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[JREwing78]

FYI: August 18th-21st
Tall Ships Return to Duluth in August, with the World's Largest Rubber Duck in Tow
http://www.lakesuperior.com/blogs/superior-notes/tall-ships-return-in-august-2016-with-the-worlds-largest-rubber-duck/

[SSOWorld]

*ducks*

[TheHighwayMan394]

We're slightly less than six months out now, so here's a quick update:

I'm not going to sugarcoat things: lodging rates are borderline outrageous, and filling up fast as Duluth has become one of the premier tourist destinations in the Upper Midwest. I highly recommend that if you are comfortable with doing so that you share a room with others to help offset the cost. I personally recommend the Super 8s in either Duluth, Superior, or Cloquet; the Motel 6 in Duluth is a hotel I would avoid. There are other options in nearby Carlton and Cloquet that might be slightly cheaper, but not by much. I apologize for this and I hope this doesn't deter anyone from coming.

I know I also have a few retail enthusiasts interested in attending; a couple malls in the area for you to potentially check out are Miller Hill in Duluth, which is the main mall, but the better attraction is Mariner Mall on 28th Street in Superior which is all but dead. : )

[noelbotevera]

We're slightly less than six months out now, so here's a quick update:

I'm not going to sugarcoat things: lodging rates are borderline outrageous, and filling up fast as Duluth has become one of the premier tourist destinations in the Upper Midwest. I highly recommend that if you are comfortable with doing so that you share a room with others to help offset the cost. I personally recommend the Super 8s in either Duluth, Superior, or Cloquet; the Motel 6 in Duluth is a hotel I would avoid. There are other options in nearby Carlton and Cloquet that might be slightly cheaper, but not by much. I apologize for this and I hope this doesn't deter anyone from coming.

I know I also have a few retail enthusiasts interested in attending; a couple malls in the area for you to potentially check out are Miller Hill in Duluth, which is the main mall, but the better attraction is Mariner Mall on 28th Street in Superior which is all but dead. : )

As a backup can we book hotels in the Twin Cities?

[TheHighwayMan394]

You're certainly welcome to, but be warned it's a 2 1/2 hour drive.

[jpi]

We're slightly less than six months out now, so here's a quick update:

I'm not going to sugarcoat things: lodging rates are borderline outrageous, and filling up fast as Duluth has become one of the premier tourist destinations in the Upper Midwest. I highly recommend that if you are comfortable with doing so that you share a room with others to help offset the cost. I personally recommend the Super 8s in either Duluth, Superior, or Cloquet; the Motel 6 in Duluth is a hotel I would avoid. There are other options in nearby Carlton and Cloquet that might be slightly cheaper, but not by much. I apologize for this and I hope this doesn't deter anyone from coming.

I know I also have a few retail enthusiasts interested in attending; a couple malls in the area for you to potentially check out are Miller Hill in Duluth, which is the main mall, but the better attraction is Mariner Mall on 28th Street in Superior which is all but dead. : )

As a backup can we book hotels in the Twin Cities?

Wow kid! You trying to talk your dad into an even bigger road trip this summer?

[TheHighwayMan394]

Noel did give me an idea through his suggestion.

OPTIONAL Friday Afternoon Event: Old US 61 Drive

I'm not sure who might be coming up through the Twin Cities, but I was thinking if any of those folks are interested that we can meet up Friday afternoon/evening in Wyoming (MN) and drive to Duluth on Old 61. The three counties along the former route of US 61 have banded together in an effort to draw attention back to the old road, and there might be some fun stuff going on that weekend along the route.

[Rothman]

I'm not going to sugarcoat things: lodging rates are borderline outrageous, and filling up fast as Duluth has become one of the premier tourist destinations in the Upper Midwest.

Holy cow.  Just did a quick check and Comfort Suites at Canal Park is at $260/night.  Granted, Canal Park is tourist central, but I would have never guessed it would have been that high.  Not much cheaper on other weekends, either.

[AsphaltPlanet]

I went to Duluth last year.

I slept in my car.

[jpi]

Wow! I was debating on going to this meet but I will more then likely back out because of the lodging issue and I may be using my last week of vacation for a New England Road trip in June (I still need to clinch Maine)

[noelbotevera]

We're slightly less than six months out now, so here's a quick update:

I'm not going to sugarcoat things: lodging rates are borderline outrageous, and filling up fast as Duluth has become one of the premier tourist destinations in the Upper Midwest. I highly recommend that if you are comfortable with doing so that you share a room with others to help offset the cost. I personally recommend the Super 8s in either Duluth, Superior, or Cloquet; the Motel 6 in Duluth is a hotel I would avoid. There are other options in nearby Carlton and Cloquet that might be slightly cheaper, but not by much. I apologize for this and I hope this doesn't deter anyone from coming.

I know I also have a few retail enthusiasts interested in attending; a couple malls in the area for you to potentially check out are Miller Hill in Duluth, which is the main mall, but the better attraction is Mariner Mall on 28th Street in Superior which is all but dead. : )

As a backup can we book hotels in the Twin Cities?

Wow kid! You trying to talk your dad into an even bigger road trip this summer?

Maybe...probably unlikely though.

[Rothman]

Wow! I was debating on going to this meet but I will more then likely back out because of the lodging issue and I may be using my last week of vacation for a New England Road trip in June (I still need to clinch Maine)

Other hotels are "cheaper."  Econo Lodge = $135.

[TheHighwayMan394]

I don't know guys. I feel bad asking people to pay that much for shitty hotels. I guess living there I sort of forgot about that.

[oscar]

I'm not going to sugarcoat things: lodging rates are borderline outrageous, and filling up fast as Duluth has become one of the premier tourist destinations in the Upper Midwest.

I ran into the same problem last year in late June. My original plan had been to stay one night in Duluth in the middle of the week, before continuing into Manitoba. An impossible lodging situation in Duluth forced me to change my itinerary, to stay in Eau Claire WI on the night I'd originally planned to stay in Duluth, then blow through Duluth the following day for an overnight stay in Roseau MN just south of the Canadian border. That delayed my entry into Canada by half a day, just to avoid an overnight stay in Duluth (but at least I used that half-day productively, to clinch the new I-41 in Wisconsin).

I'm really unlikely to make the proposed Duluth/North Shore meet, especially with my calendar already pretty solidly booked up for that part of the summer.

[jpi]

I'm not going to sugarcoat things: lodging rates are borderline outrageous, and filling up fast as Duluth has become one of the premier tourist destinations in the Upper Midwest.

I ran into the same problem last year in late June. My original plan had been to stay one night in Duluth in the middle of the week, before continuing into Manitoba. An impossible lodging situation in Duluth forced me to change my itinerary, to stay in Eau Claire WI on the night I'd originally planned to stay in Duluth, then blow through Duluth the following day for an overnight stay in Roseau MN just south of the Canadian border. That delayed my entry into Canada by half a day, just to avoid an overnight stay in Duluth (but at least I used that half-day productively, to clinch the new I-41 in Wisconsin).

I'm really unlikely to make the proposed Duluth/North Shore meet, especially with my calendar already pretty solidly booked up for that part of the summer.

Hi Oscar, not to change the subject, are you planning on coming to my meet in April?

[Rothman]

Wow.  The Superior Inn is still open.  Caveat emptor.

[A.J. Bertin]

Thanks, Patrick, for warning us about the hotels. For me and the two guys I'll likely be sharing the room with, I went ahead an booked a room at the LaQuinta Inn on the west end of Duluth (along U.S. 53 near Miller Hill Mall). It's pretty expensive ($189 for one night plus tax), but dividing it three ways shouldn't be too bad. I just booked it for the Saturday night.

[Duke87]

the Motel 6 in Duluth is a hotel I would avoid.

Ha. I stayed there last summer for one night. My room was missing two square feet of carpet near the door. Though they did warn me of this at the front desk, and they gave me a passcode for free Wifi to make up for it.
But yeah, it's not a nice place, even by Motel 6 standards.

I was surprised when looking for a room how expensive hotels in Duluth were and how many of them had no vacancies. I had assumed some event must be going on that I didn't know about, would not have guessed this was normal!

[TheHighwayMan394]

Yeah, Duluth has become one of the go-to escapes for Twin Cities residents and over the last 20-25 years they've done a pretty great job of changing the city's image from a dying, grungy industrial port city into a tourist mecca full of outdoors opportunities, sitting at the foot of a vast area of other natural treasures.

Most summers the only national event is Grandma's Marathon in mid-June, but this August they'll be visited by the Tall Ships (which last happened in summer 2013) and the famous Giant Rubber Duck which SSO posted earlier in the thread. Those were the only two weekends I had to actively avoid when it came to scheduling.

[TheHighwayMan394]

Thanks, Patrick, for warning us about the hotels. For me and the two guys I'll likely be sharing the room with, I went ahead an booked a room at the LaQuinta Inn on the west end of Duluth (along U.S. 53 near Miller Hill Mall). It's pretty expensive ($189 for one night plus tax), but dividing it three ways shouldn't be too bad. I just booked it for the Saturday night.

I just booked a room at the Super 8 on the west side. I tried to find one at the LQ or at the Days Inn near you but they were out of double rooms.

[Brandon]

I'm figuring that I may stay in Thunder Bay that Thursday night (close to Isle Royale), Virginia that Friday night, the EconoLodge that Saturday night, and down in the Twin Cities that Sunday night just to keep the costs down.

[TheHighwayMan394]

I'm probably going to stay in Grand Marais on Sunday night as I know of a good budget place that I usually stay at when I'm there.

[SSOWorld]

Given the prices (should have seen it coming), I probably will book at the S8 in either city.  I stayed at Superior's in 2014 (November, mind you) and felt it was less-than-stellar even for a Super 8.  I'm still considering a circle tour either involving Lake Superior or through Winnepeg (depending on the condition of the bridge between the Canada's), but given I've been and will be spending (to clean up a tree) on the house, money's getting tight.  Taking it one day at a time, but I plan to book up this week to at least "hold" a room.

[Rothman]

I was looking at TripAdvisor and noticed that there are actually reviews for the Androy Hotel in Superior.

I lived in Superior for a while and my advice is to don't even consider it, even if you think you could tolerate it.

[SSOWorld]

Well, I'm officially demoting to "maybe" with a possible no-go.  No the hotel cost didn't scare me, the brake job did.  (Things added up hard just recently especially with the car alone outing me over 1.5k)