We Should Have Stayed Home

So, I'm back. For what it's worth. The trip certainly wasn't worth the money spent, and that's saying something, because we spent less than $500. I think we did, anyway. Hope so. That's about 15% of all the money we have left. I'd hate for it to have been more.


We did not have a good time. We did not find a place to live (that we would want to live at). We did not get along that well. (Three people cooped up in a car, a hotel room, and a car for three days.) The portions of time we had reserved to just relax and enjoy ourselves didn't go over well, with the exception of swimming in the hotel pool and splurging at Red Lobster on Thursday evening.


The good news is that we're pretty sure we don't want to move to Duluth. Not that there's anything wrong with Duluth. It's a great place - to visit. There are wonderful things to see and do. But nothing about it said "home" to us. Son got sick riding up and down the streets which, he jokingly referred as, ninety degrees up and down. It isn't quite that bad, but there was a time when we were driving along this narrow alley. The road turned to head down the hill (mountain). I stopped the car. It almost looked like a straight down drop. That was the place where we saw the two white-tail deer. Duluth is close enough to the forest many wild animals show up in town, including bear and fox.


Anyway, we went down slowly. What a pity I don't know automotives. I bet all of the brake shops in Duluth are busy. Unfortunately, if I were to work on brakes, the last place one would wish to drive would be Duluth. One would easily wind up in the lake.


Son probably came out the best. He got to go swimming and buy an action figure at a store. That's pretty much all he wanted to do. Oh, and have the complimentary breakfasts. Only he didn't care for the food. It didn't set well with me either. Food was probably one of the few areas which were kind to Spouse. Oh, and the film.


We argued about which film to watch at the Omnimax Theatre. These are short, forty-five minute films done in IMAX. What's cool about the Duluth Omnimax is that the roof is domed and the film shown there. So your kind of surrounded by the film. Very nice, if you can get past the vertigo in the seating.

Son and I wanted to watch the Alps. Spouse wanted to watch the Great Lakes. So, we decided to splurge. We would watch both. The Great Lakes was first, and then came the Alps. Son didn't really want to go anymore, but he agreed. We get to the theatre and buy double tickets. We watch Spouse's movie. It's okay. But the filming was poorly done and Son has motion sickness again. Spouse claims to be sick, too. So they leave to use the restroom between films. I wait. And wait. And wait. Finally, the second film is starting. Son comes back in. Turns out he and Spouse have turned their tickets back in and have no intention of watching the second film. But I can stay and watch - by myself. Oh, fun! We left. Spouse wanted me to refund my ticket, but I took masochistic satisfaction in refusing to do that. So I paid for a ticket I didn't use.


We get back to the hotel and order pizza from the same place we always do when we visit Duluth. I don't know why, but this time, for some reason, they chose to cook our pizza on a piece of thick cardboard. They weren't even able to cut it with their pizza cutters. We had to tear it apart to eat it. We wound up eating the toppings and piling the crust pieces together. We considered bringing them home to repair the leaks in the roof.


Meals did not work well for me this trip. I wanted to leave Friday night, but Spouse didn't want to. So we stayed, but were up and gone before six-thirty in the morning. The plan was to stop at Barnum and eat at a nice little restaurant with a gift shop. Spouse likes to buy a deck of playing cards every time we take a trip. Well, the gift shop wasn't open. In fact, it had gone out of business. No big deal. Spouse and Son ordered French Bread with sausage links, and I ordered a Country Steak. The waitress returns to tell me they can't make my meal for another fifteen minutes. By then Spouse and Son will be done eating. Suddenly, I'm not hungry anymore and cancel my order. I sit with my hot chocolate and eat the sausage links Spouse and Son won't eat.


What a crummy trip!


I've lost track of the number of times we have gone to Duluth. Only one other trip was this miserable, and that was the time Spouse and I were accosted by two drunken Chippewas looking for a fight. Fortunately, because they were drunk, we were able to get away from them without incurring or inflicting bodily harm. Nothing else went right on that trip, either. I put this trip down with that other. What a waste of time and money.


So, no sooner do we get home than we get another email about Easter. With no energy left I email back: No guarantees. Weather will be a factor. But expect us to be there otherwise.


Not exactly the spring I would have chosen for myself.