The rest of Duluth MN and Superior Wisconsin: Good Beer, Great Pie
I didn't really think we would be able to count Minnesota as a state we had visited together if we just did one thing there, so after we finished walking through Enger Park we decided to check out a couple used bookstores that I had found on Google Maps the day before. If you missed my post about Enger park, you can go back to my profile and check it out. I just posted it yesterday.
Amazing Alonzo was a pretty cool bookstore that had a decent selection of old and new books. While the prices were a little more expensive than we can get online at shops like Thriftbooks.com, it was still nice to walk through the store and check out what they had. I think @mrsbozz and I both bought a single book, and then she bought a sticker with a funny saying that she thought was cute.
Our next stop was a place called Chester Creek books. I have to say, this one was really disappointing. I guess if you are into older books then you might appreciate it, but for the most part what should have been an awesome experience was pretty horrible. Let me explain why.
You see, Chester Creek Books is in an old church, so the building in general has so much potential, but they have the shelves set up in a way that it is almost like a maze, and nothing is organized in any kind of rational order. It was impossible to find anything in this hot mess of a space, and even if you did find the right section, every book was older than dust. It was ridiculous.
Realizing we were better off just buying the used books we wanted online, we moved on to get lunch.
We really wanted to get lunch in Duluth, but we were having a hard time finding a place that had an interesting menu. I'm sure there are plenty of places, but we were kind of in the mood for pizza, so that narrowed down our options. We found a place, but it turned out we were at their event space and we found ourselves walking into the preparation for a wedding, so we quickly made a retreat.
We quickly made our way back across the Wisconsin/Minnesota border and found ourselves at a really cool spot called Thirsty Pagan Brewing. This restaurant is in an old train station and if you look really close, you can see that they have a coffee truck trailer in front of their establishment. We skipped the coffee and went right for the beer.
I got the Sir Bear Za which is a play on Cerveza and was their Mexican style Amber beer. It was absolutely delicious. @mrsbozz got a hefeweizen or something fruity if I remember right. She enjoyed it.
For an appetizer we got these soft pretzel bites. They basically just took a soft pretzel, cut it up, and then covered it with cheese and seasonings and baked the crap out of it to melt the cheese. It was good, but the star was their custom mustard sauce. They hand make all of their sauces at Thirsty Pagan, so it was a real delight to try this one out.
Four our main dish we got one of their specialty pizzas and trust me when I say it was absolutely amazing! If you look at their menu online, I think it was the TPB special that we ordered. Along with it we got a large order of their homemade ranch dressing. We both had a chuckle when it was delivered to us in a coffee mug, but I can say right now it was well worth the $3.00 extra. The flavor was beyond what you get out of a bottle ranch dressing. It had the perfect blend of ingredients and the consistency was spot on. We actually ended up taking most of it with us in a to go container.
After leaving The Thirsty Pagan, we stopped at a local meat market called oddly enough Superior Meats. Since Wisconsin is the land of cheese, beer, and bratwurst, I wanted to pick up some local sausages to try out. This place had an amazing selection and I highly recommend you take a visit here if you get the chance. I do have to admit, the bratwurst didn't have a ton of flavor for me. I am kind of spoiled by our local butcher in Michigan though. I wouldn't say it was the worst bratwurst (see what I did there) I have ever had, but it certainly wasn't the best.
On our way over to Duluth, we passed through the small town of Port Wing Wisconsin. As we were going through town we passed a sign and @mrsbozz was adamant that I turn around. She said "I am pretty sure that sign said "testicle festival"". I wasn't able to turn around, but I promised her we would go back that way on our way back to the campground from Duluth so we could get a shot.
Sure enough, Port Wing is home to the testicle festival. Upon further inspection, it is a festival where they celebrate what are known as "Rocky Mountain Oysters", or more specifically bull testicles. Usually deep fried, but I have never had them myself. I think the funniest part of the sign is "The Original Sack Lunch" line.
Anyway, it was a pretty eventful trip to Duluth and Superior. While we weren't as impressed with Duluth as we thought we would be. I still recommend making the drive sometime to check out the area.
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I love used bookstores. Some are definitely better than others in terms of selection and set up/organization.
That sign is funny. I've been to a branding and castrating before but have never had Rocky mountain oysters. We also call them Prairie oysters. I would probably try them. I'll try almost anything once lol
I don't think I would be able to bring myself to try them. My wife always complains that most used bookstores are so disorganized and "scary".
I like your travel posts so much! They tell the stories of your travels in a simple, unpretentious, non-flashy way that makes it feel like a trip any of us might make. 🙂
My favorite thing in this post is Thirsty Pagan Brewing. I think it is really great that they turned an old train depot into a restaurant! For one thing, I like seeing old buildings reused, rather than torn down and replaced with big-money structures that are boring and "boxy" looking (as so much modern architecture is). Doing that saves cost and helps preserve the "heritage" of the area. The building is lovely on the outside, especially with the mortar embellishments around the windows and the corners of the pretty brick building! The red roof which coordinates nicely with the red bricks is a great touch, too. 💞
And the inside...? Wow! Two different shades of green on the walls, highlighted by that beautiful wood and the old hardwood floors! And real wooden chairs! And the old wooden "ticket counter" turned into a bar top! It's wonderful! The food looks great, too, and I like how they make their own mustard sauce & ranch dressing! Such a great find on your trip! 😋
I am pretty blue collar like that! None of that all inclusive influencer style flash for me, though maybe one day... I know what you mean about the newer places. A lot of them look like giant shipping containers. Just behind us in our booth was a door that led to the old station superintendent's office. It was kind of cool, but I didn't grab a shot of it.