Now where did we last leave off? Oh! Duluth, Minnesota! Duluth is one of those places where people go, "Man, Duluth is so cool, you should go there!" So then you have to go there and you find foodist treasures like Duluth Grill where they serve...
....North Shore Paella, a Wrenshaw Pasty, Sautéed Kale, Homemade Sweet Potato Chips and Wild Rice Soup. Man, Duluth Grill does local like nobody's business! Everything from the eggs, to the beef to the veggies and lard they use in the pasty is from Minnesota. The fish that goes into their paella is all from Lake Superior. Saying that their food is local doesn't even cut it....
...In their parking lot they have a whole garden! Tomatoes, Corn, Spices...everything you can imagine, growing only a few yards from the kitchen. Now thats local!
Now of course, no meal (of mine) is complete without a frozen dairy dessert after. Now the Portland Malt Shoppe is also one of those places where people tell you to go if you head up to Duluth. So Go we went!
Hello you beautiful Snickers Ice Cream with Caramel Malt!
Lake Superior! Fun Fact: Lake Superior is not only the largest lake of the Great Lakes but it also contains 10% of the worlds fresh surface water!
Duluth, Day Two! Obviously wouldn't be complete without a drive up the side of Lake Superior where we had a chance to stop at.....
...Betty's Pies! Situated on the banks of Lake Superior, this little dinner serves up over 12 dozen pie options daily!
I feel like the combo of the bright blue table and this slice of Rhubarb-Strawberry pie just screams
"I'm ready for my closeup!" #nofilter
Hey Gooseberry Falls! This is one stop everyone tells you to make when you travel to Duluth! These falls are located about 15 miles from Two Harbors in Lake County. The visitor center and grounds at the falls were originally constructed in 1930ish by the Civilian Conservation Corps (a band of young dudes that like the outdoors and nature and stuff).
Fun Fact: About a billion years ago (and you can still see some evidence now) there was a huge lava flow through where the falls stands today.
Fun Fact Part Two: Back in Ice Age Days, huge glaciers scraped through Northern Minnesota helping carve out some of the falls and even Lake Superior!
After Duluth, we made a quick pit stop back in Woodbury, for my final hour as 100% MinnesoTaryn and after packing up the last of my things and saying bye to my favorite puppy pal it was off to South Dakota!
This little thing was the best (her being so awesome) and worst (having to leave her!) part of my entire summer!
THE CORN PALACE!
Every year the residents of Mitchell, South Dakota vote on different designs for the outside of their Corn Palace. And when I say Corn Palace, I really mean Corn! Each design is filled in, similar to a paint by numbers, with different color corn kernels and corn husks.
Every year the designs changes on the outside of the building. This year they're renovating the inside for more..umm..streamline and interactive corn activities.
Look how cool this is! It's like giant sized ant holes!
Lets be real...the Badlands were cool but the real reason we made our way to South Dakota was for Mount Rushmore!!! We made the choice decision to go near sunset because fun fact: the park doesn't actually close till 11 P.M! **Advice nugget#1: Stay in Keystone, its only like 5 minutes from the park entrance! Advice nugget #2: Drive carefully at night! Deer and stuff like to hangout then!**
So every night, after sunset, the park rangers invite all visitors to sit in their amphitheater to view a 20ish minute video of the history and making of Mt Rushmore, a little history about our homies Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt, Jefferson and a tribute to this beautiful place we call home. After the video they begin to light Mt Rushmore until all the presidents faces are illuminated.
Once our pillars of freedom are fully lit up, the park ranger invites all armed service members to join him on stage where each is asked their name, branch of service in which they served and in what years. It was a really cool moment, one of those ones that can't be captured in a photo but has to be soaked in.
#nofilter....really! Its just a filter called, my phone camera accidentally does cool things.
Let's take a break, there are 7 states to go, plenty of nifty monuments and yummy plates to be talked about! So until next time....
Stay tuned! Stay hungry!
-Taryn Julia
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