We flew up to Minneapolis Minnesota
for Grandma’s Marathon. From
Minneapolis we drove 3 hours north to Duluth. My friend Marian recommended a
bakery called Tobies for
their caramel pecan rolls, something she had frequently as a child when driving
from Minneapolis to Duluth. We arrived in MN around 3pm. By the time we got to
Tobies, it was around dinner so we had dinner there. I had a Cajun seasoned
chicken breast and a baked potato. JP had a flat meatball and spaghetti. AP had
walleye and a baked potato. Afterwards AP and I had Caribou coffee and JP had a
chocolate glazed donut. At this point I had abstained from alcohol and
desserts, so even though it was my birthday I was still on my pre-race diet. JP
saved me a bite of his donut, which was just the right amount.
We stayed at the Best
Western on the Wisconsin side of the bay.
Rooms for this race were impossible to find in February and March of this year.
I was happy to find a room on the Wisconsin side. The hotel wanted me to book
it for Friday and Saturday night. I used Expedia to book the room on Thursday
and Friday night. We planned to stay in Minneapolis on Saturday night since our
flight was leaving early on Sunday. It was cold and rainy when we arrived. We
checked into our room and stayed there, tired from our day of traveling.
The next day we dressed in long
sleeves and rain coats. We had breakfast at the hotel and headed out for our
first adventure in the new state. We went across the bridge to the Duluth Coffee Company. I had
my usual soy latte and AP had a pour over coffee in a giant espresso cup. Then
we headed up the street to the Duluth Trading Company. We
spent a while in that store. I looked at shoes, AP tried on pants and JP
colored. We left with a tub of lavender scented cream. Then we drove over to
the Convention
Center for the Race Expo so I could pick up my packet and also
Kaitlyn’s. As with big race expos there's always a ton of swag. We walked
away with a free cowbell, several bags of potato chips, I bought a long sleeved
shirt, sticker and an Arbonne sample of massage gel.
Then we set out on the scenic drive
along Lake Superior. The drive along Scenic Highway 61 was pretty. It was the
first time I had seen Lake Superior. Seeing it was beholding an ocean where there wasn’t one. I was awed, humbled and overjoyed to be in that
little rental with my boys. We were headed to Split Rock Lighthouse
and Gooseberry
Falls.
