✨ The north shore of Minnesota is a magical place. Recently, I was at an event and was telling someone sitting next to me that I was headed to the Duluth area for the weekend and their response was that they’ve never been there. I’m always shocked when I hear that from people as it’s only about a two hour drive from the Twin Cities to Duluth and it’s worth every minute of that drive! This blog post hits a little different today, as I watch the new reports of the fires affecting many areas to the north. Praying for rain and the safety of all dealing with it this weekend!
We started going there many years ago, as a little getaway, one Thanksgiving weekend with my husband and my daughter who was then about three years old. I was pregnant with my son and we rented a lodge room from Superior Shores Resort. The room had a romantic four poster canopy bed (complete with curtains!) a Jacuzzi tub in the bathroom, a fireplace and a little kitchenette. You could walk out from the room to the back of the resort and down to the beach. That weekend, we hiked Gooseberry Falls State Park and around the grounds of the resort. We enjoyed Cornish game hens baked in the tiny oven as our Thanksgiving meal, took “tubbies” in the jacuzzi, napped and loved watching the lake from our room. It definitely was the weekend that made us fall in love with that area. ❤️
Superior Shores Resort has a variety of lodging options, from lodge rooms which are similar to a typical hotel guest room, to different sizes and configurations of lake homes, including Burlington Bay, which is part of the resort but located slightly south of the main buildings. These pictures are from our favorite Lake home!
Since then, we made it a tradition as the kids were a little older, to spend Thanksgiving up on the North Shore. We would typically take the kids out of school on Wednesday and head up, hitting all of our favorite spots on the way and then staying at a lake home at Superior Shores where we would do the whole Thanksgiving dinner just for the four of us. We’d spend those days hiking around the resort and sometimes venturing to Gooseberry Falls State Park and Split Rock Lighthouse State Park. We’ve stayed at other places up there as well… Cove Point Lodge, Grand Superior Lodge, as well as some places in Canal Park in Duluth. On Saturdays, we would get dressed up and head to the New Scenic Café for a fancy dinner before driving down to walk through Bentleyville. 🎄
⛴️ We are always on the lookout for big boats, checking the schedule online, after they stopped providing printed copies of the boat schedule. So many memories of spending Thanksgiving weekend on the North Shore…my son took his drivers test in Duluth during a blizzard (he passed!), during the Covid era, my daughter wasn’t feeling great when we left the Twin Cities and decided to get tested in Duluth. The next day found out she indeed had Covid so she packed up and went home, missing out on the rest of our weekend. I could go on and on…
I’ve always dreamt of buying a property in Two Harbors as a vacation home for us. I still look at the listings that come up, but at this point, I’m not sure if that’s something in the cards anymore, especially when there are so many great places to stay!
A couple weeks ago we took our best friends up for a weekend, rented a lake home at Superior Shores Resort and showed them all of our favorite places to eat, drink and hike along the way. Typically our first stop, when we get to Duluth, is Ursa Minor Brewing (see links to all below) where we enjoyed their wood-fired pizza and tasting the many beer varieties they offer. We always make sure we grab sandwiches from Northern Water Smokehaus to take with and this time, enjoyed a quick stop at Vikre Distillery. A short twenty minute drive to Two Harbors, we checked into our lake house and dumped our bags before taking our sandwiches and heading over to Castle Danger Brewery. After that, we stopped for a cocktail at Tipsy Mosquito and then headed back to our lake home where we built a fire by the lake and enjoyed our last bottle of Olaf the Stout beer from Hammerheart, we had been saving for a special occasion. That night the full Flower moon rose over the lake delighting all of us. 🌕
☀️ The next morning I woke up to the most beautiful sunrise, the lake was like glass, and I wanted to run back in to the lake home and wake everyone up to share it with them. That day ,we hiked at Gooseberry Falls State Park, unsure whether or not we’d be able to do the full hike because of the recent rains, but we were happy to find the trails open and we enjoyed a nice long hike! After that, we had a quick stop at Lake Superior Burger Co. (Grand Superior Lodge) for some amazing smash burgers and then headed back to Superior Shores where we enjoyed the sauna in our unit and then started prepping for our charcuterie dinner.
It was a wonderful weekend and as always, I can’t wait to go back! Here is a list of our favorite spots you should definitely check out:
- Ursa Minor Brewing – always do a flight, so you can taste a variety! And GET THE PIZZA! One of our favorites is their Wise Yker. You can grab a couple four-packs to take to where you are staying or take home to enjoy later. (we ALWAYS bring a cooler with ice packs when we go up north)
- Northern Waters Smokehaus – now that they’ve moved to the spot where Amazing Grace bakery used to be, you can eat there or take it away. We always grab sandwiches to enjoy at Castle Danger in Two Harbors. Our favorites include the Sitka Sushi, The Hedonist and the Bánh Faux Mì. (next time I am getting the Silence of the Lambwich)
- Vikre Distillery – such a cute place! The have a list of their classics (my daughter loves The Last Word) and have seasonal cocktails and mocktails you can enjoy. They do have some snacks and I believe allow you to bring in your own as well.
- Superior Shores Resort – of course there are many places you can stay along the North Shore (want a walkable spot, check out the lakeside hotels in Canal Park of Duluth, or some of the AirBnB’s in downtown Two Harbors) and this resort is one of many on the shore. We’ve been staying there on and off for so many years and it’s a little sad that some of the rooms and lake homes haven’t really been updated. However, they all have that North Shore decor, so if you can look past the dated feel to some of it, and embrace the vibe, you’ll love it there! The renovated the restaurant and bar recently and we had breakfast there one morning and it was delicious!
- Castle Danger Brewery – always a family favorite stop, and the outdoor patio area is great and dog friendly! I would recommend a flight here as well, since they have quite a few different brews to try. They don’t serve food (or than some snackie things) but usually have a food truck of some sorts out back and allow you to bring in your own food or order from some of the local restaurants for delivery.
- Tipsy Mosquito – another adorable cocktail room, just across the street from Castle Danger, we enjoyed a round of drinks from their seasonal menu. Unlike Vikre, which only uses their own spirits, Tipsy Mosquito has a full bar. They have a bunch of different seating areas and the atmosphere (basically because of the bartenders) is lively, so if you are looking for a quiet, romantic spot, this isn’t it.
Again, my thoughts, prayers and best wishes are with everyone on the north shore and the other areas where wildfires are burning in Minnesota and Wisconsin. 🙏🏻 ~Shawn
Who Eats Like This?! 