Duluth & Lake Itasca State Park
Heading west from Apostle Islands we stopped in Duluth, MN for a day. They have a lakeshore walk and a stunning rose garden situated high up on the cliff overlooking lake Superior. SO many different colors and shapes of roses! Since we were there on a Saturday, a wedding was taking place in the garden and we just happened to be there at the opportune moment and witnessed the ‘first look’ of the bride & groom!
Lucky rock! 
We knew of larger brewery in Duluth called Bent Paddle that makes some quality brews and *of course* had to check it out. Due to covid, people were only allowed to stay for 90 minutes. We hung out their for our full time allotment and then headed down the street to Fitger’s Brewhouse for dinner. This place was in an old downtown building right on the lake where they share a hallway with a sort of indoor mall with shops. Like a lot of brewpubs, the food was fantastic and most of the beer was decent with a few beers having some prominent off-flavors. And our server was really nice and wanted to hear all about our travels and where we still planned to go! People seem very excited to listen to our story, and many express sentiment that they wish their situation would allow them do the same.
A chandelier made of repurposed Paktechs!! Awesome. 
Cool floor art at Bent Paddle 
The next day we drove over to Lake Itasca State Park, which happens to be the headwaters of the Mighty Mississippi! They have a lot of backpacking campsites in the park so we booked a site online. When we got there, none of the workers could understand why someone with an RV would want to backpack and tent camp instead of staying at the RV campsites. It was hilarious to us but we think we got in free because none of them knew where to direct us? Not sure but the park was beautiful and in full display of Midwestern fall colors!
After about a 4.5 mile hike to our site for the night, we were pleasantly surprised to find that our campsite was a private site on a lake and we even had our own toilet! Complete with a log bench and a fire pit.
Shelter/warming hut for cross country skiers in the winter 
Fire watching tower – we would’ve climbed it but (can you guess?) closed due to covid. 
Riverboat for touring Lake Itasca 
“Old Timer’s Cabin” constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1934 
Clubhouse/common room for the cabin rental area
The last place we visited was the famous headwaters spot where the river actually begins flowing off of Lake Itasca. It was fun to walk across the rocks that had been placed there a long time ago for people to experience walking across the origin point…and to imagine how much bigger it grows as it flows state to state!
Gabrielle wanted to cross it a second time
Hoppy Purpose 