We got up at the ungodly hour of 3 am to make our way in time to the Knoxville airport for the 6:15 am flight. I love the Knoxville airport, it is just small enough to be cozy, but still big enough to have all of the amenities to make your There are rocking chairs facing out the window over looking the airstrips and also in each of the bathrooms (the womens anyway!). The entry way leading up to security is decorated with a lovely flowing stream down the middle of the walkway. It was a relaxing start to a pretty relaxing first day.
Our first flight was only 1/3 full at best, so Rob and I were allowed to take an entire row to ourselves. He had the two seats on one side of the aisle and I had the two on the other. The flight attendants were very friendly and the flight was fast all the way to our connector in Atlanta. The next flight was as full as they could get it with the new Covid restrictions, but that meant that we had the three seats
on our side to ourselves. They had great entertainment, so I just relaxed and listened to a Pride and Prejudice audio book that they provided. The flight flew by.
The drive out of St. Paul was simple and we were soon admiring the pretty Fall colors and the scenic Minnesota countryside. We had time to converse and before we knew it we were in Duluth. I love the entrance to in from an overlook of the cityscape. The old industrial buildings harkened back to the hay day of the mining industry. You can see the old money that the iron ore and taconite brought to the town in all of its beautiful buildings. Although mining is no longer the main money maker for the city, it is still very much a working town. The waterfront is teaming with industry and ships and their cargo and go in the harbor.
One of the beautiful old buildings was the old train depot that has since been converted into a museum filled with huge relics of the past. It was definitely worth the visit and I highly it. All the better because entrance was free at
this time to encourage visitors in the time of Covid. The upper parts of the depot were made in to a playhouse and art museums, but we only had time to see the train museum because we were headed next to the Aquarium.
The Aquarium was small but housed a nice selection of water life along with some examples of the local wildlife. It was right along the waterfront and we were able to get a nice view of Superior before the fog rolled in. It was rainy most of the day, although it did little to dampen our enjoyment. The fog however had gotten so thick by the time we checked into the hotel that we decided to stay in and have food delivered. Thanks again to Covid, almost all restaurants deliver now, so we were able to get a very nice meal from Blackwoods on the Lake sent right to our hotel. We capped it off with a decadent cholate cake that was divine.
Day one is and I am thoroughly exhausted. I am going to turn in and get some sleep so that we can get on with our adventure in the morning.
A little about the hotel we are staying at. It is called the TRU by Hilton. It is a brand new hotel and it is ultra modern. There is such as thing as too modern, though. It kind of feels like we are in some modern student quad. In the lobby there are wicker seat swings and brightly colored nooks for using your laptop. There is a water bottle refill station so you dont have to buy plastic water bottles. There are USB ports all over for charging devices. All of these things I like. Although the room itself is small, it is well laid out for convenience, for the most part. However, if someone is at the desk, as I am now writing this, then it is hard for anyone to get to the other side of the bed, where my husband has all his things. I have to move every time he needs to get by. But the bathroom is the main problem, it has some features that were not well thought out. For one, the bathroom light is kept on with a motion sensor. After a while of no
motion, it shuts off.
