Exploring Along the Way from St. Paul to Duluth

St. Paul, Duluth, and some Minnesota countryside

I love wake-ups in hotel rooms, soft beds, downy pillows, and hopefully a big fluffy comforter.  All that combined with knowing I don’t have to make that bed always makes for a great day.  Then just throw in getting up for a little early sisbehaving and you have for a recipe for a perfect day. We had decided that two days in Minneapolis (check out previous days one & two) was probably enough and we had more to see and explore. So for day three we were hitting up St. Paul, the gorgeous twin sister of Minneapolis and then heading north to Duluth for the night.

Sister Side Note (ssn) – but first…coffee. After the debacle of trying to find a local coffee shop in downtown Minneapolis the previous day, I did some research. We did a quick stop at Quixotic Coffee in St. Paul, with a reputation for quality-sourced beans and beautifully hand-crafted drinks. It was totally worth it. Bourbon.caramel.latte. Enough said.

St. Paul

St. Paul has a few spots that should be checked out. For being the twin sister of the booming Minneapolis, St. Paul has a much more small town feel to me, from the parts we explored.  Most obviously, the Cathedral of St. Paul.  This was originally opened in 1915 as a cathedral, and was later designated the only United States National Shrine to the Apostle Paul.

It is a beautiful site on Capital Hill that over looks the city.  You can see it from anywhere, but I really suggest you drive up to it to experience the details and the beauty of the architecture.

The Cathedral of St. Paul is right up the road from the Minnesota State Capital building, and the surrounding grounds.  The grounds hold statues to Charles Limburg, President Hubert Humphreys, and the veteran’s memorials, WWII memorial. There was also a fantastic statue called Monument to the Living, encouraging us all to remember all veterans and the sacrifices they have made.

We happened by a giant Viking statue right around the corner without ever realizing we were so close to the Sculpture Park!  It is a great area of the city to just wander. 

Breakfast!

Breakfast came next, where we were lucky enough to choose The Hope Breakfast Bar.  It had plenty of outdoor seating, and plexiglass installed between the tables, we appreciated how seriously they took the social distancing.  This place really hits the top of the list of best breakfasts we have had experienced while traveling.  I had the Pork Belly & Biscuits, sitting on a bed of grits, it was heavenly. Peggy’s Pork Belly Cakes – pancakes were light and fluffy and melty-in-your-mouthy topped with crispy pork belly and bourbon maple syrup we incredible as well.

And not to be forgotten…the breakfast drink menu. The West 7th Cereal Bowl was creamy and unusual. It had dark rum, vanilla milk, caramel, brown sugar simple syrup and Captain Crunch. We loved the creativity they exhibited in their selections.

Then came the sign in the back, why is this the Hope Breakfast Bar?  You can leave them your hope/dreams/prayers, and they will pray for you.  Even if you aren’t a believer, the sign specifically says “It doesn’t matter what you believe in, we believe in you”.  So sweet, I love the sense of community they promote and the high-quality food is definitely a bonus.

ssn – seriously the best pancakes I’ve ever had in my life.

Driving from St. Paul to Duluth

The drive up to Duluth is only two hours, however, the countryside made it feel like forever!  We wanted the scenic route, but Google kept rerouting us to the freeway, because we kept insisting there was more we needed to see on the way.

Jay Cooke State Park

First it was The Swinging Bridge, because hey, I should definitely do a swinging bridge. Me, the girl who is terrified of heights and things that swing unstable-y above the earth. I should defy death yet again and go see a swinging bridge

The Swinging Bridge is located in the Jay Cooke State Park, and is tucked back fabulously along the St. Louis River, with a lot of great little hikes and spots to spend the day.  There is also rafting companies in the area, if rafting is your thing.  It’s a great state park to spend the day exploring.

ssn – for being home to 10,000 lakes, there were surprisingly few lake views on the drive. Once we got closer to Duluth there were some great little spots to get out of the car along the St. Louis River on the way to Jay Cooke SP. Close to the Thomson Reservoir, the water was brown. Not dirty, not slightly murky, but full on Willy-Wonka-Chocolate-River-brown. We later learned this was due to the tannic acid in the soil, released by the Red Oaks (?). Speaking of tannins, I need wine.

Frank Lloyd Wright Gas Station

Also, as it turns out, Minnesota is home to a gas station designed by the one and only Frank Lloyd Wright.  Honestly, I expected more, but we did zoom on by, hang a U-turn and drive by again, just to make sure we weren’t missing the WOW factor in slow motion.  But it was cool, nonetheless.

Duluth

Duluth has a small town feel, but is actually the fourth largest city in Minnesota.  Located on the farthest western shore of the Great Lakes. Duluth is a major port town for Lake Superior.  It is a big tourist destination in Minnesota with bridges, a pier area, shopping, museums, and water sports.  There are several local breweries, casinos, an aquarium and, naturally, the Duluth Trading company. 

Pier B Resort

Our home for the night was a cute little resort right on the water called The Pier B Resort.  It had fantastic views of the waterway and bridges, and a walking path that stretches along the shoreline to Canal Park. Canal Park is the tourist area with access to shopping and restaurants.

On the hotel grounds was a former warehouse facility and silos from old shipping days. The pier area was back-filled and upgraded to provide a park-like setting with views right on the water of the Aerial Lift Bridge and the lighthouses.  Pier B also has onsite boat and bike rentals, a cute little outdoor firepit, and pickleball courts.  Completely charming little place to relax. 

We opted for an early dinner of appetizers at a local brewery, Fitgers and a walk along the waterfront.  We returned to our hotel and walked down to the Canal Park in hopes of finding a little night life.

Unfortunately, we discovered a lot of people who don’t think pandemics can reach them on vacation.  We were dismayed by the lack of masking or social distancing experienced by tourists, and at the disorganization of several local, well-known establishments.

I will not call them out by name, as we are choosing to believe this was an anomaly having just reopened the city to tourists, and hope for a better experience for anyone who follows in our footsteps in this cute little town.  On the bright side, we got to watch the iconic Aerial Lift Bridge raise and lower and it was so cool!

ssn – we did wake up early in the morning to watch the sunrise from one of the hotel balconies. While the sunrise was nothing spectacular, it is always something that we love to do on trips. Getting up for sunrise just give your day a better start, don’t you think?

And it was a cute little town.   The city stacks up a hillside over looking the water.  There was an abundance of restaurants and bars to choose from, tourist shops, and great areas of water front to just hangout and enjoy the peacefulness of Lake Superior.

I also found it fascinating the large barges on the lake. It really gave us an initiation to how large Lake Superior really is. From places I have been, I have never experienced a lake capable of being a major waterway for shipping by way of barges.  It was phenomenal to think about, and impossible to comprehend how big Superior really is, but we will cover all of that in our Day 4 sailing experience.

For now, if you are in the Midwest, Duluth is absolutely worth a weekend getaway. Next stop, Bayfield WI!