Trip Overview
We left on a Thursday evening and returned the following Monday evening. We didn't plan anything, other than we knew we wanted to see the Glensheen Mansion, the Great Lakes Aquarium and we were hoping to take a train or boat ride. Everything was planned on the fly and things turned out pretty well. |
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We could see Lake Superior from our motel. |
The weather wasn't too bad - late September in Duluth is kind of a crap shoot. For the most part the temperature was in the low to mid 40s. Friday rained a lot, but after that it was generally sunny and breezy. We lucked out Saturday afternoon though and it was sunny and upper 40s with a very light breeze, resulting in a great day to walk around beautiful waterfalls. The fall colors were just coming in while we were there. A couple weeks later and things must have been gorgeous.
This is what our itinerary ended up looking like:
Thursday:
- Drove 2.5 hours - stayed in Albert Lea, Minnesota. We did this to make it feel like we were on vacation sooner and that gave us a lot more time on Friday to do fun things.
Friday:
- Arrived in Duluth around 12:30 and drove around
- Checked into Motel
- Toured the Glensheen Mansion - excellent tour!
- Supper at Blackwoods Grill and Bar
Saturday:
- Went to the Depot to get train tickets for Sunday
- Toured the Great Lakes Aquarium
- Drove north to Gooseberry Falls State Park and Two Harbors
- Supper at Fitzger's Brewery
Sunday
- Breakfast at the Blackwoods Grill and Bar
- Walked along the North Shore
- Rode the Scenic Train
- Drove down to North Branch for the Night
Monday
- Mall of America
- Underwater Adventure
- Home
We had a great time and hope to go back someday to see many things we didn't get a chance to do because of the short time we were there. We suggest you get a motel reservation before you go though. We thought we were going during the off season and would have no problems getting a room. We were wrong. The major chains were all booked and we were fortunate the nice people at the Glensheen told us we should get a room first thing and gave us a couple of suggestions. We ended up staying at a little place called the Viking. The room was adequate and inexpensive, but it wasn't Super 8 either. They only had 2 rooms left at 1:30 Friday afternoon. The manager said we were very brave coming to Duluth on a Friday afternoon without a reservation.