Downtown Duluth

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Waterfront for the two nights we were in Duluth. Here's the view from our room, we obviously didn't get the waterfront view!! The hotel was nice & was walking distance from the downtown area. We were able to use their skywalk system to get to the Lakefront walk which is along Lake Superior. The weather wasn't the greatest or I think we probably would have done that walk again. Would have really been neat to run along it. I suppose if we would of skipped the casino we could of done that! We were about 3 blocks away from the downtown casino. This casino was small & a dive. VERY VERY smokey. But we did get a package from the hotel for some blackjack match plays & some slot pulls. I accidently stumbled across that while I was online seeing the casino website. So before we walked over there we stopped at the front desk & got the package. I won 3 of the 4 matchplays & Phil did ok with his. We went to that casino twice, won both times. Or I should say that we left at the right times...when we were ahead!

Friday the weather was nice & so after the 2:30 volleyball game, we walked along the lake & went to check out when the boat cruises were to see if we could get one in. We got there around 5:00 & it was leaving at 5:30 & I guess we were too late for that dinner cruise. So we just started walking & checked out some of the shops & looked for a place to eat. Wouldn't you know it...we saw the HELL'S KITCHEN restaurant. Ashley told us that they were going there to eat. We had no idea where the place was but remembered seeing a billboard for it on the Interstate. So we decided to eat there & hopefully get to see her since we really didn't get a chance to talk to her at the games. So we sat down & ordered & was in time for about 30 mins of Happy Hour! Perfect! After we ordered, the whole volleyball team came in. Ashley was able to sit with us which was nice. Phil ordered some steak dinner & I had a Pasta Penne dish. It was one of the BEST meals I've ever had. I added some Italian sausage to it & not sure if that was what did it or what. But mmmmm. Even Phil (who doesn't really care for pasta) said it was really good. So if you ever go to the Hell's Kitchen in Duluth or I see they have one in Minneapolis as well & you don't know what to order. Try the Penne dish. Here is the website of the restaurant.

Saturday morning we walked along downtown & checked out some more shops. The ONE store Phil really wanted to check out....was closed for the season! Bummer.

We then drove around Duluth & then went to the volleyball game. After getting a permission slip signed, Ashley was able to drive home with us instead of the bus. So we stopped at Black Bear Casino for a late lunch. Yep, did the buffet again. Didn't have that awesome dessert as the other day but it was still good. And we won some more money. Me, $10, Phil $59. He won his the last 2 mins we were there. Put $1 in a .10 machine & kept winning! It was so funny, Ashley & I had no idea how much he had in credits & thought for sure he put more than a buck in the machine! So we left on a good note!

Drove home in the rain & got back to Mankato & stayed the night with Ashley. I guess she wanted us to whoop her butt in Wii bowling!

We had a nice time away! Thanks again to my mom & dad for watching the kids for us.