On Getting Outta Town

Last weekend I mentioned that we were going to Duluth for a couple days of something--almost anything--different. We stayed in a hotel in Superior, Wisconsin that was unremarkable except for the jaw-droppingly low cost, the thinness of the walls, and the fact that they still use these:

So the hotel wasn't luxurious or even a very good place to relax, and next time we'll drop a little more money on that. But the rest of the trip was great. We had lots of good food, even more good beer, and did one of my favorite things: we hiked. And the place where we hiked didn't have the vague chemical smell that I think pervades every bit of nature nestled in and around this city. What it did have was birds of prey. They were pretty much invisible to the naked eye (and to our camera), but you could see them with binoculars, like this guy:

After spending a few minutes watching the hawks, we followed Ole's Trail through the woods. It was one of the best hiking trails I've been on, partly because there were so many variations in the geography. We climbed rocky hills, walked through tall brown grass, and stood beside a creek. It was pretty. See?





This is Lake Superior from the hills above Duluth:

And this is Duluth from a pier on Lake Superior:

On Monday before we came home, we stopped by Lake Superior Brewing, where they gave us an in-depth tour and some free beer. Then we continued our vacation by buying CDs at the Electric Fetus in Minneapolis (since we didn't have a single quarter to feed the parking meter at the Duluth store). We finished it off by making a frozen pizza at home and collapsing on the couch. Awesome weekend.