It was Breanne’s birthday,m and we hadn’t been to the north shore yet. Of course we're going!!

So, the north shore consists of the northern shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota.  The entrance to this lovely slice of landscape is through Duluth and onward through some beautiful quaint little towns. 

We brought Coda (our dog) along, and splurged a bit on the hotel.  We were excited!

Once we got through Duluth the views became spectacular.  We still had the fall colors of the trees to admire and Superior looked majestic out of our car windows.  We stopped at a popular brewery along the way in Two Harbors, called Castle Danger.  Coda did a phenomenal job meeting new people.  Dogs were everywhere the entire weekend.  A lot of fun seeing everyone enjoying one of the last fall weekends.  

We pulled off again for one of our many hikes we’d take.  This was a quick walk to a waterfall, and another ten miles down the road another hike brought us to what resembled the cliffs of Mohr over in Ireland.  The fall colors made for some great pictures.

By the time we got to our hotel, the sun had gone below.  We ordered carry out pizza and I grabbed a six pack of local brew.  There’s just something about eating pizza in a hotel that’s the best thing ever!

The next day we loaded Coda in the car, and took off for the “Gun Flint Trail.” 

But FIRST, we woke up for the sunrise : )

The Gun Flint Trail was suggested by someone as we were bringing all of our luggage in, so we thought we'd try it. 

Multiple little hikes off this route.  The road will take you all the way up into Canada (about 1.5 hrs).  We opted not to bring our passports for this trip, but next time. 

The first hike we took led us on a straight incline to get to the top that overlooked a lake.  On the way up, we passed a hunter in full gear looking for pheasant.  No luck yet was the report.  

The view was great and we've been having so much fun hiking with Coda.  

We got back to town and dropped Coda off for a nap (seriously), and hit up a brewery with a view!  Beer was great, view was better. 

For lunch, we went for fish and chips at a small shack of a place, grocery store, with a small patio in the back overlooking the lake.  Amazing. 

The entire town is relaxing and touristy.  Everyone was talking about the following weekend being the last weekend for most places to stay open. 

On our last day, we hiked another river and were blown away by the scenery.  Minnesota has such drastic landscapes spread out across the state.  Prairie, Prairie Pot Hole, Tamarack Spruce Bogs, Maple-basswood-oak forest, and coniferous regions further north.  The wetlands are vast, and 60% of all waterfowl in the US breed in Minnesota.  Chomp on that. 

The North Shore lived up to the hype. 

It was gorgeous, relaxing, and the people were great.  Added bonus to have great beer and pie!