I typically get to Minnesota every year at least once. You know those friends who become family? Well, I’m fortunate to have those in Duluth, MN. My best bud, who went on all of the road trips with me, has family and a cabin up there which allows for awesome escapes.
Enjoy a little recap of 2019 in Minnesota.
Early February
This trip required a flight into the tundra known as Minneapolis The flight was delayed and so was our arrival to the Land of 10,000 lakes. We rented a Chevy Silverado, because we needed 4-wheel drive anyway, and headed up to Duluth. We didn’t get in until late, didn’t get up to Duluth til very late, and probably had more of a nap than a sleep. After coffee and packing up, we headed up to McFarland. We always stop at the Gun Flint Tavern in Grand Marais, MN. If you don’t stop there, does a trip to the cabin even count? They have great brews on tap and excellent food and are busy all year, so plan ahead if you stop by. From the tavern, it’s a short walk to the municipal liquor store and co-op if you need supplies.
Once to the lake, winter trips to the cabin require snowshoeing across then up the hill to the cabin. This year was eventful, to say the least. To start, there was a lot of snow and it was very cold - all good things for going across a frozen lake in the winter. Apparently, though, there was some slush under the upper crust of snowy ice creating a slushy lake on top of the actual ice, which was very thick. My snowshoe went through the upper crust, into the slushy lake on a lake, and slipped off my boat and floated away. I was worried I was going through the actual ice and entering a true emergency situation, but when my knee slammed down on the ice, I knew figured I was pretty safe. I worked to get out of the situation, but it was not easy as I broke through in every direction. Eventually, with a little help from Kevin, I got to the surface and freed myself from my lonely snowshoe. The snow on top of the lake wasn’t too bad, so a pair of snowshoes was only an added convenience. Bitter cold, wet, and frustrated, I made my way to the forested lakeside and up to the cabin.
A fire was built, frozen clothes stripped away, and dry clothes put on. Consumption of beer was immediate but warming of the cabin took what felt like centuries. Eventually dinner was had, more drinks were had, and laughter ensued about the incident earlier in the day. We made it before darkness, which was pretty early, and that’s all that mattered.
After a couple of days secluded from the world, we had to head back to reality. The trek back across the lake was only mildly annoying and there were no more issues. Back in Duluth, we had an evening to rest before driving back to Minneapolis to catch a plane. Of course we needed a good dinner and some beer, so we ran to Wisconsin to get the lowest legal beer prices around. It’s the little things - snow, seclusion, friends who became family, and low legal beer prices.
Late August
There is nothing quite like a whole week off the grid. My job became overly stressful and I was looking forward to five days without notifications, emails, or contact of any kind. Kevin and I decided we were going to drive up to Duluth, then the cabin, for this visit. We wanted to bring Chewy to the cabin to experience true freedom, so driving was the only way!
It started off in a typical fashion of hanging out with the family and stocking up in Wisconsin with the lowest legal beer prices. We made our way up the North Shore with our usual stop in Grand Marais at the Gun Flint Tavern, Municipal Liquor, and grocery store. It was a sunny day with blue skies, mild temps, and plenty of fresh air. The road to the lake was dusty, as usual, and we had to stop at the usual overlook for a quick break. We arrived at the boat launch, unloaded the boat, loaded the boat with supplies, and began our journey across the lake. As we approached the dock at the cabin property, we noticed it looked a little funny. Upon closer inspection, it appears part of the dock was washed away making transferring supplies a little more difficult than usual. I misjudged the balance of the dock without decking and tipped the whole damn thing and landed in the water. Brisk is one word to describe the water when one is used to Texas temperatures.
We made a classic mistake by drinking too much beer the first night. It was a pretty quiet couple of days in the beginning as we nursed hangovers in our 30s and laid low for a while. I explored the woods around the cabin a little and eventually we made it over to the Border Route Trail to do some hiking. The weather was mostly good, cool, sunny. A major project we had to do while up was to reinstall the composting toilet and it was accomplished in a day. Nights were spent by the fire, making food and having beers while Chewy the dog begged/listened to the woods. At one point, we swear we heard a moose trudging through trees in the distance, but it can’t be confirmed with a visual.
Eventually, we had leave the cabin and all of the beauty of living off the grid. We packed out the trash and closed everything up and made our way across the lake. We spent one last evening in Duluth, with a little outing to Canal Park Brewing Company. It was a cool, windy evening on Lake Superior, but the beers and food were great. Since we drove this time, we could take it a little easier as we headed south so we made a stop for lunch at Bent Paddle Brewing Co in one of my favorite parts of Duluth. There was a pizza food truck and plenty of beers to choose from, so it was what some would call an extended lunch. We met a fun bartender, who actually lived in Michigan before, which just added to my instant love for the brewery and brewpub atmosphere. It’s always hard leaving Duluth for me because it’s somewhere I feel home and could see myself living out the rest of my life. It was Saturday afternoon and we made it back by Sunday morning which gave me a quick turnaround for work on Monday.
What a trip this was, living off the grid and reconnecting with Minnesota. So many great sunrises, sunsets, and moments in between. I look forward to 2020 visits to Minnesota, sprinkled between other adventures along the way.