Superior WI

Dear readers, you may recall that Russ and I have a penchant for fine dining. When we travel, we try to hit at least one gourmet restaurant per trip. Featured on this blog in recent years have been The Rhubarb Restaurant in Edinburgh (with its rhubarb-themed drinks and a Châteaubriand Angus steak platter for two), The Wharf on Grand Cayman (with lobster, and you can feed the shells to awaiting tarpon fish off the dock), the Mariposa in Sedona (with juniper cocktails and mejillones con chorizo, a mussel and sausage appetizer), the Von Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe (with a lingonberry spritz and quail/venison dinner), and the Eiffel Tower Restaurant in Las Vegas (with its grand Marnier souffle), to name a few.

More recently, our dining experiences have literally taken a dive. We’ve been exploring the cheapest (but tastiest) places we can find. Whether this shift is because we’re both retired and on fixed incomes or simply inspired by the fun we had last year at the Czech Grill in Grand Cayman—where we wrote on the walls and enjoyed our sixth wedding anniversary with ribs, potato salad, a tabby cat, and a handsome rooster—the change is noticeable.

We’ve experienced several memorable meals this past year, dining in northern Minnesota/Wisconsin dives. Our definition of a dive is a place where we can buy dinner for two for $40 or less. Many times, this even includes adult beverages and the tip! We have friends who also love dives, and they’ve introduced us to a few.

With that in mind, here are six of our favorites, listed in no particular order. Each offers its own unique charm, and we’d happily return depending on our mood.

The Alborn Tavern is a family-owned, small-town restaurant and bar in northern Minnesota. If you like a place with crumbling vinyl seat covers, pool tables, dart boards, and meat raffles, this is the place for you! BTW, a meat raffle is a community fundraiser where people buy tickets for the chance to win packages of meat, usually steaks, roasts, and bacon.

*Art on the door of the El Toro Lounge.*

The El Toro Lounge and Wilbert Café is a historic stopping place and local watering hole along the highway that leads to Canada. It used to be THE place to stop when Greyhound bus routes ran between the Iron Range and the rest of Minnesota. Now, it mainly serves locals, anglers, and snowmobilers. Diners can get breakfast all day most days of the week. There are also bingo nights and Friday fish fries. We celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary in the lounge.

Near the El Toro is the Dawghouse in Canyon, Minnesota. The renovated restaurant has a more modern feel than the Wilbert Café, plus there’s a large and lovely event venue suitable for hosting a wedding reception or party. There are even customized racks so that snowmobilers can hang their helmets and gear while they eat, and an outdoor patio that’s dog-friendly.

*Diners order dinner at Gordy’s Hi-Hat.*

Gordy’s Hi-Hat in Cloquet, Minnesota, is a family-owned burger joint that’s only a few years older than me. It’s well known for stellar customer service and a family atmosphere. Guy Fieri, with the Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives television show, has even dined there. If you’re more into salads and coffee, stop next door at their Warming House. We celebrated my recent birthday at the Hi-Hat with a Swiss-and-mushroom burger, fries, and a hot fudge malt. I highly recommend the malt!

The Anchor Bar in Superior, Wisconsin, wins “best burger” almost every year in local competitions. Their burgers are homemade, cheap, and good. The fries are plentiful. But what’s most notable is the maritime décor. Ship ropes hang from the ceiling, sailing books line the shelves, ore boat photos grace the walls. It’s also been featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. The clientele is mixed, from doctors to longshoremen, from college students to truckers. The cashew burger is my fave. Look for the ship’s anchor outside the door.

*The aftermath of a meal at the Anchor Bar.*

Tired of burgers? Try the India Palace in downtown Duluth. It offers a plethora of Indian food options with levels of heat friendly to Minnesotan palates. There are also vegetarian options. It’s known for tandoori chicken and curry dishes. The service was very good.

True to this trend, we plan to spend our seventh anniversary this week at another local dive. If it’s any good, I’m sure you’ll be hearing about it!

Please feel free to share a link to your favorite dive in the comments and tell us where it’s located!

*The World of Accordions Museum*. *Image courtesy of the museum.*

I’m aware that I’m jumping the gun. World Accordion Day is May 6, and National Accordion Awareness Month isn’t until June. But I just couldn’t wait to write about our visit to the World of Accordions Museum in Superior, Wisconsin.

I’ve driven past the unassuming building on a busy street corner hundreds of times on my way to work and finally had time to take a peek last weekend. Inside are over 3,000 accordions and probably every ceramic figurine ever made that’s holding an accordion. The museum contains instruments from all over the world: Ireland, Spain, Germany, Scandinavia, etc. —from primitive concertinas to highly embellished accordions from the Vaudeville era that feature abalone. We even noticed a wooden accordion.

*One of the fancier accordions in the museum.*

The World of Accordions Museum was founded by Helmi Strahl Harrington in 1993. Our tour guide told us that Helmi’s mother was an accordionist who was conscripted in Hitler’s Germany to teach SAS wives to play the accordion. The family escaped to America and Helmi continued the family accordion tradition. She learned how to maintain accordions through a technical college in Red Wing, Minnesota. Although she currently has cancer, she hasn’t let that stop her from teaching accordion students and repairing accordions.

The nonprofit museum also houses a music and files room and a concert hall in what used to be the sanctuary of a former Episcopal Church. Our helpful tour guide said she got hooked on the museum when she came in for a tour. Now, she’s taking lessons and giving the tours herself. She even let us try our hand(s) at playing an accordion.

*Mae West. Image courtesy of the Los Angeles Times Archives*

Due to my dust allergies, I couldn’t spend as much time in the museum as I wanted. My sinuses began to ache! But before we left, one interesting thing we learned was that blond bombshell and actress Mae West was married to an accordionist. His name was Frank Szatkus, whose stage name was Frank Wallace. He agreed to keep their marriage secret to help West’s career. According to Wikipedia, the couple never lived together as husband and wife. When asked, West insisted that they had separate bedrooms, and that soon after their marriage, she sent him away in a show of his own to get rid of him. They married in 1911 and divorced in 1942. Was it because of the accordion?? We may never know.

One of my favorite store chains, Drink Wisconsibly, has made a YouTube video about the museum, which is fun to watch.

The museum has an annual festival in early May, centered around World Accordion Day. They offer workshops, talks, and concerts. Keep your eyes out for info about that. It would be a good excuse to visit if you just can’t get enough of accordions.

Marie's Meanderings

Internet home for Marie Zhuikov: Blogger, Author, Poet, Photographer

Dining in Dives

The World According to Accordions