Hi Friends! Happy Sunday :)
I hope you are all having great weekends! This weekend, Kyle and I celebrated my birthday with a trip to Duluth, Minnesota! Duluth is a quaint, boutique-like town on Lake Superior in northern Minnesota – about a 2 hour drive from Minneapolis. We had never visited Duluth before so we thought that this weekend would be the perfect opportunity!
We stayed at The Cotton Mansion, a gorgeous bed and breakfast close to downtown Duluth. The house was absolutely stunning. Kyle booked the Bella Flora Suite which is apparently the honeymoon suite at the mansion, haha! Here are some of my photos of the mansion.
The library.
Another view of the library – The fireplaces were HUGE!
Kyle taught me how to play chess on Friday night. I loved it so we are going to get a chess set for home :)
The living room.
In addition to serving breakfast in the mornings, a wine and cheese reception was provided on Friday and Saturday from 4-6 – Perfect!
We arrived in Duluth around 3pm on Friday afternoon and could not check in until 4pm so we headed downtown to grab a late lunch. Last week we made a list of places we wanted to visit while in Duluth so we could make sure we fit it all into our weekend :) Fitger’s Brewhouse was high on Kyle’s priorities so we made that our first stop while waiting for our check-in time. Kyle ordered a whitefish burger for lunch and I got chips and guacamole. Don’t judge, it was my birthday weekend so I could do what I wanted to! We also tried a few of their house-brewed beers.
After lunch, we headed to The Cotton Mansion to check-in. One of the owners, Ken, gave us a very detailed tour of the house and showed us up to our room. Our room was in the carriage house, a separate building from the main mansion. Once we were ready for the evening, we headed over to the mansion for the wine and cheese reception. Kyle and I enjoyed a few glasses of wine and some cheese and crackers while he taught me how to play chess.
We didn’t have concrete plans for Friday night so we just headed downtown and visited a variety of local establishments, ending at Zeitgeist Arts Cafe for dinner. The cafe was cozy, especially with the frigid temps outside! Right after the bartender took this photo of Kyle and I, a woman at the bar asked us if we were newly engaged! Maybe it was because I was drinking champagne ;)
After dinner we headed back to the B&B to get a good night’s sleep since we knew we had a busy day planned for Saturday, starting with a fancy breakfast at the mansion :)
I’ll continue my Duluth recap tomorrow! Stay tuned :)
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I love visiting Duluth! Such a fun place- cant wait to hear about the rest of your trip!!!
The town is adorable! I can’t wait to go back in the summer :)
How fun! I love seeing all your pictures, and I think it’s awesome that your husband taught you how to play chess. I’ve never been able to figure it out. Way to go hubbie! I can’t wait to see your Day 2. :)
Before we were married, he also tried to teach me how to snow board. That lesson did not go as well!! Chess isn’t as difficult as I thought it was – you should definitely learn :)
That hotel looks so stately and fancy! I love that last picture of you guys, it’s so cute.
I felt so sophisticated, haha!
Ahhh looks so much fun! When we lived in MN last year we decided to visit Duluth for Michael’s birthday weekend, too! We went the first weekend of March (last year) and right when we got there a hugeeee snow storm hit us when we were in the middle of snowshoeing in a sweet park! ha! Duluth is awesome though, can’t wait to see what you did the rest of your time! Happy belated birthday!
Oh no!! That snow would be crazy!
You two are so cute together!! Looks like you had an amazing time, the house is gorgeous.
Thanks! It was so much fun!
So cool that you visited Duluth! I LOVE that town! So much to do and see. The views of Lake Superior never get old……………I was up there in early November, stayed downtown at The Radisson and then just went through town on the way to and from staying in Beaver Bay a week ago. You must go to The Duluth Grill for breakfast next time you’re up there. The food is great, organic, the staff is super great and it’s an experience! Glad you had fun on your b-day! I haven’t been to Fitger’s for beer or a meal:( it’s always busy when I’ve been in the area. Blackwoods is a good woodfire grill restaurant too. Great in nicer weather too—ha:)
I’ve heard good things about The Duluth Grill! I’ll put it on the list for next time :) And yes, I have to go back in the SUMMER!!
You will LOVE their caramel roll……………I had 1/2 with breakfast and took 1/2 home………….so good, seriously!