Buble in Duluth

Our weekend in Duluth began Saturday morning with a search for passports. They weren't where I believed them to be. Sal had an idea but couldn't locate the overnight bag where she hoped they were. The bag was found complete with passports. A long uncomfortable drive followed as sitting in bucket seats is probably as painful as it gets for me right now. We got through the border without the long wait that we heard others faced later in the day. We stopped in Grand Marais for breakfast at the Blue Water Cafe. We arrived in Duluth during the lunch hour and drove through Canal Park without seeing any open parking spots so we took a chance and headed to our downtown hotel in hopes of the room being ready early. We got lucky and I was able to stretch out and give my aches a chance to cool.

We headed back to the waterfront at about four and strolled around a few shops before deciding on Famous Dave's BBQ for supper. After supper some more wandering and then over to the DECC as anxiety over finding our way to our seats took over. Sal found a park bench and I tried to locate the car so we wouldn't get lost after the concert. Along the way I found the main door where Buble goodies were being sold and brought Sal back so she could pick up a t-shirt. We waited near the front of the line for the doors to the Amsoil Arena to open.

At about 7:15 we were headed to our seats which turned out to be great, just 4 rows off the boards and even with about the 10th row on the floor. The stage stretched all the way to the boards so we had a great unobstructed view. We knew we were in for a good show when Naturally 7, the opening act, got the crowd on their feet and into it. They are 7 guys who use only their voices for all instruments and had done some back up work on the Crazy Love cd.

After a short break the lights went out again and the silhouette of Mr. Buble and his 14 piece band projected onto the curtains and they jumped into my favourite track from the Crazy Love cd, Cry Me A River.
I have to say this was one of the best concerts I've been to. He really connects to the crowd with humour and humility. He mentioned more than once that the crowd had spent big money to be there, even joking to the those at the front as he sang from the sound and camera platform at the back of the arena. The band was very talented and his introduction of each member was hilarious. He's one lucky Canuck as he draws a crowd made up of every age group from screaming teenage girls to older couples who enjoy his rendition of music standards.

A short walk back to the car and amazingly we were back in the full hotel parking lot in 15 minutes. I had to use the overflow lot up the hill behind the hotel and then go down and around and back up to the room. By this time my body was saying enough already.

Sunday we had breakfast at Perkins and then hit the mall, Target and Kohl's. We spent some time searching for Twin City Cyclery and I was disappointed that they had no Surly gear in sight. We drove into Canal Park and over the lift bridge out to Park Point. A mass of traffic in the distance had me turning around and then as we waited for the bridge Sal saw a small bear up in a tree about 50 yards away. How a bear would get to this highly populated narrow strip of beach I cannot imagine.

We returned to the hotel and got our tablets out to check for a restaurant for supper. We decided on Va Benne, a small Italian cafe on Superior Street. We shared an artichoke dip and Nicoise salad. Sal had pasta primavera and I had arrabiata al padre ricardo which can be ordered with heat from 1-10. I choose 6 and that was plenty warm enough. The meal was excellent. We returned to the hotel and solved the parking light mystery on the Impreza without removing any fuses. I had tripped a switch on the steering column and it left lights on while we were eating and I was sure I would have to remove a fuse to prevent draining the battery but a search of the manual pointed to the simple solution.

Monday morning we packed up and headed for breakfast at one of Diners Drive-Ins and Dives feature spots, At Sara's Table Chester Creek Cafe. We both had the meal that was shown on the show, french toast with wild rice and cranberry bread. Speed was not important and that was a good thing as service was slow but well worth the wait. I was in no hurry to make the long uncomfortable drive home anyway.