du Lhut

I skipped what would've been a good weekend to bike in either bike-friendly Mpls or bike-friendly Duluth to instead explore Duluth with Dan and one half of my parents.

The highlight of the weekend definitely was touring Glensheen Mansion, which I've driven by a ton of times, but never visited. I liked it better than the railroadeer James J. Hill House - probably because it was so well preserved with original furnishings. I like to think of the super rich Congdons (rich due to good mining investments in MN and orchard investments in the Pacific NW) and the Hills in the same era, schmoozing like the characters from a British TV show. Or from a Wooster and Jeeves book. 

Anyhow, here are some photos, with captions! (Oooh la la.)

Sat a.m. sunrise from our Airbnb

Glensheen pier in Lake Superior. A big portion was removed, and this piece was grandfathered in.

There's a little ol' Leprechaun striking a senior portrait pose
on this bridge over the creek next to Glensheen.

Fancy servants' entrance. They think the Congdons
were extra nice to their servants
because they had such humble beginnings.

This foyer is pretty much all that reminded me of the Hill House.

Such beautiful windows throughout; highly impractical, I'd think, considering the location.

Check out the color of these lampshades when turned on.

Same ones, when turned off. There were a lot of fixtures like that,
but these were the best photographed ones. And I like the style.

My favorite room! The breakfast room.
The glass was painted, rather than stained glass.

The breakfast room from another angle, showing how green it was,
highlighting the wood, and showing the fancy butler's pantry.
That fountain on the wall was used to water all the plants that used to fill this room. Sigh.

My dad at Gooseberry Falls. He and I kept taking pictures of each other
because our lame travel companions hate having their photos taken.

Duluth is named after a French explorer, who first visited the area about 335 years ago. That's ancient history for Minnesota...