duluth you complete me

Remember in that previous post when I said I'd post pictures of the whirlwind weekend Joy and I spent in Duluth...unless I was too lazy? Well, guess what. Not one picture got taken up there. There were some pretty views, to be sure, I guess just nothing that warranted getting the Canon out of Joy's purse. It would have been nice to snap a few shots at the Sedaris reading, but unfortunately, photography was banned. What a diva.

Speaking of the Sedaris event, it was pretty badass. He read some classics and some stuff I'd never heard/seen before, recommended a book he liked, and, if I'm not mistaken, engaged in some product placement: close to when he finished up, Sedaris pulled out some sort of throat drops and said they were great for freshening your breath and keeping your voice. Joy argued that he was just explaining what he had been pouring into his mouth, assuring the audience that it wasn't booze. But I prefer to be cynical.

Before the show Joy bought Holidays on Ice and we got it signed, and I once again proved how terrible I am at any sort of small talk. He asked where we were from, and exclaimed at the distance when we answered Minneapolis. I tried to make a joke about how his reading probably wouldn't be worth driving up for, but that we were making a weeekend out of it. It came out all wrong, and I think he either didn't get it or was genuinely insulted. Then he asked where we were staying and we said the Radisson (by the way, don't ever stay at the Duluth Radisson) and I mentioned that it had a rotating restaurant (FYI, it's nauseating) and he made an odd face and went, "Ooh hoo hoo!" And then we were done.

The next day we went and had an awesome breakfast at this place called the Amazing Grace Cafe. Then we hit up a few antique stores, walked a little by Lake Superior, and bought some fudge. All this actually managed to tire us out, so went back to our room for a nap...and actually managed to over sleep the Al Franken speech. By the time we got down to where the street festival was taking place, there were just a few people milling about, and the act on stage appeared to be some sort of stripping grandma. The only vendor left was selling bongs.

That night we had a decent dinner (though they brought Joy something different than what she ordered, and some good wine - we're still debating how far gone Joy was after the glass she drank.

Overall, Duluth is a fine town, and the weekend was a lot of fun; but I don't think I'll be in any hurry to go back. As it is, many of the restaurants and stores up there already exist in Minneapolis.