I'm back from my weekend away! We had so much fun. So I'm going to tell you all about it!!
Three of my friends and I met at my house around 4 on Friday afternoon. Packed up an SUV and said goodbye to the girls and DH. By 6:30/7 we arrived at the Canal Park Lodge in Duluth - right on Lake Superior. It's a newer hotel, very outdoorsy/rustic themed, kind of like Wilderness Lodge. We checked in, dumped our stuff and walked to a restaurant called Little Angie's Mexican Cantina. It was super crowded, so we waited about 15-20 minutes at the bar. The reason everything was crowded was because the MN Democratic party convention was going on in Duluth this weekend along with a couple smaller conventions. So there were a gazillion Democrats roaming the area! Had a wonderful meal there, headed back to our room and had some drinks and a lot of laughs! Just hanging out.
Saturday morning we leisurely got up - two of the girls hit the gym (not me!). Then went shopping. It was pretty cold and windy, so it wasn't the best for walking around outside, but we're from MN and we're a hardy lot! It was really fun! I didn't buy much, just a Christmas ornament each for the girls with their names on them. They have really neat shops there, unique, some are art, clothes, kids, toys, candy, antiques, kitchen.
So then we went to lunch at Grandma's. Not any of OUR grandma's...It's the name of the restaurant. The same company owns the three restaurants we ate at! They also started Grandma's Marathon that is run every June in Duluth (or they sponsor it whatever!). Since it was so cold, we were all in the mood for soup. They are known for chicken wild rice soup, so I had a cup of that, and shared a steak sandwich with one of the girls. I almost felt like I should take pictures of the food - but I didn't. My friends were already laughing about my Disney obsession! I had two bags with me - both were Disney bags!
We headed back to the hotel, spent a little more time in the room, relaxing, drinking wine and then we video called our friend who had recently moved to London. We talked with her for about an hour. We had dinner reservations at Bellisio, an Italian restaurant. DH and I had been there before and it's wonderful!!! Big wine selection and great food! We recognized one of our senators, Al Franken at a table near us. You may have heard of him - he ran against Norm Coleman and they had to recount and it went to court and took about a year to resolve. Blah, blah.
After dinner - it was really raining and windy. We had to practically run with our umbrellas going inside out! After we ran three blocks or so back to the hotel - I headed to the hot tub!! It felt so good!! Back in the room, we had more laughs and talks. It really was great fun!
My one friend had been divorced a couple of years and just before Easter, she and her kids and BF went to Mexico. Without telling anyone ahead of time, they got married while they were there! So we wanted to celebrate and we toasted to her and her new husband. We all just had a blast.
Then this morning - our check out time wasn't until noon. So we went to breakfast, and decided to brave the winds and go for a power walk. OH MY GOSH was it windy!!! We walked along the lakeshore on the boardwalk. My one friend and I turned back early and came back to the pool and hot tub. Much better! Then we packed up, said goodbye to the democrats (they were leaving too) and Duluth and headed home. We got home around 1:45. DH and the girls were just going to go get lunch, so we headed out and did a few little errands. We needed some lighter colored Twins shirts. It was too hot in the sun with dark blue shirts! So we found some pink ones! The girls got pink visors too.
While I was gone, DH put up the new light fixture in the bathroom that we remodeled and the girls went through their books to get rid of some that they have "outgrown". It was a great weekend, and now I'm catching up on my DISing and marking garage sale stuff. Back to reality.
Oh - and Kim - I did not get ice cream from Cold Stone. It was just TOO COLD. We do have them here by us, so it's okay.
Better late than never, right?! 
Dang work is always getting in the way of my DIS time!! 
I have a bridal shower that Saturday and then my students have a mini performance on that Sunday. What a bummer! I LOVE Cedar Point!
Canal Park!! My mom has run Grandma's Marathon about a bazillion times so I know that area well!!! Canal park is the finish point of the MArathon! Ken ran it 3x as well!!! I love Grandma's Restaurant - they have THE BEST burgers there!! 
I haven't had the pleasure of a COLD STONE yet but I must have one this summer!!! 
