Dhila Backstrom Photo Blog

Camping Trip - Blue Fin Bay

So, the first day, we didn't do any camping. It was wet, cold and it had been raining pretty much all day. There's no way we would set up camp, so Jeff took action and decided to check us all in at Blue Fin Bay Resort. We've stayed here before and were impressed with the experience, especially the view. Although the restaurant, Blue Fin Grille, could use a good chef, the hotel is definitely up-to-par. The honeymoon suite equipped with a jacuzzi and a cute little attic to fit two people and gaze at the beauty of Lake Superior. We love this place because it reminds us of Turtle Bay Resort in Hawaii when we spent our 2nd year wedding anniversary.

Here's a slideshow of Blue Fin Bay inside and out.

Continue to Day 2 of Grand Marais Camping Trip >>>

Up next (something to look forward to):

Temperance River
Gooseberry Falls
Betty's Pies
World's Best Donuts
Split Rock Light House
Sven and Ole's
Bonfire!
The beach behind our camp site
Cascade Restaurant
Cascade Falls
Sugarloaf Cove Beach

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Thanks for stopping by!

Dhila

Camping Trip

Over Memorial Day weekend, Jeff, Treyton and I went on a camping trip with my sister Putri and her many kids; twins; Ivory and Zack, Jacob and Zahara (we call her Baby Z). Everyone was so excited about the trip and have been looking forward to it for weeks. Jeff and I and Treyton have gone to Grand Marais many times, we love it there and we want to show Putri and her kids this place and how much it means to us.

We took off Friday morning and stopped at Tobies, the place we always stop for breakfast, before heading up North. I always get the Bavarian Style Breakfast, because they have awesome potato pancakes as well as other sinful baked goods.

Ivory is allergic to something, we don't know if it's Ranger, our cat, or something else.

"Are you okay, Zack?" Treyton said. Mom gave him some Benadryl for the same allergic reaction as Ivory did. It really wore him out.

And then Treyton went on to play with Jacob

This is Zahara, we call her Baby ZZ. This one is a trouble-maker and needs constant watch.

After we filled our bellies off we went to continue our journey Up North

Continue >>>

Camping Trip - Duluth

After breakfast we stopped in Duluth, Canal Park to be exact. Duluth is a gateway to Lake Superior’s scenic north shore. Lake Superior is the largest of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded to the north by the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Minnesota, and to the south by the U.S. states of Wisconsin and Michigan. It is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area and is the world's third-largest freshwater lake by volume.

It had been raining on and off all day and the clouds were strikingly beautiful that day. I am a big sucker for clouds. The Matrix in front of us is Jeff and the boys, as Putri and I were in Putri's car with the girls.

We passed Black Bear Resort and Casino, almost stopped for one round of slot but what are we going to do with the kids?

Here's a glimpse of canal park where the famous aerial lift bridge is located. The bridge allows cars over a stretch of Lake Superior to Park Point. This bridge elevates as neeeded to let large freightors into the Duluth Shipping Harbor. These freightors are largely loaded with Minnesota grain and taconite (shown below)

Sky rises of Downtown Duluth. You can see on the background there are houses that are built on the hills. This downtown reminds me of houses built in Seattle, Washington and in Hawaii.

We didn't get a chance to talk the lakewalk due to the on and off rain but I manage to get this shot. The lakewalk is a must walk when in Duluth.

Walkway to the lighthouse

It started raining hard and we sought coverage at Lake Superior Maritime Museum.

The rain finally stopped and we made our way to the lighthouse

Jacob and his mama

Hotels along Canal Park shot from the lighthouse

Baby ZZ wanted to show me the feather she found. There weren't many seagulls that day due to the weather. On a sunny day this place is flocked with hundreds of them.

This is their first taste of "water playing, rock throwing, rock climbing" series of this camping trip. We'll be doing a lot of these throughout our 4 day trip.

After we had our fun in Duluth, we continue our journey up north.

Go to Blue Fin Bay >>>

Chicago

Some old pictures from our trip to Chicago. I love Chicago. Not so much my husband. He hates the traffic. My mom resides in downtown Chicago, a condo across from Gibson Steak House. I love this restaurant and Jeff loves their martini. They invented the Gibson martini (with pearl onions instead of olives). Many famous people have come here and yet they treat average Joe and Jane like us -- who came with shorts and t-shirts with no reservation, showed up at 10 pm, slightly intoxicated -- as they would treat Liz Taylor.

Something that I would highly suggest when visiting Chicago is to purchase the City Pass. I can't tell you how beneficial this purchase was. Although there may not be a huge difference in money savings it was a tremendous time saver. The city pass makes us feel like a VIP. Every single tourist attraction that we visited, we were able to skip the long line that would've taken us hours to wait which could've been spent on sightseeing.

{Navy Pier}