Recommendations
Looking for a school for your preschooler this fall?
The folks at Lakeside Presbyterian Nursery School wanted you to know that there are still openings in their classes. The school is 50+ years old and remains a solid preschool of the sort I attended as a child. That is to say play, painting at an easel, listening to stories, singing songs, sharing a snack, etc.
Note that the play is first. No worksheets here. My kids are alumni and one kid managed to read before kindergarten, the other waited until about a week into the summer before first grade. Both rocked kindergarten. And now car rides are heavenly (but I digress).
This is a school that is affordable, caring, small, and focused on getting your kids ready to have a successful start to school.
Website
Call them for more information. 218-525-1967
Location is at 45th avenue east and McCulloch street. Right by Marshall’s hardware (and that little shopping district).
Skunk removal advice, anecodotes, etc.
So, apparently, if you see a skunk scurry under your porch and want to know when it has left, so that you can create a better barricade while its not in there, one method is to put a little flour near the escape and see if the skunk messes it up on its way out.
Unfortunately, if the skunk waits until you are asleep to make its nightly rounds of digging in garbage cans and whatnot, you have to figure in the morning that it’s back in there. (more…)
Cast iron skillets don’t go in the dishwasher
… and thus I am in the market for housekeeping services. We have tried two cleaning services since moving to the area and they were [ahem] sub-par. Can anyone refer me to a solid housekeeper?
Where’s the dill?
The cukes are growing like mad, but the dill is doing diddly. Whole Foods, Cub, Super One don’t have any dill on hand — apparently shipments are coming in at the end of the week … maybe, no guarantees. Any suggestions where I can find fresh dill?
Swimming Lake Superior 7-28
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDor-E0GIpo
“‘Things that lived under the sea…had cities on the seabottom, an’ the island was heaved up from thar. An’ some of the things was alive in the buildins when it come up…humans got a relation to ’em, see? Everything alive come aout o’ the water once an’ only needs a little change to go back.’…. ‘Dreams of a phosphorescent palace with gardens of strange leprous corals and grotesque brachiate efflorescences, fathoms below… I must swim out to that brooding reef and dive down through black abysses. And there I shall dwell amidst wonder and glory forever.'” – H.P. Lovecraft, “The Shadow Over Innsmouth”
Tackle shop recommendations, etc. — Advice for getting started fishing in Duluth
I’m relatively new to Duluth, and I’m hoping that PDD folks will offer advice as I begin learning about fishing here in the city. What tackle shops should I visit for tips and gear? Anyone want to share the location of their favorite fishing hole?
Sustainable Agriculture
I’m moving to Duluth at the end of this school year (about 10 months) and I am trying to make a plan for some gardening I intend to do. My personal garden will likely be north of Duluth, in the Island Lake area. I know that the soil there isn’t great and that I will be required to haul in some of my own. I also know that Duluth would be in USDA hardiness Zone 3, so that obviously dictates what I will be able to grow.
My question is: what crops have you had success growing in the Duluth area? Any tips or tricks that might help? I’m passionate about returning to localized food production, any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Monitoring Lake Superior
Interested in conditions on and in Lake Superior? UMD operates two buoys in the far western arm of Lake Superior about 15 miles outside Duluth, one near the McQuade safe harbor and one offshore of that location. You can see the data in real time by following this link.
Duluth’s Best Guitar Slingers
The Chaperone Records post (congrats on that – great to see here) reminded me of a conversation at Bayfront regarding the area’s best guitarists.
IMHO, the Twin Ports Bridge Festival featured three of the area’s top ten, maybe even five. Charlie Parr, who seems to have become a master of his genre. Jimi Cooper of the Fractals, who I have seen do many styles effortlessly. Barry Pirkola, also of the Fractals, who exhibits a similar smoothness to Jimi and works the steel as well.
We’re lucky to have so many great artists right here in our community (Twin Ports area – I titled w/Duluth because this is PDD). I’m curious and would enjoy hearing who others think are the area’s top five or ten if you feel like going deeper.
Photo Archive
I’m looking for a simple solution to “cloud type” photo storage. Currently we attempt to consolidate all our photos on one computer via thumb drive and other work arounds. My wife and I each have a smart phone, we have multiple digital cameras, and multiple computers to which photo’s end up being downloaded – so it gets to be a mess when we “organize” pictures.
It seems that it would make more sense for me to directly upload pictures to a remote site we all could access for viewing. Editing would be constrained to one computer. A nice option would be to have some sort of “syncing” tool similar to the iTunes and Google Drive solution suggested here by my earlier post.
My wife likes to edit photos and put together photo books while we are driving and therefore needs to be able to access the photos offline. So ideally, as photos were edited – these would also be reflected online post sync. There would not be a need to keep all photos locally – just the ones of interest. The syncing would only need to be with one computer; but uploads would be from various sources.
Seeking Commerical Kitchen to Rent
We’re looking for a commercial kitchen available to rent ASAP. Ideally, it would not be a shared space, but we’re open to all suggestions. Thanks, PDD community, we could really use your help on this.
Sofa on the beach
One of my favorite things about Duluth beaches are that they are, all things considered, remarkably clean, and I make a point of picking up trash on beaches should I find some. However, I’ve met my match. There is a sofa on the beach just below the 26th Avenue East entrance to the Lakewalk. It’s already a pretty grim sight, and is only going to get worse. Two quick questions:
1. Is anyone willing to help haul it up off the beach?
2. Any ideas of how to dispose of it once we do?
Swimming Lake Superior July 21st
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvCWLdZWO0Y
Warm as amniotic brine.
Duluth Motorcycle Mechanic?
Where do I find a good motorcycle mechanic in Duluth? I found an old PDD post on the subject, but the one guy named in it is having health problems.
Post-flood camping options?
I’ll be up in the area via Minneapolis at the end of the month to play a show at Thirsty Pagan Brewing. I was hoping to camp near Duluth and get some hiking in. Since I haven’t ventured up since before the floods, does any one have suggestions toward what’s still tent-campable? I’m only asking because my first option (Jay Cooke) is obviously out of the picture.
Anything you got will help. Thanks!
Restaurant with Wifi for fantasy draft
Just seeing if there is an updated list or other suggestions on a restaurant that has a) Wi-fi b) food c) beer d) a spot where 10-12 people can sit around a table near an outlet and be able to hear one another. Thanks.
Interview with Nick Monson, co-founder of Prøve Gallery
Tonight is the ninth show opening at the Prøve Gallery in Downtown Duluth. Nick Monson, a co-owner of the gallery, talked about the show titled “Slow Motion,” which promises to be interesting as usual. The full story is at Ennyman’s Territory.
Wish List for New Downtown Bike Station?
The Duluth Transit Authority is on a fast track for construction of its new Multimodal Transportation Center in downtown Duluth.
When it opens, the center will be a hub for multiple modes of transportation, including the main transit station for DTA buses and other inter-city bus lines, public and private parking, a reconstructed walkway between the downtown to the DECC and the first of its kind in Duluth, a bike station.
What this bike station looks like is where your help is needed.
(more…)
Duluth Wedding Venues
I want to get married outside in Duluth with a nice view but I don’t want to spend a lot of money. What are some good places? And then I can’t decide if I’d want my wedding reception indoors or outdoors or at the same location as the ceremony. I need some ideas. I want it to be nice, but not too spendy.
Post-flood swimming?
Like a lot of you, I’ve got the day off. The weather over the past few days has put swimming back on my to-do list, and I’m itching to toss the kids into the car and get into the water. Has anyone heard from those in the know whether area streams or lakes are safe for swimming? Our go-to spots are Amity Creek, Island Lake, Twin Ponds and Park Point, but we’re always looking to add new spots to that list.
(more…)
Strawberry vendors in Duluth?
Has anyone seen any roadside strawberry vendors in Duluth in the last day or two? Finke’s down in Mahtowa is having a really rough season and we need our berries bad enough to buy them from the back of a truck.
Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream on Lake Superior
Who can’t use ice cream during these hot days of summer! There’s a new ice cream shop at 1631 London Road (where Dairy Queen used to be). My husband and I were there on Saturday for their ‘soft’ opening and the ice cream was wonderful. They have soft-serve and traditional hard-serve ice cream. Take a detour off the Lakewalk and check it out!
PDD Tee
Perfect Duluth Day T-Shirts are available at the Laughingstock/Happyspace store, 324 W. Superior St. Shirts are $15, $17 for XXL.
Get yours today to wear to the PDD 9th Anniversary Party at Tycoons Friday night. Or you can wait and hope to be one of the lucky few that might win a PDD shirt or another fabulous prize Friday. Prizemaster Lundgren is still compiling the list of fabulous prizes, but rest assured, it’s a fabulous list of prizes.
Local Chocolate?
I’m in a bit of a quandary; I’m hoping y’all can help!
Long story short, I need to send a gift to a friend overseas. My go-to gift is baked goods — her normal present was gluten-free banana bread. But my friend recently developed a fructose intolerance along with both lactose and gluten intolerances (oh, the horror, right?) That means the bananas in the banana bread are right out.
That leaves me with very limited options. What I’d really like to find is some locally made chocolate, the darker the better. Does anyone know a local store (within MN and WI, anyway) that makes delicious dark chocolate that would survive being shipped to Germany? Or, does anyone have any better ideas on things to send?
I’d appreciate any help I can get!
“Eat and Run” by Scott Jurek
I just bought and read Proctor native Scott Jurek’s new book Eat and Run and really enjoyed it. As you may know Scott is a dominant athlete in the weird world of ultramarathons and has won many major 50, 100, 135 and 150 mile foot races world wide. He also changed from a backwoods meat-and-potato childhood diet to become a vegan and world-class athlete. His story is an amazing journey of a person who really applies himself and finds the will to complete and win distances most of us cannot imagine running. The book is not an ego trip, preachy, nor attacks omnivores, but rather relates his story and personal thoughts about training, running and racing and the positive effects of a plant-based diet. He includes simple vegan recipes in each chapter. (more…)