Traveling While Introverted

Despite its relatively small size, Duluth has quite a few used book stores. As a rule, I try to be cautious about how often I go into book stores because of the temptation to buy, well, almost everything. (Though, if you’ve heard about the increased number of book bans, Project Panama, the end of the mass-market paperback, and the increased use of AI by writers and publishers, then maybe we should be buying everything and creating personal libraries.) Still, when we moved to Duluth I was bookless and wanted to keep up my reading streak. Shortly after we arrived, Chester Creek Bookstore was hosting a rummage and local art sale in their parking lot. We heard live music, saw nifty treasures, and, obviously, browsed the bookstore. Besides finding a few postcards, we picked up a few books we both wanted to read. I started reading Spice: The History of a Temptation by Jack Turner. While it’s very accessible for a nonfiction book, it is packed with information so I’m reading it slowly.

Here are a few fun facts I’ve learned: clove, one of the key spices in all those Fall and Winter baked goods, used to only grew on a few tiny islands called the Maluku Islands near Indonesia. These islands came to be known as the Spice Islands and they were very easy to miss by European ships for a very long time. (“Ohhhhh!” I can hear you. I did that too.) One of the reasons Europeans, including Columbus, tried to sail from Europe to Asia was to have direct access to these spices. Once Europeans figured out the route, spices became far more accessible to the average person. As a consequence, the Medici family’s monopoly on importing spices via land collapsed within a relatively short time.

As I’ve been slowly making my way through Spice, a friend from synagogue learned that I’m a librarian and let me borrow the book The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray. This novel tells the story of J. P. Morgan’s personal librarian, Belle de Costa Greene. As his librarian, Greene became one of the most influential and powerful people in the book and art world, all while passing as white even though she was Black. I didn’t think it was an incredible read, but I would recommend it if you like the diary format and are interested in early 20th century New York. In the coming weeks, I hope to refocus on Spice and finally get to the local public library.

Speaking of libraries, one of the ways I’ve been keeping myself busy, besides job hunting, cooking, and buying secondhand stuff for our apartment, is by volunteering at the synagogue library. It’s not a very large room, but there are so many wonderful books and plenty to do since it’s staffed by volunteer librarians. The library is accessible so long as the building is open (most days) and they use paper slips to check out books, which I love. No date stamping, unfortunately, but it’s still more satisfying than scanning a barcode.

When we moved to Duluth, we weren’t quite sure what the food scene would be like. I’ve followed the Midwestern Mom for several years and was very nervous about Minnesota salads that aren’t really salads. (Go ahead and pause reading to watch this video and this video. She’s hilarious.) What we discovered is that the restaurant scene exceeded our expectations. We can’t wait for friends and family to visit so that we can wow them with these culinary delights.

The next day, we had breakfast at Duluth City Grill, which is one of the best restaurants in town according to locals, though we didn’t know it at the time. We initially chose it because it was close to our hotel, but then had to come back before we moved into the apartment. Everything was so fresh and they try to use as many local ingredients as possible.

Top row, left to right: Fried walleye fish with wild rice benny and a side of fried Brussel sprouts; chilaquiles with chicken, roasted fresh corn, guacamole, red hot sauce, and two poached eggs

Bottom row, left to right: the Blueberry Yum Yum (fried chicken sandwich with fresh jalapeños, blueberry compote, and blueberry aioli with hashbrowns); two eggs, local sausage, “red flannel hash” (beets, potatoes, carrots, and onions), and a side of smashed dill potatoes

We ate another delicious breakfast at Bridgeman’s, though it’s famous for its over-the-top ice cream. (I wish I could try their black licorice ice cream! As much as Adam loves me and is willing to indulge me, he draws the line at black licorice.) We each ordered one of their “skizzles”: which is explained as “What Snoop Dogg eats for breakfast.” Basically, they’re hash browns topped with all kinds of meats, cheeses, and veggies. Mine came with turkey, spinach, tomatoes, eggs (hold the hollandaise, pesto, and cheese), with gluten-free bread (no extra charge!) and homemade strawberry jelly (left photo). Adam ordered the Greek that included turkey, spinach, tomatoes, eggs, and a whole lot of tzatziki sauce (right photo). We enjoyed these so much I made a version of them when we moved into our apartment as a breakfast-for-dinner dinner.

Even though Minnesota isn’t known for its bbq scene, I told Adam we should give OMC, which stands for oink-moo-cluck (cute!), a try for lunch. Barbecue is one of my weaknesses, after all. Under normal circumstances, I would order a rib plate, but budgets being what they are, we both ordered sandwiches. (It’s amazing how expensive bbq gets when you get out of the South.) Adam ordered the Korean Pork Belly BBQ sandwich with a side of collards (left photo) and I ordered the Bama Brisket Philly (right) also with a side of collards. I will say that OMC is just one of the many businesses in Duluth that does not charge an extra $3-5 for a gluten-free bun. My wallet appreciates that immensely. Our verdict: everything was good, fresh, and flavorful but not as good as the bbq we’re used to from Alabama.

We knew we would find Mexican food in Duluth. If we found excellent taquerias in Tuscaloosa, we knew we would find them here. A lot of people rave about Oasis del Norte. They offer three salsas, including one that isn’t spicy for the Minnesotan who can’t handle heat, and their menu includes adventurous options like nopales (cactus) and lengua (beef tongue). We ordered from their food truck at an event and it was good, but nothing too exciting. I want to go to their sit down restaurant for an official review though. We also tried a restaurant called Maya that was good, but not amazing.

But then, we found Emiliano’s. We actually ate there twice; once for a meeting and another time just ourselves. During the meeting, I ordered their chorizo tacos which were excellent. (I know everyone loves birria but I’ll take chorizo and al pastor every time.) Adam ordered the chile verde and I told myself I had to order that next time we came in to the restaurant. So, the second time around, I did and it was the perfect lunch on a chilly Fall Saturday (left photo). Adam was really craving a burrito that wasn’t slathered in sauce, which is how most burritos come in this area (right photo). Thankfully the owners were willing to accommodate him.

We knew we would find a few East Asian restaurants in Duluth too. We were very surprised by Bali Asian Cuisine. The menu features items you’d find at any “Asian” restaurant: crab rangoon, steamed edamame, poke, and sushi. What really caught our eyes were the Balinese items like rendang, bambu bali, and ayam betutu. Unfortunately, the night we were there they were out of a few items we wanted but we shared the beef rendang and the Singapore noodles (like chow mien but with rice noodles). Adam was still peckish once we were done, so he ordered potstickers. The dipping sauce they came with was what stood out to him the most. The cocktails were lovely too! While everything was delicious, we were disappointed by the small portions considering the prices.

Left to right: beef rendang; Singapore noodles; potstickers

Besides Bali, we ate at two different Chinese restaurants and an all-you-can-eat sushi restaurant. The sushi restaurant wasn’t anything special and we won’t go back, which is okay considering it’s in a touristy part of town called Canal Park. (I know some of you reading this are saying, well, it was AYCE, what did you expect? There are some top notch AYCE sushi restaurants in LA, Las Vegas, NYC, and Philly. We can’t knock it until we try it.) The Chinese restaurants (one in Superior, WI across the lake and one in Hermantown, a suburb of Duluth), were good but nothing too special. I just hope one of them is open on Christmas so that we can continue the time-honored Jewish-American tradition of eating Chinese food on Christmas Day.

On the other hand, another impressive East Asian restaurant was Superior Ramen House in Superior, WI. We went there for Adam’s break-fast meal after fasting for Yom Kippur, because all he really wants at that point is a hearty soup. For an appetizer, he ordered the chicken karaage (Japanese fried chicken nuggets; left photo) which he gobbled up. For his main, he ordered the tan-tan ramen, which is my favorite kind of ramen. I love the ground pork and veggies mixed with the spicy broth.

One Saturday, we decided to drive north (actually northeast) up the Lake Superior Shore to see the changing leaves of Fall. On the way, we stopped at Betty’s Pies, a North Shore staple since 1956. They have a whole diner inside a home, as well as an area outside for folks who just want to buy pies to go. Adam bought two slices: bumbleberry (blueberry, strawberry, raspberry) and raspberry rhubarb. The pie crusts were buttery and almost savory, while the filling was thick and rich without being sickly sweet. Adam didn’t like the raspberry rhubarb as much for two reasons. First, he doesn’t like a crumble top (we all have our preferences, though I think he’s wrong) and while he appreciated the tartness of the raspberry mixed with the rhubarb, he would have preferred just rhubarb or strawberry rhubarb. We were told by locals that, next time, we (Adam) should try the pies at the Rustic Inn Café. It’s on our to-eat list and we will report back.

Lastly, I wanted to share some sidewalk chalk art we stumbled upon in downtown Duluth near the International School. What a lovely display of awareness and hope. These kids get gold stars from us.

Top row, left to right: “Don’t flick cigs; they’re (seagulls) trying to quit” and “Litter doesn’t belong in our lake”; “Pangolin, Shark, Rhino. Protect from poaching”

Bottom row, left to right: “Keep our fish and people healthy”‘; “Protest the data center. Water matters”

In our next entry, we’ll let you know all about our weekend exploring the Twin Cities! Be sure to like, comment, and subscribe to Traveling While Introverted so you don’t miss it!