being held in Duluth, MN (July 28th - Aug. 3rd). This is part of the Great Lakes United Tall Ships 2010 race occurring this summer in the United States and Canada. We'll spend the day checking out the festivities and the ships, before ending the day with dinner at the famous Grandmas Saloon and Grill - Sponsor of the Grandma's Marathon.

Day 3 - Western Shores of Lake Superior
Day 3 is "exploration day". Our travels include the shoreline drive along Lake Superior to Grand Marais, MN. After checking out the shops, the scenery, and some North Woods coffee, we'll begin the drive back to Duluth, stopping at scenic areas, including the Split Rock and Two Harbors Lighthouses, the Taconite shipping ports along the coast, and finally the Skyline Parkway, in Duluth.

Day 4 - Duluth, MN to Waterloo, IA
Day 4 is the return back to Waterloo, but with some exploring on the way back. 1st stop of the day will be breakfast at the Black Bear Casino and Resort in Prescott, MN. From there, we'll head SE to Wisconsin, and wander backroads down to the St. Croix Valley, and St. Croix Falls, WI. Then, its reality time - back to Waterloo.

This trip, as usual, will be documented with my cameras, including my new investment, a pocket camcorder - the Kodak Playsport.

If anyone has some "must see" sights along/near our planned route, let me know... I'm always interested in finding new areas!