Winter Wonderland

For years, I've wanted to go to the Luminary Loppet. And right now I'm thinking a lot about light (my word for the year is SHINE), so it was the perfect year to go. The perimeters of the event have changed a lot and so I was able to get some free tickets, so Patrick and I headed out (Beatrix is not a fan of the cold, so ix-nayed it; she had come to see "Tar" with us earlier that day so had earned herself some non-parent time).


And it was even more wonderful than we had hoped.

From fire dancers to an enchanted forest to ice luminary everywhere, the lake was beautiful.



Any my date was pretty enchanting too.


Light PLUS penguins? I'm in.


We walked along the whole path, ending in the "party" area sitting on a hay bale by a fire pit with an Utepils (where we watched Mayor Frey got booed when he went onstage, listened to a fairly mediocre cover band, and ran into former CJ rigger Ty and his wife).

It's hard to take a selfie with gloves on.


We ended the night at Cafe Barbette — perfect date night!

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As most of you know from my cross-posted instagram flood of pictures, we had spent the day before on a day trip to Duluth, where we:

• Enjoyed a lovely lunch at Va Bene (best Italian food in Minnesota) with my friend Julia (who I met when she directed The Skin Of Our Teeth at SPA when I was there!), and happy hour at our friend Brian and Robert-Jan's at the Roosevelt in Superior.


• Made quick shopping stops at Reimagined (closing soon, boo), Glensheen, Father Time Antiques, and a boutique and a plant store in Superior.


• Enjoyed drinks at Hoops while Beatrix shopped, cocktails and cocktails at Vikre, checked out the brand new Clyde Iron Works taproom, and got beer to go at Ursa Minor. Yes, I've still never been to Bent Paddle in my life, and to my great sadness, there was no time for Wild State Cider. Vikre was, as always, absolutely amazing. Hoops is cozy and fun. I think Clyde is good for the clientele it serves — it's an adaptive use old iron works next to a hockey arena — but I would not hurry back, the atmosphere is a little bland and the beer similar. Ursa Minor is still my favorite taproom there and I would still like to explore more of them.




• Since we were right there when we found out Amazing Grace was closing at the end of the month, we picked up some bread and a latte. I'll miss that place.

• I had fallen in love with a monstera plant (at a REALLY good price) at Reimagined, so at the end of the day Patrick drove back and we got it. Isn't it beautiful?

It wasn't really a winter escape day because it was bitterly cold with the lake-effect wind, so we spent very little time appreciating the magic that is Lake Superior. But still, a couple of magic winter days!



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