Courtesy of Visit Duluth
Duluth skyline with lift bridge
Every longtime Minnesotan knows the feeling: Cresting what locals call “the hill” as you descend into Duluth on I-35 from the Twin Cities, the world suddenly changes. The city red brick, Lake Superior a silver glass infinity, and further on, towering cliffs supporting astonishments like Split Rock Lighthouse. It feels like a different world. But did you know that hill represents something momentous? North America nearly split in half 1.1 billion years ago! Minnesota might have been oceanfront on one continent, Wisconsin oceanfront on another. Geologists call it the failed Midcontinent Rift. But Mother Earth said, You two stick it out together. She filled up the rift with enough hot lava to make Duluth and all its hills, enough to make Duluth have stronger gravity than most Minnesota cities to this day.
No wonder Duluth is the first place so many of us Minnesotans think of when we need a quick getaway. Merely 150 miles to a totally different restaurant scene (try Italian pastas at Va Bene and breakfast at Amazing Grace). A truly vibrant beer and spirits culture (Fitger’s Brewhouse, Hoops Brewing, Canal Park Brewing, and Vikre Distillery, which started life using Northwoods flavors in gin and now has a cocktail room that feels like the heart of modern artsy Duluth). Easy access to the North Shore’s heart-delighting natural wonders.
Take your puppy and stay in one of historic Fitger’s Inn’s dog-friendly rooms, then stroll down the lakeside promenade known as the Lakewalk to get your morning coffee from a local small-grower-focused roaster like Duluth Coffee Company while gulls wheel overhead and the sunlight dazzles. Take your bike and log dozens of scenic miles along the lakeshore, then come home to shower in a five-star bathroom and catch a late romantic dinner, maybe at Duluth’s Radisson, with delights from its restaurant, JJ Astor. Bring a baby because the Lakewalk is stroller heaven. Bring toddlers and throw rocks into the surf or point at big ships coming into port. Bring kids and let them pick out candy and toys in Canal Park at Hepzibah’s and Toys for Keeps. Bring teens and let them go rollerblading on the Lakewalk or send them to get ice cream by themselves at Crank and Dasher or the PortLand Malt Shoppe. Bring a picnic blanket and order some nationally regarded house-smoked fish and charcuterie from Northern Waters Smokehaus. Bring a good camera and catch the famous lift bridge in its many moods, or bring chest waders and a nine-foot rod and see what you can catch from the beach in Canal Park. Bring a sketchbook or maybe take an art class at On the Rocks Art Studio and Gallery. Bring your wheelchair to a hotel like Duluth Lakewalk Days Inn with all modern conveniences.
The thing that makes Duluth magical, besides the increased gravity, is how friendly it is. Not just the people, from brewer to glassblower—the whole city is friendly in design and amenities to city people who need a break.
Aren’t you glad Mother Nature decided against a midcontinent split and instead opted to make something more special than a new continent: our nearest faraway place, Duluth?
If You’re Going
Duluth Coffee Company
Direct-trade, farmer-supporting, and home of a cup to make any coffee snob glad. duluthcoffeecompany.com
Lake Superior Art Glass
Can you melt glass? Can children? Yes and yes, if you wear closed-toed shoes and book a class with close and careful instruction. Prepare to bring home the craft projects of your dreams! lakesuperiorartglass.com
Vikre Distillery
Vikre’s cocktail room is innovative, culinarily challenging, delicious, and always ready to welcome you into what feels like the absolute center of hip and artsy Duluth. vikredistillery.com
Northern Waters Smokehaus
Nationally regarded house-smoked fish and charcuterie are this Canal Park deli’s claim to fame, but did you know you can order a picnic lunch to eat on the beach or take back to your room? Truth! Don’t miss the smoked salmon toasted bagel! northernwaterssmokehaus.com
Fitger’s Brewhouse
Brewing on and off since 1857, Fitger’s has some of the state’s most important brewing history, as well as some of modern Duluth’s best beers—don’t miss the specialty lagers, like Proximity Pilsner, with specialty Proximity Malt. fitgersbrewhouse.com
