We left late Friday morning and headed towards Duluth were we were having lunch with our friends Bob and Chandra, friends from the ol' Bangalore Days. Of course no trip north would be complete without a couple traffic delay in the middle of nowhere but we persevered and arrive around 2:00 for a late lunch at Sir Benedict's, a very nice craft beer and sandwich joint on downtown Duluth. The food was awesome and the beer good and cold. Then we joined Bob and Chandra and one of their dog, Coltrane, for a nice hike out by where they live. Their son Owen joined us however he had fishing on the brain so he headed off to give that a go. The weather was a bit humid and hot for this time of the year in Duluth however the company and scenery made up for it.
After saying or good byes we continued northward to Bob's. We choose the scenic route along the lake and were not disappointed , a quick stop at the grocery store and we arrived, to a very peaceful, small clean and comfortable cabin, right on the North Shore, fantastic!
Friday night was BBQ salmon, risotto and roasted Brussel sprouts and radishes, all done by us on the little smoky Joe and the small 2 burner, albeit gas stove top. We lived in India for two and a half years ...we got this. It was tasty.
Saturday we had a Portuguese cast iron skillet. Hash browns, onions, peppers, procuttio, Gorgonzola cheese and eggs, a great way to start the day! Then we were off to Gooseberry Falls. The place is really nice, there are of course a ton of people and scenery is fantastic! We started out and basically hiked for about 3 hours and saw most of the area. The Chimney in the middle of nowhere was a bit confusing, however the view was great. We headed down to check out Split Rock Light house, our Sunday destination to get the lay of the land.
Saturday afternoon we stopped at the local brewery, Castle Danger, had a brew and took the tour. The place was packed and we were not sure if it was because the beer was so good or the Labor Day weekend crowd. That night was burnt ends, a summer corn salad and salted kale from the farmers market. Not to mention Tracy basically sitting in Lake Superior reading her book and eating Triscuits, she was cute :)
Sunday we headed back to split rock after the rains to find the place less crowded. We did the tour, movie and hiked down the 172 steps to reach the lake and take a few pics of the light house. The light house it self is no longer in service however in its day it was the bee's knees! We did stop by Split Rock Cabins, where Tracy's mom spent many a week in her youth and we meet Eric the caretaker and got a selfie! We did manage to make a return trip to Castle Danger but were unsuccessful finding an open bakery for a late night sweet. However we did find a very cool place which is a welding/ art shop. We got into serious discussions with the owner Mike and when the dust settled, he promised to make us a pizza oven and Tom is now consulting with Mike on how to make a smoker.. Stranger Things! Then we got a tip from the local thrift shop and headed down the lake and found a confectioner and bought some awesome home candy for us and toffee for the kids!!
Monday we had an awesome left over breakfast in the cast iron skillet packed the family tricksters and headed home. But, not before one last hike at Jay Cooke State Park on the way home. We had to squeak every last minute of nature out of our trip.
We had a blast, relaxed, ate fabulous food, read books, toured the north shore and spent a great time hanging out with out the kids...more to come
Thank you to everyone that made the trip possible by watching the kids and the dog. It truly does take a village!
Gooseberry hike
Gooseberry with the Indian-esqe crowds behind us
Eric!
Split Rock Light House from the scenic overlook
Our cabin = the cabin on the Island of Misfit Toys - It was 8 paces long and 4 paces wide and the ceiling was 6'2" tall
Tiny kitchen
Front porch
Split Rock
Following the lemmings on the tour
Split Rock from the beach below it
Its WAY up there
The insides of the light, super cool and 220 separate mirrored pieces 
Classic
Lego version of the lighthouse
From Day Hill overlooking the lake
Random chimney on Day Hill that was rumored to have been built in the early 1900's as a declaration of love that went array
Castle Danger Flight - local brewery
Two Harbors Light House from Castle Danger back porch
Burnt ends, corn salad and lemon/garlic/caper kale
Salmon, risotto and roast brussel sprouts, radish and bacon
Sunrise - no we weren't up, I just had to pee
Sunrise #2 - from our front window 
BREAKFAST! super yummy leftover risotto egg and dark bread
Last hike on Munger Trail, the water levels were conceringly low - normally this is a raging rapids
Castle Danger tour - operations
Castle Danger Kegs
Castle Danger Warehouse - dangerous!
Our pre-trip lunch and hike with Chandra and Bob in Duluth
Tracy's all time favorite snack, down at the lake while reading books
Dinner night #1
Gooseberry hike
Cairns on the hike
From the top of the falls
From below the falls
Tourist attraction
Split Rock on a gorgeous day
Two Harbors
Close up cairns
Flowers
Last day hike
Gully on last day 
I took the road less traveled
