but first, on Monday, we had to hit the solo acoustic citizen cope show at the renowned guthrie theatre.
tia came over to watch lydia
(aren't those pj's the best?!)
the guthrie is home to some of the greatest plays in the country and, every now and then, they will host a musical concert.
| From october 08 |
they have also just moved into their new location in the downtown minneapolis riverfront district and the space is nothing short of spectacular. i have been taking all out of towners inside for a quick tour and all have been impressed. there are actually 3 theatres and multiple restaurants and bars inside, highlighted by the spectacular views of both the skyline and mississippi river.
abriel and dave joined us and dave & i were still giddy over our marathon finish the day before (dave was even sportin his marathon sweat swag). citizen cope, aka clarance greenwood, is a former dj turned singer songwriter. he is from tennesse, raised in d.c. and now lives in nyc. his music melds hip/hop, folk, blues, reggae and rock and all with street smart lyrics and delivered with a twinge of southern tongue. fantastic. if you have never seen him, do. you will not be disappointed. i’ve seen him a few times with full band but tonight was the first time solo acoustic. it takes a lot to hold the attention of a packed theatre playing by yourself and cope had everyone bouncing.
dave shot some video- check it out (he starts playing @ minute 1:14)
since i’ve been so swamped with work, we thought we would leave thurs and return on mon. a perfect amount of time to get recharged with a trip up to duluth/two harbors. duluth is only a 2.5 hr drive north and this is their peak season as the leaves are turning and fall is in full effect.
lydia was pumped for her first vacation and ready to go.
on our way out of town we crossed over the newly opened 35w bridge. who could forget the horrific bridge collapse on 8/1/07. here's an interesting link, you can click on each car and get the story of the person who was in in during the collapse.http://www.startribune.com/local/12166286.html and now, just over a year later, the new bridge is complete. incredible. here is a pic of the new bridge as we crossed over.
things were pretty green as we left mpls
lydia was a great vacation travel buddy. i made 5 mixes for the occasion and she slept, listened to tunes and hung out. a couple of hours in, she was ready for a feed so we stopped at a gas station for a milk stop.
as we started getting closer to duluth, you could see the beauty of the changing leaves.
as i get older, i certainly appreciate and pay more attention to the natural beauty that surrounds us. we are very lucky to be surrounded by so much up here. nc certainly has its share as well, but back then i didn’t seem to care as much.
by the time we got to duluth, sweetie sweets and i were getting hungry. we had planned to stop at the famous grandma’s saloon to get some wild rice soup and it was time to make it happen.
lara got a cup and i opted for the bowl. i was unaware it was a 2 gallon bowl.
great soup. lydia, having already ate, read the paper and played.
after lunch, we walked around the duluth/lake superior harbor and took some pics.
after snapping a few pics, it was time to head 25 minutes more north to two harbors and check out our new pad for the next few days.
two harbors is a quaint little resort town right on lake superior. lake superior is pretty breathtaking- how can this be a lake? water as far as the eye can see. we took the scenic parkway from duluth and enjoyed the views of lake, fairy tale pine trees and jagged rocked shoreline. awesome.
we were super pumped for our cottage. lara is the queen of research and she found this gem. unlike some families that like to rough it in a cabin, we wanted a luxurious resort, in the wilderness, on the lake, with all the amenities we love. we found this all at larsmont cottages. since we had not vacationed this year we decided to splurge on this place and it did not disappoint. at all. i want to go back just thinking about it.
first of all, the place was HUGE. bigger than lara’s condo (we still own lara’s condo in linden hills and rent it out….speaking of- it will be available jan 1 so anyone interested let us know). decorated to the nines. if restoration hardware and pottery barn collaborated on a lakeside condo model unit for show, this would be it. heated stone floors greeted us as we entered. the massive stone fireplace in the center of the living space grabbed our fist attention. large tvs in the living room and bedroom, dvd player, nice surround sound, large sectional sofa, two leather chairs, gourmet kitchen, king size bed, private patio with gas grill, 1.5 bathrooms, etc…
makes me wonder...why aren’t we there now?
the bathroom in our bedroom, was so big that we set up lydia’s pack and play in it.
i headed out to the grocery store and bought way too many groceries. i love vacation. my parents were so great, on vacation- anything goes. we would load up on all the junk food and whatever you wanted to eat. i have decided to carry on the tradition.
lara is such a great planner and cook. love it. she packed spices and things you can not imagine so she could make some homemade snacks. if only i could take a pic that could capture the smells coming out of the kitchen when she was making the best chex mix ever (sorry ma tickle). we kicked back on the couch after lydia went to bed and caught some of the wake v. clemson game…….total relaxation!
again, our vacations consist of going to major cities and sightseeing non-stop. this one however, was nothing but relaxing. we rented 5 movies before we left and were going to do nothing but play with our baby, eat junk food, listen to good music, and watch tv/movies. awesome. it was great to wake up with lydia, not have to worry about going to work, and play with her until her nap.
lydia got her first pair of shoes and liked to show them off
here's one of lydia's crawling workouts.
(be patient, she waits for the music to really kick in before she gets going)
on friday we ventured out to duluth for dinner. why did we leave our place? sweetie sweets found another awesome dinner joint- burrito union.
this place had fancy burritos and homemade fitgers microbrew beers.
loved it.
after dinner i did some blogging by hand (forgot the power cord for the laptop)
on saturday, we decided to hit the indoor pool at the resort. in case you missed it, lydia loves anything in the water. she is like a fish, so we figured she would enjoy her first indoor pool experience. we were right.
after lunch back at the crib and a quick nap, lara tooks some pics outside.
we then ventured further up north to gooseberry falls to check out the layered waterfalls. this place is gorgeous and was the perfect opportunity to snap another bazillion shots.
on the way home, i insisted that we take some cheesy pics that make northern minnesota special.
it rained just about everyday but it stopped for a short while on sunday and we decided to take some time to sit in the andorondak chairs on the lake.
wow. killer views. lara wanted to venture out to see another lighthouse, so off we went. we got some great nature shots.
lydia was being a bit goofy
lydia was excited to see the vikings game when we got back
for dinner, we ventured out to another local spot lara found, nokomis.
this was one of the finer restaurants in two harbors and got great reviews.
it was a bit pricey and a little disappointing compared to south minneapolis joints, but we still had a good time. we got some great video of lydia being goofy as usual….she also did not enjoy her dinner….
when we got back to our place, we thought we would take advantage of the hot tub option in the bathtub. we figured lydia loved the pool, so surely she would dig the hut tub. can’t fool her. she was bored!
maybe she was just tired.
unfortunately all good things must come to an end, and we had to leave this paradise on monday.
check out this view from our bed….
we had been wanting to hit the world famous dive- betty’s pies for a meal.
every time we stopped by, the place was packed and lydia was not up for waiting. we figured monday, mid-morning, would be a good time to hit it. bingo. we were seated right away.
lydia is great entertainment when we're waiting for the food to arrive
little did we know we would experience another first today- lydia’s first serious flirt. there was a little boy named aiden sitting on the other side of the diner that could not take his eyes off of her.
she thought he was pretty cute too.
soon he was swooning her with baby talk and the whole restaurant was enjoying the conversation only they could understand. check out the video
they got a chance to meet on our way out
the food was surprisingly good and we got some pie to go for desert (they have a separate menu for pies).
we also got dave & abriel an assortment of pie for watching the kitties (thanks again!). honestly, maybe i am just not a pie or cake guy, but i do not see what all the fuss it over their pie. it was alright. the pecan pie was my favorite but not as good as you can get anywhere in nc.
it was now time to head towards duluth and continue south back home to the twin cities.
we had to make another pit stop on the way home to grab a pic with the frontier man
this was money well spent and one of the best vacations we've have ever had. doing nothing but spending time with the family and relaxing. viva larsmont cottages 2008!
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