HMS Beangle

Back in 2018, coming off a couple years of doing triathlons together, Jessica and I decided we were going to run a full marathon. We laid out the training plan. We committed to it. We found our perfect race: Grandma’s Marathon along the Duluth waterfront. It was the right time of year, we’d heard great things about it, AND Jeff had a personal connection to the city in the form of two former coworkers.

And then I broke my arm. No more running for me, declared my cranky orthopedic surgeon, not even fast walking for the next few months. I was sidelined. The timing fell apart for Jessica. We put it off, “for a bit.” Covid came and went. My lungs took a beating. We moved away. Running fell into the ‘I really should’ instead of the ‘I want to’ state. Time rolled on.

Anyway, back to our travels.

After our unexpected detour south, we headed to Northfield, Minnesota, best known for the Northfield Bank Raid of 1876 which ended the James-Younger Gang. 1876 was a big year in Wild West history, and this was a significant event in 1876. Take a moment to read up on it. Joseph Lee Haywood is rightly considered the town hero.

That evening, we found a place to stay along the Mississippi River, just outside Red Wing, Minnesota. Yes, of Red Wing shoe fame.

The first morning there, we took a steep, slick, rocky trail down to the waterline and caught sight of a few barges floating past. The thrum of their diesel engines over the water is very distinctive, similar to the rhythmic chugging of train wheels across tracks, but deeper and a little slower.

With so much humidity in the air, we woke both mornings to a spooky, spongy, foggy forest. It was beautiful and totally didn’t creep me out, despite having been forced by my older cousins and neighbors to sit through so many terrible, teenage-geared slasher films.

Post-shower towels. Wash cloths. Socks. Dishrags. A pair of hand-washed tan pants that may have unexpectedly slid across some lichen and moss-covered rocks down at the waterline. After two days of evening thunderstorms and persistent high humidity, nothing ever dried. We headed out with a rather soggy dirty clothes bag, a replacement camp stove ordered, and breakfast in our bellies.

Goodbye Frontenac State Park.

Hello Jay Cooke State Park.

Although best known for its Swinging Bridge, we thought Jay Cooke’s forest walks were the real treasure. It didn’t hurt that it’s autumn, the colors were really starting to pop through, and the weather was soooo fine. Sunny, 70° days, and with nary a raindrop or a mosquito to be seen. A welcome change. You can almost hear the leaves crunching underfoot just by looking at this trail.

I continue to feed my morbid fascination with mushrooms that look like they’re plotting our demise. The one below is possibly a variety of Armillaria mellea, better known as Honey Mushroom. If so, the internet says they’re edible. Thank you, hard no.

While walking, I nearly stepped on a young garter snake trying to eat a frog. It may have bitten more than it could chew, literally. The frog kept pulling itself slowly down the path while the snake tried to increase its portion of ingested frog leg. We watched for a while, but they appeared to be at a stalemate. Who gave up first?

So, back to Duluth. Yes, we finally got to visit Duluth. It only took seven years. After a nice lunch near the waterfront, we walked out to the lighthouse and watched the town’s lift bridge in action.

I would have loved to see an iron ore barge head out into Lake Superior. Alas, not to be. Many years back, we used to borrow a cottage in Canada that had ore barges float past regularly. It’s still one of my favorite memories.

I’m not sure what these twin water towers were or are used for, but they caught my fancy.

After exploring a few places around town, completing a few overdue banking tasks, and getting some no-fridge-required groceries, we made our way over to Jeff’s former colleagues’ house. You know how some people make you feel instantly at home and like it hasn’t been 15 or so years since you last saw them? They are that kind of couple.

They went out of their way to make sure I could eat everything, even dessert! They handed us our new (delivered to their front door) camp stove. They then caught us up on their family, gave us suggestions for upcoming campsites, and didn’t wring our necks when our total lack of any time-recognition skills nowadays led us to stay far too late into their evening—and with work the next day!

You know you’re in the presence of an interesting family when you see a bike jump attached to the back of their house. Hopefully it won’t take another 15 years before we see them again.

Now, to circle back.

Our kind—and hopefully not too sleep deprived Duluth dinner host—relatively recently ran Grandma’s Marathon and Jessica is running her first full marathon at the end of October. Congrats to them both!