HVT Flashback: Duluth, Duluth

My flashback continues with the second full day of our Memorial Day weekend last year in DULUTH. (Such a sexy name for a town, don't you think?)



Our first stop was going to be a rose garden, but even though it was the very end of May, none of the roses were in bloom or even budding yet. (The temperatures were quite cool up there.) We wandered around the park anyway.





Then we made the scenic drive to Gooseberry Falls.





It was very crowded due to the holiday weekend.








kicking back in a quiet spot before we hike across the park to get a better view of Lake Superior

We had dinner at a place called Pizza Luce, which has locations in Minneapolis, too. They offer two different vegan cheeses: mozzarella and "rinotta." They were out of the mozz, so I had the rinotta, which was okay, but a gooey, stretchy mozz would have been better. The Duluth location was PACKED, which is a good sign of good food. I thought I had a picture from this place, but I can't find one now. Between Galactic Pizza and Luce, I would pick Galactic, but Luce is a great place (and if I remember correctly, the only place) to get some vegan pizza while you're in Duluth.

Our last meal in Minnesota was back in Minneapolis at a raw cafe named Ecopolitan. I love this place! It has such a homey, adorable atmosphere.



We started with drinks: The boyf ordered the Orange Julia (DELICIOUS) and I ordered a bell pepper tonic (Refreshing!).


I ordered the raw lasagna with a spinach-pineapple soup. Both were delicious and SO filling. I liked the soup slightly better.


The Boyf ordered the raw burritos.

I highly recommend Ecopolitan while you're in Minneapolis.

After lunch, we made the trek home. Minneapolis was a pleasant surprise of a city. I had no idea what to expect, but it's a very hip place. It's cyclist-, vegan-, and environmentally-friendly. There are beautiful parks and trails everywhere. The people were pretty friendly, too, though none of them had the typical Minnesota accents I was expecting, like the mom from "Bobby's World."

Recapping this trip has made me feel a little better, almost like I actually got out of the house. I think my cold is starting to let up. I haven't had a sore throat all day, which is progress, but my head is still stuffy and foggy. After spending all this time recapping this trip, maybe I'll move on to planning my next one...

HVT Flashback: Minneapolis

When I woke up in Des Moines this past Sunday, I had a sore throat and some stuffiness. I thought it was just because we slept in a 2 cat house, but the sore throat never went away. A day or two later, it morphed into a full-blown cold. I've been pretty miserable all week long. I'm not sure where or how I picked up this sickness, but it's partly my fault. See, when I'm really stressed out, I don't eat well. Stress + poor diet = shot immune system. That's what I get for not chilling the heck out.

I've been in a stuffy fog all week, wishing I felt well enough to go outside into the world and romp around. Being stuck in the house makes me think of trips I've been on, many of which I took before I created this blog. I was a hungry vegan traveler long before I started this blog, so let me backtrack a little for you and share some good eats and good sights in MINNEAPOLIS. We spent Memorial Day weekend of 2009 up there.


On the way up, we stopped at Fresh Cafe in West Des Moines for lunch. Above is the sweet potato spinach salad. It was too heavy on the rosemary for my taste, but still pretty good.



After we checked in at the hotel and dropped our belongings, we set out on foot for awhile to see the nearby sights. I fell in love with this fountain:

I think it would look lovely in my yard full of bottle trees, don't you?


We strolled through the sculpture garden.


Then wandered around downtown.



The next day we went to the science museum, which I'm pretty sure was more interesting for the Boyf than for me. I was more excited about finding the Peanuts sculptures, which are scattered around St. Paul.



We had a vague idea of the general vicinity of the sculptures, so it was really exciting to spot one. Many of them blended in so well!


Hunting down Peanuts statues worked up an appetite, and we ate lunch at Galactic Pizza. We started with the "cheesy garlic toast," made with Follow Your Heart mozzarella.


Then I ordered a vegan pizza with bell peppers, black olives, and mushrooms.

The coolest thing about Galactic Pizza (next to their vegan options, of course) is that their delivery people dress as superheroes: spandex and capes and all. I tried to get a picture of one as he was walking out the "Superheroes Only" door, but he was gone in a flash.

Full of pizza, we moved on to the Mall of America, which was, in a word, BORING. We just went to see the spectacle of the place, but it really wasn't anything special. They had multiples of most of the stores, many of which were shops you can find anywhere. The Lego Land area was the only slightly interesting section.


After our brief stop here, we moved on to visit Minnehaha Falls, which was unfortunately crowded due to the holiday weekend, but was still a nice park area.


We did some more driving and walking around the downtowny area. The weather was perfect.

Old Mill Ruins





We ate dinner at Namaste, a very vegan-friendly Indian place. It didn't taste like traditional Indian food, and while it wasn't the best Indian restaurant I've been to, it was certainly the cutest.



By the time we got our meals, it was dark outside (we ate on the patio). I wish I could remember what we ordered (I should have started this blog a long time ago!).

Here are some of the views from our hotel room:




And some friendly neighborhood newscasters!


Stay tuned for my flashback on Duluth!