My Adventures in Duluth (A Narrative)

I know I don't usually just tell things that happened, especially if they're non-funny things, but nuts to being usual. Here's a story.

This weekend I went to Duluth to visit my friend Mary. It was great fun, maybe more fun than any road-trippy visit ever before. But it began with me getting lost in ghetto West Duluth. The problem is there are two exits for 21st St in Duluth, one is 21st St W and the other is 21st St E. I took the west one, which is wrong. But since I didn't know it was wrong, I spent about a half hour driving around West Duluth trying to find an intersection that didn't exist. I would have called Mary, but my phone didn't work.

Eventually I stopped at Lee's Pizza to use a phone. Lee's Pizza might be a drug front or a front of some kind. The people there were very skeptical of me borrowing their phones and insisted that my friend not call their number back (why would she?). Then, as I waited on the corner for Mary and Michael to come pick me up, I saw and heard some strange things at Lee's. A woman walked into the restaurant, and a couple of the restaurant people came outside and commented on how they'd never seen that woman before. Like they only serve people they know. Or are wary of possible undercover cops. But then Mary and Michael came and we went to Pizza Luce and safety.

That night we went out for the Homegrown Music Festival, and though we knew that most of the music we would see would suck, it was fairly enjoyable. I do not recommend Boy Girl Boy Girl or Fair-Weather Friend or Cars and Trucks to anyone, but I will say that they won't make you want to shoot yourself if you have to wait through them for a good band. Especially when that good band is Black-Eyed Snakes. On CD, they're good. Live, they're amazing. It was one of the best shows I've seen. Except for the strobe light. Strobe lights make me sick.

The next day Mary and I went to wander around the lake shore, which was cool since I haven't ever seen Lake Superior before. We did a lot of walking, and I bought a Mother's Day present and some mini donuts (after we drove back to her apartment to get my wallet). Then we watched Clue and went to dinner at Blackwoods. The food was delicious (of course?), and it turns out that lemon juice is an adequate palate cleanser.

After Michael got back into town, we went out and had a fire on the beach. It was hard to get started because it was so windy, but when it took, it took off. We almost burned down this huge log, which would have been cool, but it would also have been dangerous. It was my favorite fire experience ever, probably. Then we all touched Superior for a "friendship moment." Kind of cheesey--no, really cheesey--but fun.

And then I left the next morning. The end.