Happy Friday! I hope you guys all had a great week!
Last weekend was incredible as we headed up north to celebrate my 30th birthday with friends. We kicked off Friday with delicious food, a visit to a local brewery, some shopping, and riding electric scooters along Lake Superior. I’ve never rented electric scooters before and it was an absolute blast!
The night before we left for Duluth, one of the friends were staying with, told us he was planning to propose to his girlfriend (now fiancée, sorry spoiler, she said yes!) and he wanted us to take pictures of the proposal. The day turned out perfect! We went up the North Shore and he proposed at the Split Rock Lighthouse, one of her favorite spots. The overcast sky made for stunning photos, and just after the proposal, it started to rain (good luck, right?) Then we made our way further up the North Shore to Tettegouche State Park. The rain stopped for a little bit but most of the hike was pretty wet as the rain picked up. It was still so beautiful and the hike to the falls is only about a mile and a half so it wasn’t bad!
After the proposal and hike, we stopped at Castle Danger Brewing on our way back to Duluth. Once we returned, we enjoyed an amazing dinner and hit up some local bars to celebrate the weekend’s festivities.
By Sunday morning, after a fantastic breakfast, we were ready to head home to our little one. This was the longest we’d ever been away from Ava, and by the end of the weekend, we were really missing her. Thankfully, she had a wonderful time with her grandparents!
Having friends who live in Duluth was a huge plus—they knew all the best spots to take us to, and that’s what I want to share with you today. Here are the top places we ate and drank during our trip to Duluth!
We arrived in Duluth late morning, so we were feeling in the mood for a pick-me-up after getting there. This was one of the first places our friends took us to grab a coffee which was very good and the coffee shop itself would be a great place to hang out or work at. They also allow dogs which is a great perk! Adam and I both got iced caramel lattes with vanilla cold foam. My friend recommended their maple cold foam on top, but I’m not a fan of maple so I opted for the vanilla, but if you are a maple fan, she couldn’t speak more highly of it!
I had been recommended to visit Canal Park Brewing the night before we left and so we ended up going here the first night we were in Duluth. There was a bit of a wait for a table as they do also have a full food menu, but the brewery is right on the lake so we snagged a beer at the bar and sat on their patio looking out at Lake Superior while we waited for a table.
The beer was delicious – I had a strawberry ale that was a perfect pick for the hot weather on Friday while we were there. They also have a great cocktail menu if beer isn’t your thing and I ordered the grapefruit cucumber cooler with my food. For food, I ordered the fish tacos which are made with Lake Superior whitefish and had a delicious jalapeno sauce on them. The combo of fish tacos and the refreshing cocktails, was truly the perfect summer meal.
The next three of these are all owned by the same company, and they sure know what they’re doing when it comes to their food. All of these were insanely good and I would make a trip to Duluth to have them again.
Fun fact: the name Corktown is a reference to the cork life vests that sailors used to wear on their ships and Duluth was a stop for them to provide food and housing, hence the name Corktown. Pretty cool!
Now onto the food. It was about 90 degrees and hot so I was craving a good cold sandwich and Corktown perfectly satisfied that craving. Did you ever put chips on your sandwich after a pool day as a kid? Well I did and sometimes that combo just hits! I had their Kind of a Big Dill! sandwich that includes turkey, swiss, pickles, dill aioli and of course dill pickle chips. They also had a fantastic bacon apple coleslaw as a choice for the side, which was incredible!
Our friends have been raving about this place ever since they moved up north, and for good reason! First of all, the atmosphere inside the restaurant is super fun and unique featuring neon lighting and colorful graffiti style painting on the walls. Most importantly, the food and drinks were outstanding. I ordered a spicy strawberry margarita that had a mini popsicle made from sour mix and jalapenos in it, it was so fun (and delicious)!
Then comes the food that was simply out of this world. They are of course known for their burgers and I got their Whata-Gouda burger that included bacon, caramelized onions, garlic aioli, lettuce, tomato, and is served on a pretzel bun. I also got their Korean BBQ Brussels sprouts as my side, which was amazing! Others in our group got the corn ribs and so I tried those as well, which were just as good!
We visited Duluth Grill for breakfast but they also offer lunch items as well and are open until 3pm daily. If you do visit Duluth Grill, be aware there is quite a bit of a wait especially on the weekends however, they do allow you to put yourself on the waitlist before you get there which helps cut down the amount of time you have to wait once you get there. I assure you the wait is 1000% worth it!
This company knows how to do side dishes, I mean every single one I tried was phenomenal therefore I ordered the basic Farmer’s Feast which is 2 eggs, a choice of meat (sausage, bacon, ham, or beyond sausage) and a choice of two sides. I got the Korean BBQ Brussels sprouts again (the same ones that Burger Paradox has) and the cheesy jalapeno grits which were obviously amazing! I also got the Toasted Mallow iced coffee which is basically a marshmallow latte with charred marshmallows on top. It was so good!
Duluth is such a beautiful area and there is so much to do when you visit! I cannot wait for our next visit to see even more of the area and of course, eat our way through the city!
Enjoy your weekend and stay hungry my friends!
Wooohooo! Best weekend ever 🤩 so glad you guys had such a great experience! Thank you for taking the time to write about it too- I will always want to relive this weekend! 😏💍