One Great Day

Our first official day here, came too quickly for me. Poor Michael had to tear me from the pillows and blankets. I was not ready to wake up by any means. Breakfast started at 9am. Let me preface this by saying that neither Michael nor I are breakfast eaters. Maybe a muffin or oatmeal with coffee but never breakfast. Oh my goodness, I have never been so pleasantly full so early in the day. We were served oven roasted pears in blueberry soy yogurt. Then came the big deal. We then ate blueberry pancakes that were out of this world with "cheesy" potatoes and mock duck sausage-style patties. Oh yes, it was all vegan and the best breakfast I had eaten to that date. No apologies Pizza Luce brunch. You don't even compare.

We almost took a nap after breakfast. Even our bodies were freaking out. :laughs: We gathered the courage to move around and got ready. We unloaded our bikes and took down the hills. We took our time to get over to Canal Park. We took a break on an amazing overlook. It was simply stunning.

maybe we should crop the bench out

sassy, fun photos


trying to get back on the right path


meet Michael, master biking photographer

As we got into the boardwalk area we began the hunt for a bike rack. We parked by the Maritime center. We took to the pier and began the photo shoots. I highly anticipated going over to the DeWitt & Seitz building as 3 vegan friendly places resided there. We went down to Amazing Grace Bakery and Cafe. The mission was coffee but Senor Sol was out so we settled with juice and bubbles. We mozied through the shops and went up to the studios of amazing artists. They were not open for us but we ogled everything. There was an old fashioned printing press in one. Around 4pm our stomachs were telling us lunch was needing to happen.

oh the bridge

too bad I had squinty eyes

the cutest husband, I ever did see

did i mention the weather was perfect?

pier art.

We hopped into Lake Avenue Cafe and were pleasantly surprised. Our waitress was more than helpful. We ordered a starter of babaganoush and grilled pita triangles. Oh my babaganoush. I think this will be a staple in our household. Michael decided to break the veganism cycle I had forced upon him. :laughs: He ordered a tuna sandwich with provolone, red onion, olive oil on a toasted ciabatta bread. i could tell he was in love with it. i ordered the pasta nero. In this simply perfect pasta there were kalamata olives, artichoke hearts and wilted spinach brought together with a white wine and olive oil sauce. It was to simply perfect. Everything here was so delicious I wanted to make a second trip over there.

pasta nero

tuna sandwich

trust me, I was much more excited than I look

We leisurely strolled through a few stores after lunchish. We walked into the art gallery we have been in before. There were some lovely prints hanging on the wall. The artist, Rick Allen, turned out to be the same guy who had the printing presses in the top level of the DeWitt Seitz Marketplace. I believe we will start collecting his work. We then felt ready to head back. We only made it to the 21st block on Superior street before I wimped out and had to walk my bike up the hills. We made it back, took a shower and I promptly passed out. Our nap turned into sleep.

One Great Night

We're on our way!

We are traveling back from our honeymoon in Duluth. If I were to rate this trip on a scale of one to ten, it would get ten out of stunning view of Lake Superior. I would definitely say that everything surpassed our expectations. We were blessed with glorious weather. The sun, Senor Sol, as we like to call him was always out shining while we were out. Mother wind provided cool and mostly soft breezes.

We drove up here after our wedding night in Minneapolis. We grabbed soup from Panera before heading up. The trip was nice and calm. Even our bikes made it without knocking over bicyclers on the side of the road. We checked into our B&B, the A. G. Thomson House, around 5 pm. We met the inn-sitter who kept referring to us as "veh-gans". It was so cute, I just couldn't correct her. After being shown the house, we were brought out to the carriage house, in which we were staying. We stayed in the Brule River retreat. Our room was nothing less than cozy and way too comfortable. We settled into our space.

Michael spying as I got ready

Then we made our way out to downtown for dinner. This was Sunday night so the parking was free and not too hard to come by. We mozied on over to Pizza Luce. As always, we ordered our favorite pizza, the Rustler. Even if you are not vegan, I highly reccomend the rinotta instead of cheese. It was phenominal. It is sweet and tangy and the little kick of bbq sauce just puts this pizza into perfect flavor profile.

After our stomachs had exceeded capacity we hobbled back to the car, talked about the next days plans, and drove back to our "home." We found the giant bathtub in our room to be perfect for soaking away the troubles and worries in our minds. If everyone had a giant bathtub, I believe there would be more peaceful hearts in the world. Still lacking proper sleep, we then sank into the pillows and soft blankets. I was out pretty quickly.