Celebrating Our 20th Anniversary, Duluth Style!

We spent the better part of this week vacationing 3 hours to the north in Duluth and along the North Shore as we celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary. We had such a nice time. I've been to Duluth a number of times but I never explored the city the way we just did. It was one of those getaways where I wish we could do it all over again.

We spent our first night in Tammy's hometown of Babbitt where we had dinner with her sister Cindy. We shared some nice conversation before venturing off to check out one of two local bars where we crashed the class of '89's high school reunion. I dare say we were having as much fun as anyone there dancing like it was nobody's business. We had a blast!

Neither of us had ever kayaked so Tammy arranged for us to take a guided kayaking tour on our first full day in Duluth, figuring it would be something fun to try. She was so right! I think I'm hooked. I've already begun searching Craig's List for used kayaks. I can imagine myself getting up early to do a few laps around one of the nearby lakes to start my day. No, I don't think I'll be mounting my GoPro on the front of my kayak but then again...hmmm.

We also took a lampworking class at Lake Superior Art Glass where we made the stem to a wine glass. It's more challenging than it would appear but I thought Tammy was a natural at it. There's a shop in Northeast Minneapolis where we can continue to explore the art medium in more depth. We'd both like to.

I fell in love with the city of Duluth and commented to Tammy more than once that I could easily make it my home. She enjoyed the city as well but not enough to want to uproot our lives and move there—and what about the winters? I get that. It's close enough that I'm certain we'll be back again sooner rather than later.

Here's a link to an album of photos from our getaway.

I love more than anything taking our little road trips, away from the myriad distractions that make up my life. Not that I don't enjoy them all but nothing compares to my time with Tammy when it's just the two of us sharing an experience together.

I can't help but wonder how 20 years got away from us so quickly. It seems not long ago at all that Tammy and I first met and wasted little time making plans for our lives together with Rachel. I wrote this 4-part blog series a while back about how we met and fell in love.

What I wouldn't give to relive these past 20 years all over again! I could live in those days forever.

That's all I've got.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

David Crowder Concert, NWA188 and Photo Review

Image
I got up from laying down after the all-night shift Thursday morning and figured I'd better get a ride in while I could because the forecast wasn't looking so good. The temp was just above 40 with a northeast wind steady at 15 mph under overcast skies. 40 degrees is very reasonable cycling weather but the key is to be somewhat chilled when you start out. Being warm and toasty at the beginning leads to being sweaty, cold and clammy before the ride is over. While putting air in my tires before leaving I could tell that I needed a lighter top layer. I'm glad I made the switch. I loved the ride  ( Strava link ) and would like to have gone further but David Crowder was playing at our church and I didn't want to be late getting in line for some good seats as it was general admission. I considered a quick detour by Hosanna on the way home to get a pic of their tour bus but I figured I should really act my age. The concert was worth every penny and better than any of the o
Read more

Riding, Retirement and a Home Revisited

Image
I skipped out of work a couple hours early today to take advantage of some mild weather. I took the pups for a walk then headed west on my bike putting my heart, lungs, and quads through some paces. It felt so nice to be out there. I'd have stayed out longer but I had to be back to take Rachel to dance class for 5:00. It's possible that today will be the last time I'll have to take her to class if she passes her road test this Thursday. I'd like to have taken some time to hose down my bike. It's full of road salt and that can't be a good thing. Every large vehicle that went past me had a cloud of salt dust trailing in its wake and settling on me. I'll spend some time cleaning it tomorrow and have it ready for a ride on Wednesday after work. Speaking of work—I've been kicking around the idea of bidding on a staff job. Believe me, it's not something I want to do. It's about self-preservation. I want to work another five years to get Rachel thr
Read more

My Bicycle Ride to Babbitt

Image
Wow, what a trip. In planning for this ride, I figured I’d have only two weekends this summer when our schedules could come together to give it a go. The first of those two times came and went two weeks ago when a steady north wind kept me grounded. There’s no way I could have gone the distance into the wind, and what I was really hoping for was a stiff southwesterly breeze, but that wasn’t in the cards either. After looking at the wind forecast on Wednesday, I told Tammy that it looked as though we were looking at another no-go. I’d been watching the forecast the previous 5 days, and they consistently said to expect a light wind from the southeast. It wouldn’t be a headwind but wouldn’t be much help either. I came home from work on Thursday morning and looked at the forecast again, but it hadn’t changed. I got a couple hours of sleep, then woke up to work in the yard. Then, I decided I wouldn’t let the lack of a tailwind keep me from going…just so long as it wasn’t a headwind. I tol
Read more