Soar over Lake Superior.

The Superior Tour flies fifteen miles over some of the most scenic areas in and around Duluth. Bring your camera, for you won’t find a better view of the Aerial Lift Bridge. Prices are $49 per seat (with a full helicopter).

There are two options for the Extreme Tour, which costs $83 per seat (with a full helicopter). Option #1 leads up the North Shore and provides a bird’s eye view of such sights as Glensheen Mansion. Option #2 heads south along the Saint Louis River to the dense forests, roaring waterfalls, and still lakes of Jay Cook State Park.

A stay at our bed and breakfast Duluth brings you close to nature. Lake Superior and the beach are at our back door: guests may bury their feet in the sand, hunt for beach glass, and frolic in the surf (brrr). A helicopter tour gives guests a broader perspective. Take in the sprawling coastline of Lake Superior. See how wilderness stands just beyond Duluth. Admire historic architecture and lighthouses from above. There is nothing like it.

For more information, please visit Lake Superior Helicopters.

The Aerial Lift Bridge is located in the Duluth neighborhoods of Canal Park and Park Point, as is our Lake Superior bed and breakfast. Guests may watch the shipping traffic from the inn, and in some cases from their rooms. It’s a short stroll to down the beach to watch the ships glide through the Canal and under the bridge – their enormity can be downright astonishing.

Watch shipping traffic line up to pass through the Aerial Lift Bridge.

Canal Park and Park Point are small neighborhoods but feature a few good shops and restaurants. Blue Iris Gallery is just about a block from our Duluth bed and breakfast, towards the bridge – stop by on your way to or from the inn. Blue Iris Gallery features the artwork of dozens of local and regional artists. Jewelry, paintings, pottery, sculpture… there is a good chance you’ll find a treasure here.

If you ever feel hunger again after feasting at Solglimt bed and breakfast Duluth, you may enjoy a meal at Grandma’s Saloon and Grill, just down the street and across the Aerial Lift Bridge. Try the Chicken Wild Rice Soup or the unforgettable Wild Walleye Cakes. Beer is the beverage of choice at Grandma’s in October, and there is even a special Oktoberfest menu to accompany it. Amazing Grace Bakery and Cafe is a great spot for delicious soup, sandwiches, and baked goods. It’s also a good spot to sit and enjoy live music most Tuesday and weekend evenings.

Whatever your reasons for travel: for business, to visit family, or simply to see something new, you’ll enjoy exploring Duluth’s Canal Park and Park Point neighborhoods.

Visit Duluth Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center.

Currently on exhibit is the historic Fresnel Lens that once lit the Inner Range Light on the South Pier of the Duluth Ship Canal. It was installed sometime at the start of the 20th century, and remained in place until it was replaced by a phenolic (plastic) lens in 1995. A visit to the Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center affords a unique opportunity to get close to a Minnesota lighthouse lens.

After indulging in a gourmet breakfast at our Duluth Lake Superior bed and breakfast (ciabatta topped with ham, cheese, arugula, and egg anyone?) walk about a quarter mile up the beach to the Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center. It’s free, informative, and fun. On the way back, take your time and look for beach glass, which you may take home or donate to our collection.

The Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center is open daily through December 19, 2010, from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.. For more information, please visit the LSMMA website.

Form and Surface, at the Tweed.

There are several excellent reasons to step inside the Tweed when you visit our Duluth bed and breakfast this fall. Read on for a list of current shows:

• You and Yours: Images of Family (through October 17, 2010)
• Form and Surface: Selections from the Glenn C. Nelson Collection (through November 7, 2010)
• Design in Print Imagery, 1940s–1960s
• The Royal Canadian Mountain Police
• Fall Student Shows – rotating

The lovely fall color of Aspens trees.

The Superior National Forest lies north of Duluth and is part of the Great Boundary Waters at the Minnesota – Canada border. Leaf peepers will be delighted by the variety of deciduous trees found along the Superior National Forest Scenic Byway: aspen, oak, maple, mountain ash, and paper birch. Pale yellow, vibrant red, and dusty orange leaves flutter gracefully to the ground as winds shake the trees.

The North Shore Scenic Drive starts by the door of our Duluth bed and breakfast in Canal Park and heads north along Lake Superior. The Sawtooth Mountains rise to the west, with wild rivers, cascading waterfalls, and of course, colorful trees. To the east lay the ever changing waters of Lake Superior. Numerous small communities are located between Duluth and Grand Portage, near the Canadian border; ask us to name some of our favorite stopping points.

Back at our inn, curl up by a window and gaze out at Lake Superior or the city of Duluth. Sit on a deck and stargaze at night. Sleep late. Eat a delicious, homemade breakfast that you don’t have to cook yourself. Relax.

Stay at our Duluth b&b and have the experience of a lifetime.

The following ships are scheduled to arrive July 28, 2010: U.S. Brig Niagara, Barque EUROPA, HMS Bounty, Pride of Baltimore II, Roald Amundsen, ZEETO, S/V Denis Sullivan, Roseway, Freedom Schooner Amistad. Additional vessels may also arrive. The ships will be in Duluth until August 3. Have we said we can’t wait?

In addition to enjoying incredible views of the ships when under sail, guests of our Duluth bed and breakfast will also be quite close to the center of Tall Ship activity – we can walk to Bayfront Festival Park and Harbor Drive behind the DECC from the inn. Guests may easily stroll down to enjoy live music, stagings of the Pirates of Penzance, and ship tours.

We look forward to welcoming guests when the Tall Ships come to Duluth July 28 – August 3, 2010. We look forward to meals on the deck while watching the ships. We can’t wait to walk to the park to get close to them. What a festive occasion!

For more information about the Tall Ships in Duluth, please click here.

Shouldn't you be here this week?

There are many benefits to traveling mid week. Everything is less crowded: museums, parks, roads, and our Duluth bed and breakfast. Be spontaneous, drop everything, and hit the road. You deserve a break.

The Tweed Museum of Art, at the University of Minnesota, has a new exhibit: You and Yours: Images of Family. The exhibit was created by historian and curator Laura Briggs, who delved into the museum archives to find pieces that deal with family. In addition, she brought in new pieces by artists whose work has not yet been displayed in Duluth.

The inspiration for the exhibit stems from the changing definition of family. Briggs has written that “as cultural definitions of marriage, childhood, motherhood, and paternity shift over time, so too do our ways of forming family and of picturing it. You and Yours: Images of Family presents classic images of family alongside contemporary artists’ explorations of this universal, yet often idealized, theme.” It’s a fascinating idea.

Live music happens during the week, too. There is a great concert series at Chester Creek on Tuesday nights. Chester Bowl is located at 1800 East Skyline Parkway, which is just a few miles from our bed and breakfast Duluth. The Chester Bowl is a beautiful setting to hear outdoor music. Concerts are from 7 – 8:30 pm. Another great opportunity to hear live music out of doors takes place Wednesday evenings during July at Glensheen Manor; the Jim Melde Big Band sets toes a tapping starting at 7:30 pm. The music is grand and the view lovely.

Don’t hesitate. Throw your bag in the car and head to Duluth, on the shores of Lake Superior. If nothing else, spend a day walking on miles of beach or paddling along the coast in one of our kayaks. We sometimes offer deals on last minute reservations at our bed and breakfast Duluth during the week. Hope to see you soon.

Duluth Lighthouse

We are fortunate to have two lighthouses quite close to our bed and breakfast Duluth. The North Breakwater Lighthouse and the South Breakwater Lighthouse were used to mark the entrance to the canal and the Lift Bridge. Only one is still operational, but they both remain significant Duluth landmarks.

Touring Lake Superior Lighthouses is a fun way to create a travel itinerary. There is something magical about them, even for folks who are not mariners. Something evocative.

Let us feed you a wholesome, home-cooked breakfast at our Duluth bed and breakfast overlooking Lake Superior. Then set out in search of Lake Superior Lighthouses. Drive up the coast to Two Harbors and beyond to Split Rock, or head east to Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Point Lighthouse. Or see them as they were meant to be seen – from the water.

Be there.

Expect to find independent American and international films. Check out Cold Weather, a “coy and funny thriller” that was one of the best received films at the South by Southwest Film Festival, and a locally made film entitled Google Goes to Twin Ports. When you need to rest your eyes, sit back and enjoy one of the dozen bands attending the festival. Pizza Lucé, just a few blocks from our bed and breakfast Duluth, is to be the festival’s unofficial music headquarters.

Film and music festivals are fantastically fun affairs. Audiences are enthusiastic, and primed to enjoy what they see. There is an excited buzz before each film, and a lively discussion afterward. It’s hard not to get caught up in the fever.

We are thrilled to have this new festival in Duluth. There are still a few rooms available at our Duluth b&b during the festival – reserve your room today!

Enjoy breakfast by the lake with your mom.

We can’t all make it home for Mother’s Day. Many of us are mothers ourselves, and look forward to spending the day with our own little ones. Yet we can give something special to mom this Mother’s Day – a promise of time together at our Lake Superior bed and breakfast in Duluth.

Imagine you and your mother having a day or two all to yourselves. Leave your busy lives at home, and steal away together so you can really enjoy one another. Go to museums. Go to the theater. Shop. Stay up late. Reconnect. Such moments are rare in our busy lives, but they are priceless.

Call us to inquire about gift certificates to our Duluth bed and breakfast, and make your mother a happy woman.