Years ago we drove through Duluth while heading home from northern Minnesota. Without stopping, we didn’t get a feel for the town other than industrial smokestacks, shipyards and railroads. I’m so glad we recently had a chance to come back and see everything this Lake Superior city has to offer.
Duluth is certainly a hardworking town. It’s an art form in itself—like this view from atop the Enger Tower, which we enjoyed with my sister and her dear family. But according to a visitor’s guide, Duluth has also transformed itself into an epicenter for tourism, culture and medicine.
And craft breweries! Once again we cut ourselves short on how much time is necessary to fully appreciate this town.
But first, our accommodations…
The Suites Hotel is a great stay set in an 1889 warehouse in the historical Canal Park. The building still has water towers on its roof and I absolutely love how the hotel uses them for branding. What a great way to honor the integrity of both the architecture and the industries that built Duluth.
This Aerial Lift Bridge was just down the street from our hotel and, of course, the moment we walked half way across, the alarm went off telling us to clear the deck. We had to make a split decision to go back, no, wait, go the rest of the way across, no, go back. We went back.
It was fun watching the bridge operation in detail and this massive ship pass through underneath. The process took a good 20 minutes and we wondered about the cars waiting on the other side.
But what about those breweries?
Let’s talk about Fitgers!
From our hotel, a lovely one-mile stroll on the Duluth Lakewalk led us right to the Fitgers Brewery Complex. This is a great, historic building that in years past was solely Fitgers Brewery. Now it’s home to a 48-room hotel, retail stores, six restaurants and, once again, a brewery with Fitgers Brewhouse. One night we ate at the Brewery and Grille, and we both enjoyed the Oktoberfest Wiesn. The next night we had a delicious meal at Midi.
I can imagine the Lakewalk will be raw with Superior’s frigidity in a couple months. But in glorious October, after late night dinners, walking this boardwalk was absolutely enchanting. We were dazzled.
What a neat town!
Our previous stop: Beautiful Bayfield. Our next stop: Thirsty Pagan, Superior.
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