Surrounded by the sound of waves lapping against the shores of Lake Superior, I watched purple and orange nylon, stitched together with fire, peek through a thin layer of fog sweeping across Bayfront Festival Park.
Small rays of sunshine skipped like rocks across the surface of the lake, and a giant hot air balloon tilted slightly in the wave of wind that brushed across the lake, bringing in a cool breeze through the park. A cluster of hot air balloons made their way higher into the space across the lake, pulling taut against the ropes that kept them tethered to the ground.
Or at least they might have.
The Duluth Hot Air Balloon Festival held just as many flickering promises for me as the flames contained in one of the balloon’s burners, and much the same, they were both blown out by the wind rolling off Lake Superior.
Despite the rainy and windy weather that shook itself across Duluth this past weekend, I still found a way to enjoy the great outdoors that Minnesota has to offer. In just 323 miles over the course of a weekend, I managed to cross 8 State Parks off my 25 Things list.
Friday was a blissful but exhausting 9-hour trek towards the North Shore, with periodic stops at Minnesota’s finest along the way.
I began with William O’Brien State Park. Making it to the park before sunset was a mad dash, and I barely stamped my passport before darkness coated the park, and my plummeting drive across the park’s gravel road felt somewhat like a descent into a horror film.
Things improved when I arrived at Interstate State Park to meet my good friend, Kaysey Price, who had already begun pitching our tent. Things got even better when our new favorite park ranger, who we nicknamed Jan, stopped by to check in on us. Jan was a sweetheart.
Kaysey and I roasted hot dogs over the fire, before commencing the s’more making.
“We can eat s’mores until we get sick, because there’s no one to tell us not to!” Kaysey said, as I ripped open the bag of marshmallows.
We both ate one. But they were damn good.
We sat outside for a few hours, listening to the water rushing just a few feet from our campsite, trying to distinguish a difference between the stars, and breathing in the open air and deep-natured conversation.
When we woke up in the morning, we realized we’d been sleeping all night at the most beautiful campsite.
Just below our campsite, a few feet from our tent, was a small beach that overlooked the St. Croix river — absolutely stunning.
We set out to explore — and I decided that Interstate State Park is my favorite park that I’ve ventured through so far.
The landscape was beautiful, the leaves were just on the edge of turning, and the rocky bluffs reminded me of one of my other favorite places, Winona.
We climbed down a set of questionable, rusty stairs into the comfortingly named “Bake Oven Pothole,” which had an interesting window at the top of the cave.
The park had been sculpted by glaciers, which certainly left a beautiful mark on the area.
After hours of exploring, Kaysey and I parted ways, and I continued on my trek to the parks along the St. Croix.
Up next: a jaunt through Wild River State Park, which had a beautiful set of trails and picturesque view across the treetops from their visitor center balcony.
I then made my way to St. Croix State Park, which I was predisposed to like, based solely on the Art Deco style font on the park’s monument signage.
I spent several hours hiking, exploring, and climbing through the park — which is no wonder, as it’s Minnesota’s largest state park.
It also features a 150 foot fire tower, which was a much different experience than my previous climb at Itasca State Park.
This time, I was the only one in the woods. There was no one around me, no lines to wait in, and no one at the top. The tower didn’t feel quite as sturdy as Itasca’s, but there was significantly less wind that day, which helped.
I had to laugh at a piece of graffiti along one of the beams I saw as I descended from the tower.
“What the hell are you doing up here?”
My next escapade led me to Banning State Park, where I was caught in a brief rainshower about five minutes into my hike. I continued on anyways, and was glad — otherwise, I would have missed a stunning view of the river.
Moose Lake State Park was next on my list, and my briefest visit. I walked around the lake for a few minutes, but was anxious to get on the road to Jay Cooke, my last state park for the day.
With it’s waterfalls, rocky rivers, towering pine trees, and beautiful stony suspension bridge — Jay Cookie rivalled Interstate for its status as my favorite state park.
I sat above the waterfall awhile, and watched it empty itself across a field of glacier-sculpted rock — again, I was the only one in the park.
After a short hike, I drove through heavy fog to Duluth, where I met back up with Kaysey and our friend Molly.
The evening’s hot air balloon festivities had been cancelled, due to the weather, but we decided to check out the park anyways. There were a few vendors lining the sidewalks, and groups of people scattered here and there, but for the most part, the park was empty. We walked along Superior to Little Angie’s Cantina, where we enjoyed margaritas, and then made a pit stop at the Rocky Mountain Fudge Factory, before retiring to our hotel for the evening.
The next morning, the balloon launch was also cancelled. Instead of attending the festival, we walked to the infamous Duluth lighthouse. I was more dazzled by a smaller lighthouse to the right, with a green light that would have made Gatsby unconsciously outstretch his hand.
We walked around canal park, stopping for a bite to eat at Amazing Grace, which had delicious sandwiches, but atrocious customer service. Unfortunately for them, the good food did not outweigh the rude service.
After a little more walking through Canal Park, we stopped at one of Duluth’s gems, The Snooty Fox Tea Shop, for late afternoon tea. It was amazing. We then attempted to take a tour of Glensheen Mansion, but arrived just as the last tour was taking off for the day.
Yet again, another balloon launch was cancelled due to the weather, so instead, we grabbed dinner and had drinks at the Rathskeller, a speakeasy-style bar located in a former prison.
The next morning’s weather wasn’t so bleak, but was sadly too windy for any balloon launches, making our attempt to visit the festival and my hopes of crossing it off my 25 Things list a bust.
Instead of flying high above Duluth in a hot air balloon, we hiked high above the North Shore to Palisade Head. Molly and I spent some time staring over the steep drop into Lake Superior, while Kaysey stayed safely nestled in the middle of the overlook. Rock climbers lined the edges of the cliff, and we could hear enthusiastic echoes of “Belay on!” reverberate against the rocky overlook.
We took a slight detour to Tettegouche State Park, where we got lost on the winding backroads around the park, eventually making it to a beautiful trail that led to a rocky beach and a stellar view of the Baptism River.
We explored the park and walked along the pebble-covered shoreline before hitting the road again.
We raced back to Duluth for our last adventure for the weekend — finally getting a tour of Glensheen mansion.
Yet another vaguely Gatsby-esque location visited this weekend — in fact, standing at the edge of the Congdon family’s pier, one can spot the pulsing green light from the lighthouse across Lake Superior. The flashbacks to my favorite Fitzgerald novel didn’t stop there, however. Just below the balcony was a small blue pool that faced Lake Superior, with staircases leading down to it on both sides — just as the pool at Gatsby’s house is described, but perhaps slightly smaller.
We spent a few more moments taking in the grounds, and admiring the 110 year old mansion that spanned nearly 27,000 square feet. Pink and periwinkle flowers were scattered throughout small gardens on the balcony of the mansion, where monarchs hopped from flower to flower, and bumblebees collected in swarms.
I captured a few Polaroids of the gardens, and then we were off again. This time, to different destinations — the weekend had flown by, and there was plenty to explore in Duluth. Though it was disappointing that we didn’t make it to the festival, it only means I’ll have to find a new adventure somewhere else to check off a hot air balloon festival from my list — I’m thinking Albuquerque.
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