24 Hours in Duluth

 Duluth, MN

Duluth is still a little cold in early April

Travel Season Starts Soon

A couple of weeks ago we went to Duluth for 24 hours.  1 because we wanted to go there and 2, because we wanted to try out a new dog sitter and didn't want to be gone for long or be too far away.  It all went well and Francis seemed to enjoy his time at the sitters.

Duluth

Duluth is about a 2 hour drive north.  It's right at the southern most tip of Lake Superior, and it's economy built around shipping. It's the farthest inland shipping port connected to the ocean (having to travel 2300 miles to get to open ocean waters, and it the largest and busiest port on the Great Lakes.  (Thanks Wikipedia)

Our trip started out on a Tuesday morning.  It was an easy drive up I-35W North to I-35 North.  I-35 starts in Texas and goes all the way to Duluth, MN.  It splits into two segments in The Twin Cities, I-35W going through Minneapolis, and I-35E going through St. Paul.  Interestingly it also splits into W and E in the Dallas-Fort Worth Area so you need to be careful if you ever just tell someone to meet you on I-35W.  

We arrived in Duluth just after noon and headed lunch at Northern Waters Smokehaus.  NWS is known for it's delicious sandwiches and it didn't disappoint.

On the way out we bought some meat sticks because we were on vacation!

After lunch we drove over to Superior, WI to visit that county and play some pinball at Average Joe's Pub.  

After about an hour of splitting a beer and playing pinball we headed back to Minnesota to visit a cheese shop and then check into our hotel and abandon our car in exchange for exploring Duluth by foot.  Our hotel was right in the heart of the that has built up around The Ariel Lift Bridge, a vertical lift bridge that lifts a few times a day to let taller ships pass under it.  

We bought some old sharp cheddar cheese.  It's delicious.

This is the lift bridge in its down position.

That lower section raises straight up when it is in its lift position.

A lighthouse on Lake Superior.

We do offer paid tours that feature us pointing at obvious landmarks.

We stopped by Vikre Distillery for a craft cocktail.  We even bought a bottle of their aquavit.

Their menu looks like a Fanzine.

This wasn't at the distillery, but at a brewery we stopped at to play some pinball.

Ice is never 100% safe unless it's in a glass of water.

The area that built up around the lift bridge is called Canal Park so we visited Canal Park Brewing Co. for dinner.

The desserts were really great.

The next morning we walked to a coffee shop and then headed home.  We stopped for lunch halfway home and then picked up Francis.  He was excited to see us.

We were intrigued by the Family Sauna but have decided to skip it based on conversations with someone that lives in Duluth.

Tobies is a restaurant about halfway between Minneapolis and Duluth.  They offer up diner style meals.  It was a good stop and a great way to end a fun 24 hour getaway.

The Dark Purple is new this year.  By the end of the year, we should have Minnesota completed.

It was a fun trip with good sights, food, and drinks.  We are already talking about going back.  

That's it for this post.  If you missed, Pinball Potluck, check it out.  I went to a pinball potluck tournament at a friends house.

Pinball Potluck

 Somewhere In Minnesota

It's hard to tell in this dark basement, but I'm #2!

A Pinball Tournament at Someone's House

The Single Elimination Finals was replaced by an Amazing Race finals due to a vote.

Today I was invited to a pinball tournament and potluck and someone's house.  This is their 3rd year hosting a tournament.  Space was limited because it's a house with limited space, so I RSVP'd as soon as I saw it posted.  I didn't know what I was getting into because I didn't, at the time, know whose house it was or who would be there.  It all turned out fantastic.  I had played with the host in various tournaments around Minnesota and many of my pinball friends were there.  They all brought fun food and we had an evening of playing pinball and socializing.  It was a great way to start spring.

The tournament began with 6 4-player rounds.  I played really well finishing in 1st place in 4 of the rounds, 2nd place in 1 of the rounds, and 3rd place in the final round.  I ended up qualifying for finals in 2nd place.  16 players moved on to an Amazing Race Finals.  The Amazing Race format is incredibly fun.  The best way to picture it is to imagine 16 pinball tables all lined up and 16 players.  The last place qualifier starts on the 1st table and sets a score and then moves onto table 2.  The next player starts on table 1 and tries to beat the score that was just set.  If they don't, they wait there while everyone plays.  If another player gets a lower score, they get stuck waiting for the other players to play.  In the end, the player with the lowest score on a table gets eliminated, so one person gets eliminated on each table in the lineup.  By the time it was my turn to work my way through the lineup, the whole field except for the person that qualified above me, had played and a low score had been established for each table. All one needs to do is walk up and beat the worst score.  This goes on until you have 2 players on the final table.  It's really fun and a very casual way of playing a tournament because you aren't in a head to head battle with a person, you are only trying to beat a score, which happens to be attached to a player.

In the end I ended up 2nd.  It was a super fun tournament with a bunch of fun people.

Cash on the table with my bad score on Black Hole in the background, the final table in the tournament.

A House Full of Pinball Tables

The house the tournament was in was filled with pinball tables, Tiki, and skateboard decks.  All things that I am very fond of.  It was a fantastic place to play and explore.  There were 25 working pinball tables throughout the house.  I was able to play probably 5 or 6 tables that I hadn't played before and it was my first time playing pinball in a kitchen.

The basement was filled with pinball tables

The basement also had a Tiki Bar.

Nip-It was a new table for me.  It features Zipper Flippers (flippers that can be moved together to prevent the ball from draining down the middle),

and a Balligator (get it, ball and alligator) that can eat the ball when you time a button press correctly.

His Aztec has a, what I am told, factory sound mod.  Aztec was released at the end of the EM (electro mechanical) era and at the beginning of the SS (solid state) era.  Players were gravitating towards the newer SS machines so Williams sent out "Sound Cards" to replace the bells and chimes sounds with sounds that were more "Electronic".  It sounded like a Theremin which was really cool.  There is a great Technology Connections on how EM Pinball Machines work.

The top lanes on Pinball Champ spell out HAM.  I never noticed you can Go Ham on a Pinball Champ.

He didn't have any of the skateboard themed pinball tables but he had decks deck-orating the walls.

You can tell how many people were in the backyard having a smoke break by counting the number of shoes and dividing by 2.

It was a fantastic evening of pinball, food, and friendly competition.  It's another example of how great the pinball community is here and in many other places based on my experience.

Some of these scores aren't really my Top scores but I wanted to make notes without spending too much effort.

I have some great finishes this yea so far and this doesn't include this 2nd place.

That's it for today.  If you missed, Another Pinball Pick Up Road Trip, check it out.  I drove to Chicago and bought a pinball table!