July 2013 - Page 2 of 94 - Perfect Duluth Day

StageNorth comes a wee bit South to Teatro Zuccone

Jul 28, 2013 No Comments

Kate and I have often said that, if there were a suitable academic job there for both of us, we would move in a second to Washburn — halfway between Bayfield/Madeleine Island and Ashland, and so just close enough to wonderful things, but just far enough, away, too, to enjoy the quiet things: the best used bookstore north of Minneapolis and of Madison, one of the best bakeries (although there are so many great bakeries in northwestern Wisconsin, it is hard to choose), a cultural center with antique shops, local arts and crafts, and a gallery space that, among other things, hosted the awesome “No Reservations” exhibit last year. And a DQ. Every small town has a DQ.

Last night, I got a taste of the next best thing in Washburn: StageNorth Theater.

Events

Where in Duluth? (B)

Jul 27, 2013 2 Comments

Uncategorized Where in Duluth?

Where in Duluth? (A)

Jul 27, 2013 4 Comments

Uncategorized Where in Duluth?

Mountain Biking at Spirit Mountain

Jul 27, 2013 No Comments

By now you have probably heard that Spirit Mountain has been running chairlifts this summer for mountain bikers. There have been people here to ride from all over the country and even from Canada. These trails are getting some well-deserved attention and I want to let everyone know that if you have ever wanted to try mountain biking, now is the time to do it. With all of the other great areas to mountain bike in our beautiful city, such as Piedmont, Lester and Hartley, Duluth is making a name for itself across the country as a mountain-biking destination!

The above video by Higher Base Media is of the trail Candyland at Spirit Mountain.

Sports, Videos

What to do with extra garage door panels

Jul 27, 2013 7 Comments

If you really want to know why I have two extra garage door panels, go ahead and ask. For now, I’ll get to the point. What I find to be really annoying about having two perfectly good garage door panels is that it seems the best thing I can do is haul them to a junk yard and get them out of my way. Tell me if I’m wrong.

Is there anyone who warehouses stuff like this and sells them to contractors or the general public? A new panel costs $220 — that’s $440 for two — but the odds that someone who needs the exact size and color panels I have will search Craigslist and find out I have them for cheap are minimal. So these panels are likely to hit the dump by the time the snow falls, unless I get ambitious and recruit two friends to help me carefully feed them into the rafters so they can waste space up there for 20 years.

Uncategorized Queries

Godforsaken?

Jul 27, 2013 5 Comments

“Head up to Duluth along North Shore Scenic Drive which runs along Lake Superior. It’s Godforsaken country in the best sense of the term. I didn’t know beauty like that existed until I saw it.”

From Road Trips To Take This Summer

Outdoors

Jim Carlson: the drink

Jul 27, 2013 1 Comment

Rim a glass with an orange slice and sugar (designed to look like bath salts). Pour some Jim Beam high-proof bourbon in the glass. Light that badboy with a match to caramelize the sugar. Shake some “spice,” a.k.a. cinnamon, into the fire and watch the sparks fly. Add Kahlua, coffee and cream.

Uncategorized Weird

Lester River Swimming Hole

Jul 26, 2013 1 Comment

Outdoors, Videos

Is Duluth one of the “Cities where the most people have heart attacks”?

Jul 26, 2013 8 Comments

From USAToday:

Duluth, Minn.-Wisc.

> Pct. reporting heart attack: 6.2% (tied for 8th highest)
> Pct. obese: 26.9% (68th highest)
> Pct. who smoke: 19.6% (78th lowest)
> Median household income: $46,110

In many respects, people in Duluth were in better health than the country as a whole. For instance, the percentage of people with both high blood pressure and high cholesterol were below the national rate. However, nearly 27% of people surveyed were considered obese, higher than the 24.8% obesity rate across the country. Like most areas on this list, Duluth’s median household income was lower than the national median. In 2011, it was about $4,400 less than the U.S. median of $50,502. In addition, Duluth had a slightly higher poverty rate of 16.6% than the U.S. poverty rate of 15.9%.

Random

USA Today Gets ‘Low’

Jul 26, 2013 2 Comments

The new Low documentary got a mention in USA Today‘s pop culture blog “Pop Candy” yesterday, written by uber-cool pop junkie Whitney Matheson.

‘Low Movie’: Indie band gets its own doc

Here’s the writeup:

Despite having been together for 20 years, the band Low has managed to remain pretty under the radar. This year the lo-fi Sub Pop artists are being celebrated in a documentary that looks as good as it sounds.

Low Movie (How to Quit Smoking) is directed by Phil Harder, who has been documenting the band for the last two decades with a 16mm camera. His film includes lots of never-before-seen footage from the band.

I admire Harder’s dedication to getting a good shot – which sometimes means persuading the band to get on frozen Lake Superior when there’s a 30-below wind chill.

Low’s latest record, The Invisible Way, was released earlier this year. Last week Pitchfork debuted a compelling performance video for the song “Clarence White.”

Low Movie screens July 29 in New York’s Film Society of Lincoln Center before showing in more than 20 cities, including San Francisco, Boston, Los Angeles and Portland, Ore. For screening info and more, head to the official site.

Music 16mm Film, Low

Superior Hiking Trail: Martin Road to Lismore Road

Jul 25, 2013 9 Comments

There hasn’t been a lot of hype surrounding it, but as of June 1 the Superior Hiking Trail is complete from Duluth to Two Harbors. The missing link is no longer missing. You can now hike the trail from Jay Cooke State Park to the Canadian border … you know, if you feel like a nice 296-mile trek.

Above is the starting point of the Duluth to Two Harbors section, from the trailhead at Martin Road on the Duluth / Rice Lake Township border. The start of this section is cut on the old North Shore State Trail, and a sign there pays tribute to C. J. Ramstad, “Mr. Snowmobiling.”

Outdoors Hiking, Superior Hiking Trail

Freediving the Ruins of Duluth’s Outer Harbor

Jul 24, 2013 4 Comments

Freediving the century-plus-old ruins of Duluth’s outer harbor. First the old breakwater wall (cribbing filled with rocks) that stretches 1000′ from the Vietnam Memorial to the red buoy. The buoy’s function is to mark this as a shipping hazard (at that distance from shore the buoy is in 30 feet of water). The destruction of the breakwater wall in a storm spurred the digging of the canal. Then the column or pillar of Uncle Harvey’s Mausoleum, essentially a bundle of timbers sheathed in concrete. Then Uncle Harvey’s itself, in 16 feet of water, also built on cribbing.

History, Outdoors, Videos

Poll: Best Breakfast in the Duluth Area

Jul 24, 2013 No Comments

A recent post on PDD asked about the “best breakfast in town.” Having gleaned the nominees from that post — and eliminated one for being too far outside Duluth — we might as well make it official and have a poll asking the all-important question …

Which restaurant in the Duluth area serves the best breakfast?

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This poll is now closed.

Because there were a dozen options in this poll, we considered it the first round of voting. So instead of posting the full results, we reveal the top-five breakfast restaurants, which advance to a new poll to determine the official champion.

The top-five breakfast restaurants, in alphabetical order, are:

At Sara’s Table / Chester Creek Café
Duluth Grill
The Kitchen
Pizza Lucé
Uncle Loui’s

Polls, Restaurants Breakfast

50-cent soda pop machines in Duluth

Jul 23, 2013 19 Comments

“One soda … 12 ounces. Fifty sen! Sold. It’s been a pleasure frequenting your establishment.”

–Michael Douglas as William “D-Fens” Foster in the 1993 movie Falling Down

I noticed recently that Twin Ports Cyclery in the West End has a pop machine inside that charges 50 cents, which is the amount that should be forever recognized in the U.S. Constitution as the official price for a can of carbonated water, citric acid and corn syrup.

I’m wondering if there are any other 50-cent soft-drink machines around town. Please note them in the comments.

I know the Last Place on Earth probably still has its 40-cent (or was it 45?) machine, but even at that price it hardly seems worth it to go in there, and the place is shut down right now anyway … or has it reopened again? I can’t keep up. Please consider all questions in this paragraph to be rhetorical.

Oh, and I don’t want to hear about any 55-cent machines. Might as well be a dollar.

Recommendations Queries, Soda Pop

Mid-July, Lake Superior

Jul 22, 2013 No Comments