Recommendations
Google Fiber (Austin, TX)
Google Fiber – Duluth, it looks like your next best bet will be Austin, TX. You should consider moving there. I’ll help you pack.
Via Ars Technica.
Game of Thrones Season 3 Premier
Where can a person go to watch the premier of the new season? Any bars in the Twin Ports with HBO? It’d be great if Zinema 2 could pick this up and have weekly screenings!
Where to find fresh fish in Duluth
My wife and I are new to Duluth and I’m looking for the best place to purchase fresh fish for Easter. I haven’t a clue where to start. Help please.
Merch Madness
Kate and I walked downtown for Merch Madness and we found some friendly shopkeepers, some great deals, and some yummy food. (more…)
Canoe Repair in Duluth
Being Duluth has been recognized as the Outdoor mecca we all know it to be, it seems someone around here would do canoe repairs. Does anyone know of someone who does? I have a Tripper that needs patching and I don’t have the know how or the space. Any help would be great.
Help me smoke meats
I want to build this barrel smoker I found on Reddit, but I don’t know where to find a 55-gallon food-grade drum. Since everyone was very helpful with my sticker question I figured I would tap the PDD well again.
Popular Mechanics: Build Your Own Smoker From a 55-Gallon Drum
CrossFit Duluth
CrossFit has finally made it to Duluth!
Lift-accessed mountain biking at Spirit Mountain this summer
Starting May 23, Spirit Mountain is set to start running its lifts for mountain bikers. As of now there are two amazing trails that are an absolute blast to ride! If you want to try mountain biking this is a perfect opportunity for you. (more…)
Bob Monohan shows his cards
Bob Monohan does the art scene.
I had a fun interview with Bob Monohan of Chaperone Records, which I posted this morning at Ennyman’s Territory.
Mike and Jen’s Cocoa Mixes
Here’s a new little local business we should mention before the snow melts. The Packingham family in Duluth’s Lakeside neighborhood decided to attempt to develop “the best cocoa mix on the planet.” The result is Mike & Jen’s Cocoa Mixes. Mike is 14; Jen is 10. Their father Dean explains:
“We just started it around Christmas to cope with my ex-father-in-law’s cancer diagnosis, taking orders off Facebook. Next thing you know, my friend in Denmark offered to create the graphics and the label for free (the artist is famous for her work with Bella Sara cards — a line of girl’s trading cards that my daughter was so into when she was younger).
“My father-in-law was able to get the first bag at Christmas and it was very emotional. It also gave him a pick me up, and he asks about it all the time.”
So, has anyone out there tried it yet? Or are you all too bloated from Tom & Jerrys to mix things up with a little hot cocoa?
App Recomendations
I know there are websites, public access TV shows, blogs, YouTube channels, radio shows and perhaps 1-900-services dedicated to all things iPad\phone\pod\touch – but I don’t have the time or interest in sorting through all of it. I need a few iPad app recommendations for the following: 4th grade Math Tutoring; Kindergarten sight word development and basic piano skill development. We justified getting an iPad as an “educational tool”; but have frankly been overwhelmed at the prospect of loading decent apps. At present, it’s a $500 machine for playing “Temple Run” and watching Netflix. A well vetted resource for finding this information would also be valuable.
Snow Day *Perk* Attention: Parents, students, Mayor Ness and everyone else. Thom Storm is awesome!
I propose the City of Duluth creates a Thom Storm Day!
This man has done so much for the youth of our city through his works at Chester Park/Chester Bowl over the years and he continues to do so.
He just sent out an email this afternoon regarding the winter storm. How is this for fore-thinking and helping parents out if the kids are out of school, and who need to go to work for a few hours tomorrow, if they can get there:
If schools are closed tomorrow due to snow, I intend to open the chairlift from 11-4:30, so parents can go to work, & kids can have something fun to do. I already have early morning grooming of the hill, and snowplowing of the road arranged. The final piece to the puzzle would be to get some parents to operate the concession stand. Volunteers would be needed from 10-45am to 2pm and 1:45-4:45pm. If you would be available to help out, please email me back by 5pm today if possible. This would only take place if schools are closed. If schools remain open, the lift will be open it’s regular hours of 4:30-8:30, and volunteers for the concession are already signed up for those shifts.
Thanks for your consideration.
Thom Storm
Executive Director
Chester Bowl Improvement Club
1801 E. Skyline Dr.
Duluth, MN. 55812-1154
(218) 724-9832
[email protected]
Recommendations for evening childcare
I’m lost in the sea of confusion trying to find the best outlet for potential childcare for my kiddos. We’ve got the best daytime preschool for the younger, the elder attends a lovely local elementary right down the road, and a coworker’s daughter is incredibly motivated but not willing to cover nights when needed — but being relatively new to the area I’ve hit nothing but snags looking for reliable care in that gray area between about 5:30 and 11 p.m.
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Indoor Walking Options in Duluth
Duluth Skywalk system map.
A recent request that came Perfect Duluth Day’s way via Facebook from a visitor to town was for information and links on indoor walking options. There are a handful of options that will be obvious to people familiar with Duluth, but perhaps there are some less-obvious examples that will be shared in the comments.
- Duluth Skywalk System
- Miller Hill Mall
- Mariner Mall (Superior)
- University of Minnesota Duluth
- Essentia Health (Duluth medical campus)
The first three are probably the best if you don’t want to ram into people and like shopping options along the way.
The Skywalk, UMD and Essentia are the best for seeing daylight during your indoor walk.
UMD is the best one for the possibility of getting lost or plowing into someone who is rushing through the crowd to get to class.
Best Duluth Internet Provider?
Since Charter just jacked up its rates for cable Internet from $35 to nearly $50/mo., I was wondering if anyone has a recommendation for a good high-speed internet provider that does not require a land-line phone. I need the service at my home for my laptop PC.
Bookoo.com
Has anyone around here heard of a site called Bookoo? It appears to have a Craigslist feel to it, yet a closer look at the site tells me the buyers and sellers have some account ability similar to eBay.
Over the summer I was in desperate need of a transmission. I found one on Craigslist, met the guy at Dunn Bros., he being from Two Harbors and me from Superior. It was likely the only time I’d ever deal with this guy — clearly I’m buying as is. I gave him $250 in exchange for a hunk of metal he said ran before he pulled it out. The gamble paid off and the transmission works to this day. It seems to me that had I bought it from him off of Bookoo and it didn’t work I would be able to warn others of the gentleman’s bad dealings. I think I’ll sign the petition. Will you, my neighbor, join me at the world’s funniest yard sale?
Ordering baby chicks anyone?!
I am looking to order baby chicks from a hatchery in February and I only want 10, but the minimum order during these cold months is usually at least 15 to 25. I am wanting to order some rare breed chickens such as Silkies, Polish, and some other Bantams. If you are interested in ordering some as well and want to go in on an order please let me know or if you know anyone locally that has these breeds I would be interested in that as well!
Children’s Entertainers
Does anyone know of any fun children’s entertainers in the Duluth area? Balloon animal artists, magicians, uni-cyclists — anything will do!
Women’s Words on KUMD
I love this new(ish) show on KUMD. Check out recordings from past shows here [Jill Hinners, Deborah Cooper, Cheryl Reitan, Sheila Packa, Gail Trowbridge, Meredith Cornett (total self-promotion, please forgive me), and many others!]. “Women’s Words” airs at ~1:30 and 3:30 p.m. on Sundays as part of the Women’s Music Show. If you are a (woman) writer willing to do a short reading from your work, they want to hear from you!
Wikimapia
It’s kind of a weird name, it’s something that I discovered while doing “armchair” history research, and it’s become a hobby of sorts. Wikimapia is sort of like Wikipedia + Google maps, or as they put it; “a multilingual open-content collaborative map, where anyone can create place tags and share their knowledge.”
So basically if you sign up, (which it’s free), you can draw polygons around locations like a building, park, or historical places and then add the information about it, add photos, tags and what have you. Once it’s saved, others can view it, comment on it, or even update it as well if they have something new to add. You can add lots of other information too, like roads or railroads.
I know that there are some people here who dig history and know a lot of facts about our area, so I just thought it’d be cool to share and hope that maybe they will share their knowledge on the site as well, or at the very least, simply just looking around it.
A good place to have snow tires put on?
I know I’m late — tires are off the wheels, so need mounting/balancing … thanks!
Lafayette Wedding
I’m getting married on the beach at Park Point. It will be a small wedding but I want ceremony music and dinner music. Any ideas?
Artisan Bread at Red Mug
A while back PDD people were clamoring for artisan breads. Well, you can now get the real stuff at the Red Mug Bake Shop in Superior, from noon Thursday through Friday, at least through the winter. They are made by Dave Hanlon, whose breads you may have tasted at past Land Trust benefits. That’s about all I know.
New to Duluth
My family (hubby, myself, and two 3-year-olds) are relocating to Duluth this summer from Madison, Wisconsin. We want to rent a 3- or 4-bedroom family home with a backyard for the little ones, a garage, and laundry. Any ideas/suggestions/tips for a newbie would be welcome. What are your favorite neighborhoods or areas in town? What is the best way to find a place?