Adventures In Duluth

To celebrate my birthday this year we were able to find a good-sized air show just a couple of hours north of us in Duluth. So, after getting off early on Friday we packed up the car and headed north. Friday night we spent camping at a state park just outside Duluth. We started the evening by going out to a pizza place that had been recommended. After we arrived at the campground we went for a short "hike" to the river and the swinging bridge, where we discovered that our 5 year-old digital camera had finally died. We knew it wasn't going to last much longer anyway, but we were hoping that it would at least last through this trip. We've been eyeing the Nikon D60 DSLR camera for a replacement, but alas, it had just not been in the budget (and won't be until we can sell our Chicago house). So, we were not able to get any pics at the state park.

Saturday morning we woke up early and headed to breakfast at a bakery/cafe (Amazing Grace Bakery & Cafe) that won an award as Best Bakery in Minnesota. It was a quirky little place, so it was perfect for us. The food was great, the ambiance was good, the service was good enough. Next we were off to the air show about 7 miles northwest of the bakery. Because of the issues with the digital camera we decided to stop and get a disposable film camera, just so we could get a few pictures of the air show. We found a Walgreens on the way to the airport and we stopped to get the camera. We noticed that across the street at the mall there was a shuttle bus to the air show, so you could park at the mall and ride the bus. We decided (since we were only about 4 miles away) that we would drive so that we would have our car nearby when we wanted to leave and we wouldn't have to wait for the bus.

So, an hour later, with 2 miles still to go, and having watched at least a dozen shuttle buses pass right by us on the way to the air show, we decided to give up on waiting in line to park and headed back to the mall to take the bus. We got back to the mall just as a bus was arriving to take another load of passengers to the show. We thought maybe if we hurried and parked we could jump on this bus and not even have to wait. That was the thought, until we came around the corner and saw the endless line of people waiting for the bus. We guessed the wait had to be at least an hour long just to get on the bus, and then we'd still have to drive back to the airport. It didn't take us long to decide we'd just park at the mall and walk to the airport (about 4 miles away). It did end up taking just about an hour to walk, but it didn't seem like it was so far. (It may have been the fact that we were walking right by lines of "parked" cars that were still trying to get into the parking lot.) Many of the drivers we pass had a disgusted look on their face that I took to mean "I can't believe they're walking and they're going to beat us there!"

Well, we made it just in time, we were walking up to the gate just as the first planes took off to do a stunt routine. It turned out to be a perfect day (weather-wise), for us at least. It was about 68 and mostly cloudy (although we both still managed to get sunburned). There weren't a ton of static displays (airplanes on the ground to touch and feel) but there were plenty of other displays and food vendors and the action in the air was almost non-stop.

The headliners of the show were the Blue Angels, but just as exciting for me was seeing Patty Wagstaff for a second time. I first saw her perform (and met her after I helped park her plane) at an air show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin back in 1999. Unfortunately, just before the Angels took off for their show, the clouds started rolling in and it started raining a bit. We decided to head for the car before we got too soaking wet, so we could enjoy our dinner and our drive back to the twin cities. We did take the bus this time though, back to the mall to pick up our car. As we got close to the car the Angels did go up, but the clouds were so thick and low that you couldn't see much more than a gray silhouette (and the airplanes aren't gray, they're bright blue and yellow). So, in the end we didn't actually get to see the Angels put on their show, but I don't think we missed much.

We ended the day with an early dinner at Fitger's Brewhouse before making the 2 1/2 hour drive back home.

Overall it ended up being a fun weekend. And hopefully when I get them developed some of the pictures I took will come out ok.