100 things to do in Duluth

By Mom of TJB and MMB August 29, 2020

The lighthouse in Canal Park at Sunrise

Duluth has many iconic landmarks but the most famous is the Aerial Lift Bridge that connects Canal Park to Park Point. This was built as a shipping channel in the early 1900s when Duluth was competing for business at the coal and timber docks with the city to our south, Superior, WI. They have since become the Twin Ports and the shipping taxes and profits are shared to foster collaboration rather than competition but the lift bridge remains active. "Getting bridged" is a common phrase for Duluthians who live on Park Point, especially in the summer when the fishing boats, sail boats and other recreational boats try to pass in addition to the large 1000 footer (lake freighters, which are over 1000 feet long and over 100 feet wide and can carry over 75,000 tons - approximately 3,000 semi-trailers). Summer of 2019 was our second summer living in Duluth and the kids and I made a list of 100 things that we wanted to do during the summer. While we didn't accomplish all of them in one summer, we had fun and it gave us goals to get outside and enjoy our new city.

What are 100 things to do in your city?

Duluth Harbor

Plant flowers ✅
Go in a bouncy house - ✅Bubble festival
Swim in a lake - ✅Balsam Lake
Go on a waterslide - ✅ Sunnyside marina and Great Wolf Lodge
Look at the stars - ✅ Late August aurora borealis
Play in a sprinkler - ✅ Hidden Valley and the cul-de-sac
Go camping - ✅ Crosby Manitou State Park
Have a water balloon fight
Have a picnic - ✅Split Rock Lighthouse
Get a pet
Walk a dog
Visit the Farmer's Market
Go tubing - ✅ Balsam Lake 4th of July
Fly a kite - ✅ Cub scouts at Park Point
Go bowling - ✅ Inline Station with Cub Scouts
Play in the water - ✅Park Point
Go to Hartley Nature Center - ✅ Camp with Evie, Eleanor and Leo
Go mini golfing - ✅Barker's Island
Go mountain biking - ✅ Hartley Nature Center
Go Frisbee golfing - ✅UMD and Lincoln Park
Go on an airplane - ✅ DLH to ORD
Go to a museum - ✅ Field Museum
Plant a tree
Make nature art - ✅Park Point Art Fair
Play with chalk - ✅ Driveway
Bike to get ice cream at the Portland Malt Shoppe - ✅ Marit's first 5 mile bike ride!
Go to Chilly Billy's for ice cream - ✅ only $14 later...
Play dominoes
Play volleyball
Play soccer - ✅Congdon Park U8
Make an obstacle course
Go to a beach - ✅ Park Point
Go to the aquarium - ✅ Tall Ships Festival weekend and summer camp for Theo
Go to a movie - ✅ Frozen II
Go fishing - ✅ Balsam Lake with David
Make K'nex - ✅
Build legos - ✅ Lego City Police Station
Make puzzles - ✅ 100 piece safari
Make nature art - ✅ Painted rocks at camp
Paint rocks - ✅
Blow bubbles - ✅ Bubble festival
Roast marshmallows - ✅ Cabin staple
Camp in the backyard - ✅attempted in June, will try again next week
Go for a family bike ride - ✅ Biked with Marit in the tag-a-long to Hartley
Go to a baseball game
Go hiking - ✅ SHT
Go to the zoo
Go to a parade
Join summer reading - ✅ Read 20+ hours
Visit an amusement park - ✅ Mall of America
Watch fireworks - ✅ 4th of July "budget" version
Make a splash pad
Play monopoly - ✅Theo always wins
Go to train depot
Have a car wash - ✅
Bike to Brighton Beach - ✅
Make root beer floats - ✅
Make jell-O - ✅ With Grandma JoJo
Skip rocks in Lake Superior - ✅ In Grand Marais with Zachar and Dani
Build a sand castle - ✅
Jump in Lake Superior - ✅Park Point Art Fair with Tommy and Cole
Roll down a hill - ✅ Congdon Park Elementary
Cross the lift bridge - ✅ Park Point
Eat at a food truck - ✅ Brighton Beach Art Fair Mexican Food truck
Play hopscotch - ✅ Driveway
Run in the rain - ✅ June was wet!
Go on alpine slide go-carts - ✅ Lutsen and Spirit mountain
Ride the Lutsen gondola
Sunbathe - ✅ At the cabin
Catch a butterfly - ✅ We watched caterpillars turn into pink ladies!
Stand-up paddleboard - ✅ At the cabin
Visit Barker's Island - ✅with Grandma and Grandpa
Go to Park Point - ✅Art fair
Go to butterfly festival - ✅ with Grandma and Grandpa
Go to air show - ✅ with Maya Bishu and got to meet the Blue Angel pilots
Go to tall ships festival - ✅ Duluth Harbor
Go to the cabin - ✅ 4th of July before the terrible storm knocked over all the trees on the cabin
Go canoeing - ✅Cub scouts rank up ceremony
Host a lemonade stand
Go to the Ely wolf sanctuary
Go on the Vista Fleet Cruise - ✅with the Benziger family
Plant milkweed - ✅
Hike on the Superior Hiking Trail - ✅ By Enger Tower and in Hartley
Visit Jay Cooke State Park - ✅ For Ragnar race
Visit Gooseberry Falls State Park - ✅ with the Benziger family
Visit Split Rock Lighthouse State Park - ✅ with the Benziger family
Visit Tettegooche State Park - ✅
Visit Grand Portage State Park - ✅with the Benziger family
Visit Temperance River State Park - ✅
Visit Crosby Manitou State Park
VIsit Cascade River State Park
Visit Pattison State Park - ✅ Waterfalls
Visit Amnicon State Park - ✅ Covered bridge
Color - ✅everyday in the East Wing
Run a race - ✅ Grandma's half marathon, Brewhouse Olympic Triathlon, Root Beer Kids Triathlon, Wednesday night at the races, Ragnar relay
Do a relay race - ✅ Ragnar
Have a sleep over - ✅Marit slept at Natalie's
Make stomp rockets
Start a donation - ✅ Chester Bowl Improvement Club
Say "I love you" everyday! - ✅