North Shore of Minnesota - Day #1

It was another track meet that brought us back to the Midwest. With Brooke competing at the Big 10 Outdoor Track Championship in Minneapolis, we decided to head to Minnesota a few days early to spend time along Minnesota’s north shore and to explore national park #21 with a visit to Voyageurs National Park.

We started our trip on a very cold, windy, and rainy day in Duluth. The first stop was Canal Park which sits along the shoreline of Lake Superior. This was a good vantage point to see the Aerial Lift Bridge, although we didn’t get to see it raise since no ships were sailing through while we were there. Due to the wind and cold, we spent just a short time getting photos of the two lighthouses that stand at the entrance to the canal that leads from Lake Superior to the harbor.

The Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge

Once in the car, we started our drive along Highway 61 which is a beautifully scenic road that hugs the shoreline from Duluth almost all the way to the Canadian border. Just 30 minutes from Duluth, we stopped in Two Harbors to enjoy a mid-morning snack from the iconic Betty’s Pies. The story behind this pie shop began in 1957 when Betty’s dad ran a fish shack along Highway 61. Betty decided that the fisherman might enjoy coffee and donuts, then later added hamburgers/hotdogs. Eventually, Betty had her own cafe with a large menu, but it was her pies that were most popular. We can attest to the fact that Betty’s Pies are delicious, as we thoroughly enjoyed our slice of apple toffee crunch pie with vanilla ice cream. Yum!

Enjoying a delicious mid-morning snack!

To work off the pie we had eaten, we needed to get a little exercise. Gooseberry State Park was the perfect place to do that. The highlight of Gooseberry Falls State Park is definitely the waterfall. The upper, middle, and lower portions of the falls were raging with snowmelt and recent rain. We followed a trail that took us down one side of the falls and back up the other where we crossed over the bridge at the top. At the state park’s visitor center, we learned that the water flowing over the falls will be one of two colors - root beer or chocolate milk - due to decomposing plants in wetlands upstream that release tannins which stain the water varying shades of brown. It was definitely a murky brown and in fact all of the falls that we visited during our north shore trip were this same color.

Only 10 miles north on Highway 61, we arrived at the Split Rock lighthouse. Before entering the lighthouse, we watched a short documentary film about the history of the lighthouse. The actual tour of the lighthouse is a quick self-guided climb up the spiral stairs to reach where the fresnel lens is housed at the top. The weather was still pretty cold and dreary and as we were walking from the lighthouse outbuilding to the light keeper’s house, we heard thunder rumbling. Then there was a huge crack of lightening and we instantly smelled smoke. It turns out that lightening struck a tree in the parking lot only 300 feet from where we were. Later we walked out to the parking lot to see that the top of the tree had exploded and splintered debris all over the parking lot. This lightening strike was way too close for comfort! We saw on the news that night that the lighthouse would be closed the next two days because of electrical damage caused by the strike.

The Split Rock Lighthouse

Back in the car, the next stop was Palisade Head. Usually you can drive right up to it, but the road was closed. So we parked and walked up the winding road to reach Palisade Head. Once again the rain and cold wind made for a brief visit.

Palisade Head

Up until this point, we hadn’t done any real hiking. So when we got to Tettegouche State Park we set out on a 3 mile round trip hike to Two Step Falls and High Falls. It was a pretty hike to a few more Minnesota waterfalls!

There was still some snow/ice on the trail.

Two Step Falls

The view from the top of High Falls

Standing on the bridge over High Falls

We stopped a few more times as we were driving north to Grand Marais to enjoy more waterfalls right along the highway. The prettiest of these was Hidden Falls at Temperance River State Park. Again the raging river water made for an impressive waterfall.

Hidden Falls at Temperance River State Park

Where the Temperance River flows into Lake Superior

Once in Grand Marais, we had a yummy dinner at the Gun Flint Brewery before checking into our hotel, the Best Western Superior Inn.

Indianapolis, Indiana

 

Both Jim and I grew up watching the Indianapolis 500 race every Memorial Day weekend, so we knew that a visit to Indianapolis would be incomplete without a tour of the speedway. We arrived at the museum that is located on the inside of the track just as it was opening for the day and spent a long time looking at all of the vintage cars through modern day Indy cars that they have on display. Once we were finished in the museum, we took the Brickyard Tour which took us by bus on a lap around the track. We were able to stop and get pictures at the start/finish line. Everything looked so different than what I had envisioned after watching the race for years on TV. We both agreed that we need to come back to experience the race in person!

An oldie

One of Rick Mears' winning cars

The Borg Warner Trophy

In the evening, we walked from our downtown hotel to find a place for dinner and then walked several more blocks to see the Soldiers & Sailors Monument. It was beautiful illuminated in patriotic colored lights, but we didn’t stay long because it was freezing cold outside!!

The next day, we drove back to Ann Arbor where we saw Brooke compete again - unfortunately I forgot to get any pictures the second time around. Then we flew home the following day, capping off a fun week in the Midwest.

St. Louis, Missouri

The Gateway Arch was the first stop for our day of sightseeing in St. Louis. We enjoyed the museum located under the arch which highlighted the westward expansion. In addition, we watched a fascinating documentary that focused on the construction of the arch. But the most fun was our tram ride to the top of the arch. We got really lucky in that we were the only visitors (plus one ranger) at the top of the arch. We were 630 feet above the city of St. Louis and had the views to ourselves!

In the tram ready for the ride to the top







We were the only ones at the top of the arch




The Old Courthouse across from the Gateway Arch

After a quick bite to eat, we made our way to the Anheuser Busch factory for the brewery tour. This tour took us on a walk through the Anheuser Busch factory campus where we saw some Clydesdale horses and stables, as well as the different buildings for each stage of the beer brewing process. The tour concluded with a free beer in the Biergarten. This was another informative, great time!

The Anheuser Busch Factory









The Clydesdale horses









Parts of the factory are really pretty with intricate iron work and chandeliers.

Stella Artois was being bottled the day we visited




Anheuser Busch makes a lot of different beers and seltzers




Enjoying a beer in the Biergarten after the tour

Springfield, Illinois

 After the first track meet in Ann Arbor, Jim and I hit the road for a quick trip around the Midwest. Our first stop was Springfield, Illinois. We started our day at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. The first exhibit, that we entered via a replica of Lincoln’s boyhood Kentucky cabin, focused primarily on Lincoln’s early years through his presidential campaign. The other main exhibit, that we entered via a replica of the White House, focused on Lincoln’s presidency through his assassination. It was very informative and extremely well done.

Jim standing at the entrance to the first exhibit

The one room cabin in which Abraham Lincoln lived with 6 other family members while in Kentucky.

The entrance to the 2nd exhibit that focused on Lincoln's presidency

A few blocks from the museum is the Lincoln Home National Historic Site. At this site, we were able to tour the home that Lincoln owned and lived in as a young lawyer in Springfield. It was where he started his family and was his last residence before becoming the 16th president of the United States.

Lincoln's Springfield home

To complete a day full of Lincoln history, we visited Lincoln’s tomb in Oak Ridge Cemetery. The tomb is the final resting place of Abraham Lincoln, his wife, and three of their children. Unfortunately, the tomb was closed for tours when we were there, but we walked around the exterior of the impressive monument.

We had a few hours drive that afternoon to our next stop - Saint Louis, Missouri.

Ann Arbor, Michigan

With University of Michigan track meets scheduled on back to back weekends, we decided to make a trip to the Midwest which was bookended by the two meets. The first weekend in Ann Arbor was especially fun because my parents, aunt, uncle, cousin, and my cousin’s son joined us. Jim and I arrived ahead of everyone else on Thursday evening in time to meet Brooke and her boyfriend, Patrick for an Italian dinner. The next morning, Brooke gave me and my parents a tour of her apartment, the Ross Business building where she has all of her classes, and the indoor track facility. That evening, the Traverse City part of the family checked into our hotel where we all enjoyed catching up over drinks and snacks in the lobby. 

Brooke giving Grandma and Grandpa a tour around campus

Saturday morning, we all headed to the indoor track to watch Brooke compete in pole vault for U of M. It was lots of fun teaching our family the intricacies of pole vault scoring, technique, etc. Brooke ended up vaulting 13’ 6.25” which she was pleased with.

All set to compete!

Brooke's fan club

Theo, Aunt Sue, Brooke and Stephie

Since we happened to be in town on Brooke’s birthday, we all went to dinner together to celebrate Brooke turning 23. This was the first time in 5 years that we were able to celebrate with Brooke on her actual birthday!