Anniversary Weekend Getaway

As Nicholas and I approached our fifth anniversary, we made the decision to make each five year interval of our marriage a special occasion. While we always celebrate our anniversary every year, and sometimes even with a night away, we decided that on these five year intervals we would make the trip away slightly more extended. With small children at home, neither one of us is comfortable with a long getaway, but an extended weekend was something that we thought was reasonable. So, for our fifth anniversary we flew up to northern Vermont and enjoyed the fall colors from a cozy bed and breakfast. It was a week-end to remember, and established both Stowe, and fall foliage as permanent fixtures in our vacationing future. So much so, that we decided to make a very similar trip for our ten year anniversary. Our first choice for a getaway destination was a west coast fall foliage tour; however, after visiting the Minnesota North Shore during the summer, we decided a trip to the North Shore while we were still in Minnesota would suit us just fine. So, after asking Nick's parents to come and watch the kiddos, which the kiddos loved,











we made our anniversary dream into a reality.

We started our getaway with a little shopping at the famous Mall of America in Minneapolis, and then made our way up to the port city of Duluth. Duluth is one of America's best kept secrets, full of historic bed and breakfasts perfect for the vacationing romantic. Consequently, Nick chose one of the top rated rooms in the incredible Cottonwood Mansion as our first night stopover.



The Mansion was incredible with a grand entryway,



a library after my own heart,



and plenty of spacious sitting rooms.





We spent the evening lounging in these sitting rooms pretending we were turn of the century millionaires enjoying a night at home. Eventually we returned back to our private room--the Carriage House Garden Room. It was cozy with lots of old world charm.





In the morning we joined several of the other guests for an elaborate three-course breakfast and a question and answer session with the knowledgeable Innkeeper.







Breakfast was wonderful, but shortly after, it was time to head out yet again. It was hard to pack up and leave the Cottonwood Mansion after only one night, but the parting was made easier by the knowledge that the fall colors were calling our names from along the magnificent northern shoreline. We couldn't check out of Duluth quite yet though. Not before taking a stroll up and down the mansion lined streets. (Here's the Alcott Mansion, one of my favorites.)





We also decided to take the full tour of the beautiful Glensheen Mansion.



It was amazing to see the splendor and detail of these old homes--gave me lots of ideas for our new house! (I wish!)

After our mansion tours, we capped off our time in Duluth by taking a bike ride along the beautiful Duluth shoreline.





Then we met up with Grandma and Grandpa and the kids. They had driven the kids up from Rochester so that everyone could get in on a little of the North Shore fun. And fun it was. We played on the beach for a bit, searched for agates, and Grandpa and Dad attempted to teach the older kids how to skip rocks.

From Duluth we traveled along the scenic route until we reached the turn-off for a cozy ski resort in Lutsen, Minnesota. Since we stayed on the lake front over the summer, we decided that a fall time visit would be much more enjoyable tucked away in the wooded mountainside. (If you can call the hills out there mountains, that is.) We also wanted a more central location on the shoreline from which to do some site seeing. We wanted to be able to hit cities as far North as Grand Marais,





























as well as some of the falls along the scenic byway,





but still make it back down to Gooseberry Falls and the Split Rock Light House.







It was the perfect location, especially since there was a gondola ride with spectacular fall views. The kids quite liked the little spin on the Alpine Slides with Grandma and Grandpa as their riding partners too.















The weekend proved to be a perfect blend of couple time and family vacationing in what has now been solidified as one of my favorite places in the U.S. Thanks for the weekend everyone! And cheers to five more years and another fabulous getaway!