Bid your UMD student farewell and take a few days for yourself at our Duluth Inn.
The University of Minnesota Duluth opens its doors this week for the 2009-2010 academic year. After helping your student get settled, take a few days for yourself and come relax at our bed and breakfast on Lake Superior. It can be a great way to process the changes that occur as your child heads off to college, for the first year or the last.
August is drawing to a close, bringing Labor Day and the unofficial end of summer. Yet Duluth is hopping. Now is the time to spontaneously head to this city on the shores of Lake Superior to enjoy outdoor music, paddling and sailing galore.
Consider a girlfriends getaway at our Duluth bed and breakfast. You can lounge on the beach, soaking up that late summer sun, browse the many nearby shops, and try several of the great restaurants in Canal Park and greater Duluth. On Wednesday evenings (through October 7) from 6pm – 8 pm, Positive Energy offers Women’s Inland Lake Paddling. You may build upon existing paddling skills or sit in a kayak for the first time; either way you are guaranteed to enjoy yourself and see some wildlife to boot.
On August 26 at 6pm, Fitger’s courtyard in Duluth is the perfect vantage point to view sailboat races on Lake Superior. Enjoy an appetizer and a drink while watching the boats glide across the blue water. Or look into a day trip on a sailboat and get out there yourself.
If you don’t mind a bit of a drive, August 26th offers two great opportunities to hear live music. There is a tribute to the music of Paul Simon and Cat Stevens down the road in Bayfield Wisconsin, and jazz music up the road in Lutsen, MN.
Enjoy these last days of August with a getaway to our Canal Park Inn. Eat a good breakfast, and then be out of doors for as long as possible. Stroll along the seven miles of beach out our back door. Sit in our gardens. Relax.
One of the greatest Minnesota birding spots is short drive from our Duluth bed and breakfast. While there are many interesting seabirds and waterfowl visible from the deck and beach of our Lake Superior lodging, avid birders will definitely want to visit Duluth’s Hawk Ridge Observatory.
Hunters were the first to pay much attention to the hawks around Duluth. Prior to 1950, they used the hawks as target practice. By 1951, however, the organization that became the Duluth Audubon Society had stopped this practice and replaced it with the Hawk Watch. Initially the Hawk Watch took place during a few days in September, but is has grown and now spans August to November.
The Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory now manages 315 acres as a nature reserve. All of it is open to the public for study and enjoyment. Hawk Ridge is one of the preeminent sites for viewing raptor migration, and each year thousands of bird enthusiasts travel from around the world to search the skies above Hawk Ridge.
Hawk Weekend takes place September 11, 12 and 13, 2009. Participants will have access to seminars, field trips, lectures and social events at Hawk Ridge Observatory. This is always a thrilling time of year for us; though we frequently see these graceful birds soaring overhead, we never tire of them. We look forward to sharing it with you.
Our waterfall
We are just thrilled to let you all know that, for the second time, Solglimt gardens has won the Masters Commercial division for the Gardens on Display flower contest, sponsored by the Duluth Garden Flower Society. This is a true honor. We spend a lot of time in our garden, planning, planting, weeding and dreaming. Brian has spent a decent amount of his life in the garden creating waterfalls, retaining walls, paths,…. It is hard work, to be sure, but it is also a labor of love. To sit and enjoy a cup of coffee as the sun rises over the gardens, to share drinks and conversation on the porch overlooking the gardens, these are the simple pleasures that make each day as innkeepers at our Duluth bed and breakfast so special to us.
Winters can be long in Minnesota – one reason we spend so much time outside during the warmer months. The gardens at our Duluth bed and breakfast wouldn’t be so pleasant without our guests, so come by and sit with us for a spell.
