Minneapolis: July 23-24

Day 6 (Monday)

Well, we’ve landed in Silver Bay Minnesota after a long, circular drive north of Duluth. We are on our balcony looking out at Lake Superior—magnificent! If I didn’t know better I would think we were overlooking the ocean. We just had some fish and chips down the street; and no Ken, they were not up to our high standards. We will enjoy a nice relaxing evening here tonight and head up the coastline toward Canada where I plan to sample some more for lunch and dinner!

We stayed in Minneapolis Saturday and Sunday to unwind a bit and enjoy the sights of what we’ve discovered to be a truly beautiful (and big!) city. We arrived in St. Paul early Saturday afternoon and spent a lot of time driving around. My brother once told me that his Garmin was the best thing that he has ever bought—and we can say the same thing! Without our Garmin, we would have been lost numerous times. We drove around (and around and around and…) downtown and then stopped for dinner at, you guessed it…a Cuban restaurant. Really. A Cuban restaurant. And it was awesome! I couldn’t tell you what I had (I couldn’t pronounce anything on the menu), but it was absolutely delicious. So far, it was the best meal I’ve had on our trip.

On Sunday morning we woke up and attended Woodland Hills Church for the 9:00 am worship service before heading out to enjoy some of Minneapolis’ fine lakes and Riverfront. We had planned on trying to see a Minnesota Twins baseball game, but having only “standing room only” tickets available (for $25 each), we decided to skip the game and spend more time just messing around the city. We couldn’t believe all the activity around the lakes (people sunbathing, picnicking, roller-blading, biking, reading, walking and runners) and on the lakes (sail-boards, canoes, sail-boats, swimmers, etc.). We drove around quite a few lakes before we found a place to park and sit. I guess after a long winter people are eager to enjoy the outdoors again! The Riverfront was also awesome. We drove along the river and stopped often to take in the views. The riverfront drive through the downtown area was especially impressive.

This morning we left Minneapolis and headed toward Duluth where we drove a supposed scenic route through Superior Nat’l Forest. The four to 4 ½ hour drive was about as unscenic as we’ve seen so far! Thankfully we ended up here (very picturesque) and will start our journey up Lake Superior (maybe into Canada) and then back down and through the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and down the coast of Lake Michigan…at least that’s what we’re thinking right now. That may change in the afternoon! We may decide to drive through Canada from Thunder Bay around the north end of Lake Superior through Sault St. Marie and down into Michigan. Whew! Traveling cross-country without a clear-cut plan can be exhausting! But we are thoroughly enjoying ourselves…so far!

Well, it’s time to “hit the sack”. Pictures will be coming soon.

God Bless,

Jj & cj