My fiancee, Deborah, and I went up to Minnesota for a week in the beginning of October. My brother beat both me and my sister in the Twin Cities Marathon (the reason for the trip) by 7 and 8 minutes, respectively, and after two days of recovery, D and I headed further north. There is some debate about exactly where “up north” begins in Minnesota. It may begin somewhere around the center of the state in Brainerd, MN which is where a talking statue of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox stood as the welcoming committee to the state’s upper region before the pair was loaded sideways on the flatbed of a tractor-trailer and relocated. But really, I think “up north” is a state of mind that begins once you are able to get away from everything else. Up north can be anywhere.
We spent a couple days in Duluth, MN at the Voyageur Lakewalk Inn, a throwback motel in the downtown area near the lake shore. Liquor stores close at 10 pm in Minnesota, and as we found out from the hotel manager, after then you have to cross the bridge to go to Superior, WI for a drink. We went to get a six-pack and he asked if we’d grab him a bottle of Crown Royal since we were going that way. It was that kind of motel. We happily obliged.
Deborah commented on the light in northern Minnesota as having a Spirit. She added that she’s felt it before in Santa Fe, New Mexico as well. It was crisp, but maybe that was the just the cold air messing with our senses. We’ve got wonderful orange and pink dripping hot sweaty sunlight down here in Florida. Up there it seemed blue and clear, even sharp at times. But good light is good light, no matter where you are and it certainly added to the trip especially considering we were there while the leaves were changing color.
The main goal of the vacation was to get lost, and we managed to do it a few times. Here are a few photos from the weekend.
