Duluth!!!
April 13, 2016 10:41 AM Subscribe
Duluth: Who Loves Ya, Baby? (SLYTellySavalas)
Who doesn't love Duluth, what with such ringing endorsements like this one from the movie The Great Outdoors!
posted by everybody had matching towels at 10:45 AM on April 13, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by everybody had matching towels at 10:45 AM on April 13, 2016 [4 favorites]
Fly High Duluth!
Duluth actually is great. There's a blog that will walk you through its greatness: Perfect Duluth Day.
posted by maxsparber at 10:51 AM on April 13, 2016 [4 favorites]
Duluth actually is great. There's a blog that will walk you through its greatness: Perfect Duluth Day.
posted by maxsparber at 10:51 AM on April 13, 2016 [4 favorites]
Duluth is a great small city--a beautiful natural harbor (and working port) on Lake Superior with a lookout tower in a nearby park, the aerial lift bridge, an old-school arcade, beautiful (and sometimes creepy) old buildings, a great music scene, good food and drink.
I went there about seven years ago on a whim and randomly saw folk/blues singer Charlie Parr play, and someone insisted on buying me his CD because I was from out of town! I even saw a random musician play the guitar and didgeridoo simultaneously.
I recommend it to anyone passing through Minnesota/Wisconsin.
posted by smelendez at 11:01 AM on April 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
I went there about seven years ago on a whim and randomly saw folk/blues singer Charlie Parr play, and someone insisted on buying me his CD because I was from out of town! I even saw a random musician play the guitar and didgeridoo simultaneously.
I recommend it to anyone passing through Minnesota/Wisconsin.
posted by smelendez at 11:01 AM on April 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
Duluth: the largest US* city on Lake Superior; the biggest, deepest, and coldest of the Great Lakes. What else do you need to know?
Damn you, Thunder Bay!
posted by leotrotsky at 11:03 AM on April 13, 2016 [3 favorites]
Damn you, Thunder Bay!
posted by leotrotsky at 11:03 AM on April 13, 2016 [3 favorites]
I hope it turns out that Telly Savalas did ludicrously effusive tourism videos in the 70s and 80s for every town in the world over 50,000 people.
"Winnipeg Wins!"
"Punta Arenas-to see you"
"The B in Bishkek stands for 'Beauty'"
posted by Copronymus at 11:07 AM on April 13, 2016 [4 favorites]
"Winnipeg Wins!"
"Punta Arenas-to see you"
"The B in Bishkek stands for 'Beauty'"
posted by Copronymus at 11:07 AM on April 13, 2016 [4 favorites]
Telly Savalas visits Aberdeen!
Telly Savalas Looks at Portsmouth
Neither of these has the joie de vivre of the Duluth video.
posted by mochapickle at 11:14 AM on April 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
Telly Savalas Looks at Portsmouth
Neither of these has the joie de vivre of the Duluth video.
posted by mochapickle at 11:14 AM on April 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
So the nice building he was in isn't in Duluth?
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 11:28 AM on April 13, 2016
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 11:28 AM on April 13, 2016
A real-life murder mansion. Yowz.
posted by mochapickle at 11:35 AM on April 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by mochapickle at 11:35 AM on April 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the Glensheen Mansion murders yet [n.b. contains description of multiple alleged homicides].
It's a very beautiful house, but the tours tactfully avoid anything murder-related. A side effect of this, as anyone who has friends who were teenagers in Duluth will learn, is that tour guides are shown where all the faded blood stains are so that they can direct tours away from them. Thus, for a while, there was a sort of "secret tour" where an off-duty tour guide could tell you what to look for, and then during the regular tour you could look for the details. As long as you didn't try to point them out to the other visitors, the guides would leave you alone to avoid drawing attention.
posted by GameDesignerBen at 11:42 AM on April 13, 2016 [4 favorites]
It's a very beautiful house, but the tours tactfully avoid anything murder-related. A side effect of this, as anyone who has friends who were teenagers in Duluth will learn, is that tour guides are shown where all the faded blood stains are so that they can direct tours away from them. Thus, for a while, there was a sort of "secret tour" where an off-duty tour guide could tell you what to look for, and then during the regular tour you could look for the details. As long as you didn't try to point them out to the other visitors, the guides would leave you alone to avoid drawing attention.
posted by GameDesignerBen at 11:42 AM on April 13, 2016 [4 favorites]
When I was a boy, any time someone mentioned "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" my stepdad would pipe up with "...and a booth for Duluth!" To this day I have no idea why.
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:43 AM on April 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:43 AM on April 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
Copronymus: "Winnipeg Wins!"
"Punta Arenas-to see you"
"The B in Bishkek stands for 'Beauty'"
"Hi, I'm Troy McClure. You may remember me from such third-tier Chamber of Commerce videos as..."
Actually, Duluth is a super awesome town. Great beer, Great Lake, wonderful views, terrifying hills in the winter, and good shopping. One of my uncles moved the family up there and raised his kids in that city, and I totally get it.
posted by wenestvedt at 11:43 AM on April 13, 2016 [2 favorites]
"Punta Arenas-to see you"
"The B in Bishkek stands for 'Beauty'"
"Hi, I'm Troy McClure. You may remember me from such third-tier Chamber of Commerce videos as..."
Actually, Duluth is a super awesome town. Great beer, Great Lake, wonderful views, terrifying hills in the winter, and good shopping. One of my uncles moved the family up there and raised his kids in that city, and I totally get it.
posted by wenestvedt at 11:43 AM on April 13, 2016 [2 favorites]
Duluth was the home to playwright and WGA award-winner showrunner Melanie Marnich. I mention this because I used to hang out with her and her Minnetonka-born husband Lee Blessing when I lived in Hollywood, because that's how I roll.
I roll deep with Duluth.
posted by maxsparber at 11:47 AM on April 13, 2016 [2 favorites]
I roll deep with Duluth.
posted by maxsparber at 11:47 AM on April 13, 2016 [2 favorites]
Another Duluth pitch man eventually became our senator.
posted by smrtsch at 11:53 AM on April 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by smrtsch at 11:53 AM on April 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
(Came here for "Fly High Duluth." Was not disappointed. The level of commitment-to-bit Forte always showed was truly amazing, matched only perhaps by how completely game Scarlett Johansson has always been on that show.)
posted by uberchet at 11:55 AM on April 13, 2016
posted by uberchet at 11:55 AM on April 13, 2016
Telly Savalas visits Innsmouth
posted by I-baLL at 12:03 PM on April 13, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by I-baLL at 12:03 PM on April 13, 2016 [2 favorites]
I love Duluth, but thinking of the Glensheen Mansion murders brought to mind the "other" horror of Duluth history, the 1920 lynching of 3 black circus performers following a rape accusation later found to be false. Here's a 15 minute PBS piece covering the original event and the 2003 installation of a memorial to the memory of the three victims. Cannot warn strongly enough: contains a photo of a lynching, and unbleeped usage of the n-word in quotation.
Despite making national headlines at the time (because it happened in the North), the city and the state kept the lynchings out of the history books for many decades, and it remains something that many people are unaware of.
posted by GameDesignerBen at 12:17 PM on April 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
Despite making national headlines at the time (because it happened in the North), the city and the state kept the lynchings out of the history books for many decades, and it remains something that many people are unaware of.
posted by GameDesignerBen at 12:17 PM on April 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
wenestvedt: "Isn't it the Glensheen Mansion?"
That was my first thought as well, and on second viewing there's a brief caption at the beginning of the video (partially obscured by an advertisement) stating as much.
posted by exogenous at 12:20 PM on April 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
That was my first thought as well, and on second viewing there's a brief caption at the beginning of the video (partially obscured by an advertisement) stating as much.
posted by exogenous at 12:20 PM on April 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
I have to share Merv Griffin's Christmas City song, which, for fellow ex-Duluthians, will create warm fuzzies or a strong desire to break things.
posted by starman at 12:36 PM on April 13, 2016
posted by starman at 12:36 PM on April 13, 2016
the 1920 lynching of 3 black circus performers following a rape accusation later found to be false.
The memorial of this event in town is really touching. It is somber, respectful, damning.
posted by meese at 1:40 PM on April 13, 2016 [2 favorites]
The memorial of this event in town is really touching. It is somber, respectful, damning.
posted by meese at 1:40 PM on April 13, 2016 [2 favorites]
This Mississippi girl adores Duluth. We went to the Boundary Waters for our honeymoon (if we could survive the drive to Minnesota and week in the woods, nothing the marriage could throw at us would defeat us) and made it into Duluth on a Sunday night. We wanted a nice dinner to celebrate our trip and wedding, never suspecting that the little big city rolled up the streets about mid-afternoon on Sundays. We could find NO non-chain restaurants open, so we ended up eating a very subpar meal at a Red Lobster while the waitstaff literally swept under our feet.
The houses in Duluth are So Cute. And the town smells of some sort of berry. And that amazing lake. Duluth, I forgive you for being a wasteland of a Sunday evening.
posted by thebrokedown at 1:57 PM on April 13, 2016
The houses in Duluth are So Cute. And the town smells of some sort of berry. And that amazing lake. Duluth, I forgive you for being a wasteland of a Sunday evening.
posted by thebrokedown at 1:57 PM on April 13, 2016
Isn't it the Glensheen Mansion?
Wow! I've always meant to go to Duluth to stare at the hospital that's on the site of the hospital* where Bob Dylan was born, but that is probably a much more rewarding experience!
*I guess that's a bit of a Theseus' ship-type situation.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 2:27 PM on April 13, 2016
Wow! I've always meant to go to Duluth to stare at the hospital that's on the site of the hospital* where Bob Dylan was born, but that is probably a much more rewarding experience!
*I guess that's a bit of a Theseus' ship-type situation.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 2:27 PM on April 13, 2016
Blackwood's (open until midnight on Sundays) is good and has only two other locations, all in Minnesota.
posted by soelo at 2:34 PM on April 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by soelo at 2:34 PM on April 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
I'm from that neck of the woods and planning on returning because I miss basically everything about it.
But I'd just like to say that I am still pretty new on here and seriously super surprised how often Duluth manages to pop up on Metafilter. What gives??
posted by giizhik at 3:13 PM on April 13, 2016 [2 favorites]
But I'd just like to say that I am still pretty new on here and seriously super surprised how often Duluth manages to pop up on Metafilter. What gives??
posted by giizhik at 3:13 PM on April 13, 2016 [2 favorites]
giizhik, we know quality when we see it here at MetaFilter.
posted by wenestvedt at 3:29 PM on April 13, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by wenestvedt at 3:29 PM on April 13, 2016 [2 favorites]
I prefer to pronounce it properly: THE LUTH.
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:34 PM on April 13, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:34 PM on April 13, 2016 [2 favorites]
Dylan - Planet Waves - Something There Is About You
Rainy days on the Great Lakes, walkin’ the hills of old Duluth
posted by ajryan at 3:57 PM on April 13, 2016
Rainy days on the Great Lakes, walkin’ the hills of old Duluth
posted by ajryan at 3:57 PM on April 13, 2016
Kevin Murphy from MST3k posted this on Facebook earlier today, which was referenced in a riff Mike and the bots did on "Revenge of the Creature": John Agar takes his date up to Jacksonville, Florida (as it happens, my hometown) and we get a shot of very underwhelmingly lit skyline, which prompts Mike to utter, "It's Duluth, baby!".
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 5:00 PM on April 13, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 5:00 PM on April 13, 2016 [2 favorites]
I live in Minnespolis and at one point 10 years ago was entertaining a job offer in Duluth. We had a real estate agent show us around. She assured us the housing market had a lot in common with Minneapolis. She then showed us a massive Victorian on the hill over looking the harbor for $85k. Evidently what they have in common is that they conduct transactions in US dollars. Would have been really tough on my wife's career. We still think wistfully of Duluth as "could have been our town".
posted by TheShadowKnows at 5:25 PM on April 13, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by TheShadowKnows at 5:25 PM on April 13, 2016 [3 favorites]
Let's not forget Duluth was the birthplace of Lorenzo Music. His sloppy Bill Murray impression lead to him being the voice of Garfield the cat, and the animated Peter Venkman on The "Real" Ghostbusters, which later allowed Actual Bill Murray to cash some checks voicing a CG version of Garfield on the silver screen several decades later. Lorenzo Music: enabling Bill Murray to afford acting in several late-career indie films.
posted by GameDesignerBen at 5:26 PM on April 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by GameDesignerBen at 5:26 PM on April 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
Duluth was also the birthplace of Dan LaFontaine, the man who owned the phrase "In a world..."
posted by mr. digits at 5:59 PM on April 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by mr. digits at 5:59 PM on April 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
What gives??
We didn't earn our occasional nickname of MinnesotaFilter for nothing.
posted by maxsparber at 7:21 PM on April 13, 2016 [3 favorites]
We didn't earn our occasional nickname of MinnesotaFilter for nothing.
posted by maxsparber at 7:21 PM on April 13, 2016 [3 favorites]
Duluth definitely should be nominated as Metafilter's favorite city.
posted by littlewater at 8:16 PM on April 13, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by littlewater at 8:16 PM on April 13, 2016 [3 favorites]
We didn't earn our occasional nickname of MinnesotaFilter for nothing.
I had a feeling it was likely due to this. After all, state pride manages to be one of the few things the average Minnesotan will allow themselves to get really intense about.
posted by giizhik at 9:23 PM on April 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
I had a feeling it was likely due to this. After all, state pride manages to be one of the few things the average Minnesotan will allow themselves to get really intense about.
posted by giizhik at 9:23 PM on April 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
As a born & bred Thunder Bay boy, Duluth Minnesota was the closest town. Known primarily amongst the teens for Miller Hill Mall, but I loved downtown Duluth with old buildings full of life. Almost as cruddy as the dualing Port Arthur/Fort Williams cores that made up T.Bay but with far more charm. Didn't explain why the folks thought I had a British accent; I never had that Fargo "yoo betcha, doncha know, ya" dialect. I'd like to revisit it sometime again.
(And I qualified Duluth since friends moved down to Duluth, Georgia, which is cognitively dissonant.)
posted by myopicman at 11:06 PM on April 13, 2016
(And I qualified Duluth since friends moved down to Duluth, Georgia, which is cognitively dissonant.)
posted by myopicman at 11:06 PM on April 13, 2016
Okay, as an official unofficial Duluth ambassador, I should fix a few glaring errors you downstaters, out of towners and flatlanders have perpetrated upon my still-winter-encrusted soul. If the sorely missed edgeways was still in this world he'd be typing away and letting you know what's what. For us, he was an institution. So, I'll wipe away a tear and set a few things straight:
I am pleased to inform you that it is absolutely no longer true that you can't get a classy meal on Sunday nights. Hell, we even have three actual sushi restaurants now. (But bleah! don't eat at Blackwoods! It's traditional and meant for your grandma who wants her fish the normal way, when you more sophisticated folks could go to Tycoons or Zeitgeist or the new Northern Waters which is trés yum. For cripes sake.)
The Homegrown Music Festival is coming up, which started as my buddy's birthday party. Trying to figure out how to get to everything you want to see there is a well-developed science around here.
We also have more micro-breweries than I can count, and an awesome craft distillery. Sugar Bush Whiskey is the latest release. I had some on Tuesday night and it was the bomb. The distillery has a bar that makes some amazing cocktails. To get to the bathroom, you have to trot and dodge your way through distillery workers doing their thing.
I have been told that Glensheen tours no longer really shy away from talking about the murders, though it is true that they tend to focus more on the long view about the history of the family. As someone who just last year saw family members visiting Elizabeth Congdon's grave (which is located less than a block from my house), I think it's a matter of respect for the family.
And yeah, Telly Savalas married a Duluth woman and that's why he made this video.
Also, there are WAY creepier buildings than the Greysolon Plaza (originally the Hotel Duluth), and you can rent a shitty apartment in Bob Dylan's childhood home instead of gazing idly at what you hope was his birth hospital window, for crying out loud.
The Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial is the only memorial to lynching victims in the country that isn't a plaque or in a cemetery. This is significant! It was built by the community without tax dollars! Message me when you're coming to town and I'll give you a tour. I do one just about every week.
To those thinking of moving here, it's cold and we don't really want whiners. But if you do come, I'll bring you a loaf of homemade bread and a six pack of Bent Paddle. Please make sure you replace someone who's spent way too much of their time here complaining about the potholes.
posted by RedEmma at 9:11 AM on April 14, 2016 [6 favorites]
I am pleased to inform you that it is absolutely no longer true that you can't get a classy meal on Sunday nights. Hell, we even have three actual sushi restaurants now. (But bleah! don't eat at Blackwoods! It's traditional and meant for your grandma who wants her fish the normal way, when you more sophisticated folks could go to Tycoons or Zeitgeist or the new Northern Waters which is trés yum. For cripes sake.)
The Homegrown Music Festival is coming up, which started as my buddy's birthday party. Trying to figure out how to get to everything you want to see there is a well-developed science around here.
We also have more micro-breweries than I can count, and an awesome craft distillery. Sugar Bush Whiskey is the latest release. I had some on Tuesday night and it was the bomb. The distillery has a bar that makes some amazing cocktails. To get to the bathroom, you have to trot and dodge your way through distillery workers doing their thing.
I have been told that Glensheen tours no longer really shy away from talking about the murders, though it is true that they tend to focus more on the long view about the history of the family. As someone who just last year saw family members visiting Elizabeth Congdon's grave (which is located less than a block from my house), I think it's a matter of respect for the family.
And yeah, Telly Savalas married a Duluth woman and that's why he made this video.
Also, there are WAY creepier buildings than the Greysolon Plaza (originally the Hotel Duluth), and you can rent a shitty apartment in Bob Dylan's childhood home instead of gazing idly at what you hope was his birth hospital window, for crying out loud.
The Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial is the only memorial to lynching victims in the country that isn't a plaque or in a cemetery. This is significant! It was built by the community without tax dollars! Message me when you're coming to town and I'll give you a tour. I do one just about every week.
To those thinking of moving here, it's cold and we don't really want whiners. But if you do come, I'll bring you a loaf of homemade bread and a six pack of Bent Paddle. Please make sure you replace someone who's spent way too much of their time here complaining about the potholes.
posted by RedEmma at 9:11 AM on April 14, 2016 [6 favorites]
(Also, to be clear, none of those restaurants I mentioned are the sushi restaurants. I'm just using sushi as an indicator of having joined the 21st century round here.)
posted by RedEmma at 9:22 AM on April 14, 2016
posted by RedEmma at 9:22 AM on April 14, 2016
Who doesn't love Duluth, what with such ringing endorsements like this one
I have wanted one of those shirts for so long
posted by the phlegmatic king at 9:35 AM on April 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
I have wanted one of those shirts for so long
posted by the phlegmatic king at 9:35 AM on April 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
Please make sure you replace someone who's spent way too much of their time here complaining about the potholes.
This is me. I'm currently living in Duluth, but I'm moving away soon. I spend way too much of my time complaining about the potholes. I don't know how any industry ever can succeed in Duluth, what with the extent to which the potholes here must be complained about, by anyone who drives, rides in a car, or can see cars on the road. Who has time to work, when those potholes are all just right there, mocking and enraging and begging for your most emotional complaints? The roads are so bad. So, so bad. Just...just... just so, so, so bad. If you haven't been here, you can't imagine how bad they are.
So, yes: move to Duluth, replace me, and apparently just don't let RedEmma hear your pothole complaints.
posted by meese at 9:41 AM on April 14, 2016 [3 favorites]
This is me. I'm currently living in Duluth, but I'm moving away soon. I spend way too much of my time complaining about the potholes. I don't know how any industry ever can succeed in Duluth, what with the extent to which the potholes here must be complained about, by anyone who drives, rides in a car, or can see cars on the road. Who has time to work, when those potholes are all just right there, mocking and enraging and begging for your most emotional complaints? The roads are so bad. So, so bad. Just...just... just so, so, so bad. If you haven't been here, you can't imagine how bad they are.
So, yes: move to Duluth, replace me, and apparently just don't let RedEmma hear your pothole complaints.
posted by meese at 9:41 AM on April 14, 2016 [3 favorites]
You want bad potholes, come to Baltimore!!! Telly says so!!!
posted by josher71 at 10:01 AM on April 14, 2016
posted by josher71 at 10:01 AM on April 14, 2016
WRT Bob Dylan's home, he also lived in Hibbing, which is a speck of a town west of Duluth.
My parents had a lake cabin (on little Swan) near there for a long time, and my aunt & uncle & cousins lived in the area for decades, and in Hibbing proper for a few years. Some of the houses in Hibbing are like two feet apart from each other. The Fourth of July parade up there is awesome. There's so few people in the region that a priest says Mass there once per weekend, and also once per weekend in two other towns: an old-fashioned circuit rider!
And the red dust from the taconite tailings makes yourcar truck a muddy red color: yech.
posted by wenestvedt at 11:09 AM on April 14, 2016
My parents had a lake cabin (on little Swan) near there for a long time, and my aunt & uncle & cousins lived in the area for decades, and in Hibbing proper for a few years. Some of the houses in Hibbing are like two feet apart from each other. The Fourth of July parade up there is awesome. There's so few people in the region that a priest says Mass there once per weekend, and also once per weekend in two other towns: an old-fashioned circuit rider!
And the red dust from the taconite tailings makes your
posted by wenestvedt at 11:09 AM on April 14, 2016
Any interest in a Duluth Meetup to line up with All Pints North?
posted by sparklemotion at 11:10 AM on April 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by sparklemotion at 11:10 AM on April 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
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