Day 2: Duluth MN, Fargo ND

I woke up this morning to the worse complimentary "breakfast" I've ever seen from a hotel: an orange juice dispenser and some kind of off-brand cinnamon biscuits in a mini-fridge the size of a shoebox. Luckily I have enough granola bars in my car to last me about 6 months, let alone 3 weeks.

I went for an early drive out toward the famous Black Rocks at Presque Isle Park in Marquette. It's a cool little loop just outside of town and to get there, you drive by an old, massive complex of manufacturing plants and shipbuilding facilities.

The trail around the island gives you some really cool views of the bay and the red rock cliffs. Morning sunrise made it even better.

After my hike I hit the road and drove for 4 hours across the UP and parts of Wisconsin. There's not much to describe, just woods and trees. And that's all I have to say about that.

Pulling into Duluth was exciting for me, but I was quickly disappointed. It's a decent size city and the downtown was plenty big but there was virtually nothing in the way of shops, restaurants, or culture. And it wasn't just a pandemic thing - it just didn't exist. I was planning on spending the night there but after about an hour walking around the waterfront, I decided to keep driving and leave Duluth in my rearview. 

4 more hours of a whole lot of nothing. Except for the hometown of my guy Paul Bunyan.

Finally, around 7pm I pulled into Fargo, North Dakota (No, I haven't seen the movie or watched the show). It's a big, boxy, tan city that reminds me of Omaha, NE.

After very cool weather in the UP and Duluth (62 F), it was suddenly very hot (98 F) and humid here in Fargo. I checked into the Radisson downtown where they told me there was a tornado watch for the night! But a little wind isn't going to stop be from having a beer so I dropped my bags off in the room and walked over to a small, socially-distanced pub called the Boiler Room downtown for an IPA and a chicken sandwich.

Looking out the window for any sign of tornados...