Celebrating Halloween in Duluth: Haunted Ships & Terror Trains
Eric first asked me out in 2012 the day after we attended a live cast performance of Rocky Horror Picture Show. It was not Halloween, but very close to it. Every year since, we really live our best lives in October, celebrating the anniversary with horror movies and haunted houses. I’m not saying everyone else’s anniversary isn’t as good, but October 28th is a great anniversary date for two lovers of the spooky season.
This year, we figured celebrating halloween outside of Minneapolis would be a new adventure. We’ve been to the north shore too many times to count throughout childhood and our adult lives, but this time was different because we absolutely were not camping! We scoured the internet for the best hotel stay, but the prices on Duluth Halloween were high. We eventually found a great affordable place to stay, and from there we planned the halloween festivities!
This travel diary will go as follows:
Our Stay: Hostel Du Nord– A great place for the nomadic
Night 1: The haunted ship and Vikre distillery
Night 2: Trains, bar-hops and seeking the Aurora Borealis
Tying up loose ends (black beach, bookkeeper friends, and ringing the enger park bell)
A view of the Duluth Lift Bridge from Leif Erikson Park. Many couples sat and watched the sunset, us included.
Our stay: Hostel Du Nord– a great stay for the nomadic
We booked our stay at the Hostel Du Nord, since it was significantly more affordable (we saved about 50 percent staying there over a hotel), the hostel is located in downtown Duluth, probably about 15 minutes walk from the canal area. It's also near many little shops (one being a cute plant shop, where the shopkeeper gladly gave me a plant tour).
Reimagined by T. Underwood, a store with that supports local small business owners, like Duluth Local succulent expert: Al, who gladly gave us a tour of the plants, and the rest of the store.
We were met by the staff, who checked us in quickly and gave us the grand tour. There are two areas for room & board– the basement level, which is technically ground level, and the upper level (where we stayed) on the third story. Sandwiched perfectly between the two is a long common space with plenty of seating, a kitchenette, and dining area. (This hostel also has a sauna in the basement level, but we were too busy to try it out.)
Our sleeping space was like a pod hotel similar to the ones you’d find in Tokyo. We had a bed with 2 pillows and blankets in a box. The space also included a fan, 2 lockers (with locks), and wall lamps, with only a blackout curtain separating us from total strangers. Eric explained that regular hostels have less privacy than that, so I learned to get used to it. The night was surprisingly quiet, especially because I had the fan for white noise.
The other hostel guests were great. We had many social interactions with other patrons, and we actually ended up going places with them as well (more about that in Night 2.)
The cutest element of the hostel was Jupiter, the hostel cat, who walked with us everywhere. At one point, the cat came into our pod and gave me cuddles in my sleep. I forgot I wasn’t at home, so I said “go bother Eric” thinking it was my own cat, Bruce, only to later remember we weren’t at home. I assumed I dreamed it, but that morning I woke up with allergies, because I have seasonal allergies and I’m allergic to cat dander. On our last day, we were packing for check out, and the cat came in the pod for scratchies, to which I groggily, but happily obliged.
Jupiter: the keeper of the keys, queen of the nomads, lover of cuddles .
Night 1: The haunted ship and Vikre Distillery
We booked our plans for our 2nd night right as we booked the hostel, but we knew we would have time on day 1 to explore Duluth. Eric decided to book us 2 tickets to the William A. Irvin Haunted Ship, a freight ship that stays ported in Duluth 365 days of the year. It was our first haunted house since the pandemic, and we couldn’t be more excited!
I get scared easily. The screams that expelled from me in this haunted ship were on a higher sound wave than most people over 30 can hear. The nice thing is the actors can’t touch you, so it feels scary, but safe. The only downfall was that I stood in front of Eric while walking through, so I got the brunt of the scares, leaving him overlooked by some of the actors, as they would trail behind me until I looked back, getting scared once again.
After the haunted ship, we ventured to the canal and drank cocktails at Vikre Distillery, a local place that makes gin and vodka, with a fantastic menu of cocktails. The air was cool, and the canal was overflowing with costumed Duluthians creeping to their next nightly locations. That's one thing I have to give Duluth props for– everybody goes all out for Halloween! Throughout the entire weekend, we saw many kids dressed up at Trunk Or Treats meet-ups, and all the adults celebrated nightly– in costume!
Night 2: Trains, bar hops, and seeking the Aurora Borealis
The best part of the trip was definitely our 2nd night in Duluth. It was a Saturday, the day before Halloween proper, and with our own homemade costumes, we were amped for a night of mischief. I bought a frilly pink dress, some pink cat ears, a karaoke microphone, and a chisel tip marker, dressed as Jigglypuff (the Pokemon)! Eric made a giant terracotta planter out of cardboard, tape, and spray paint, pinning vines to a forest green shirt, to complete his masterpiece costume– a potted plant!
We got dressed at the hostel, preparing for a spooky night, and the patrons of the hostel were impressed by our get-ups! We met a patron named Joe who was walking up the stairs with a scarecrow. He had just checked in from his car, which he is currently using to roadtrip across the USA. He had come from the local thrift store with the idea of making a scarecrow costume. His plan was to de-straw a real scarecrow, wearing some ratty pants, a flannel shirt, and a straw hat.
I asked Joe if he was going on the Terror Train, but he didn’t know about the event. He explained that he was going out, but had no clue where. I noticed a music venue gearing up the night before, and I googled it to find out if they were hosting a halloween party, and they were! I told him “You should go to Blush! They’re having a ‘Goths and Monsters’ party with live music, and that’s where we’re ending up!” He was happy to get the suggestion.
We bought tickets for the Terror Train two weeks before our trip. We had read about it in the past, and everytime we tried to purchase tickets, it was always too late. This event takes place on the North Shore Scenic Railroad, and it is a 3 hour long part, going 1.5 hours north to Two Harbors, and 1.5 hours back to Duluth. There was live music in one car, and a live DJ set in another, and about 3 or 4 seating cars between the two party rooms.
(also, just for Covid’s sake, there were open windows, and in the live music car there were two open car doors with railings/fences, leaving the space open air while in the party areas.)
We made many quick friends on the train, with Eric’s costume being a fan favorite. At one point he removed the planter, due to it being so wide between doorways and dancefloors, and everyone kept stopping him to ask where his planter went. My costume was a little too conceptual, so it took the crowd getting 2 or 3 drinks in for the guesses to be correct. I was asked if I was a singing pig, a “pot roast” (Eric being the pot, me being the roast), Ariana Grande, a cheshire cat. Eventually someone said “wait, you’re a jiggly puff!” and I was like, “oh my goodness, I am!”
The best part about Duluth, is it's basically the California of Minnesota. Everyone has a very artsy hippie vibe, and they love music from the 60s and 70s, and they really love nature and hiking. Eric was not the only plant on the train! We actually saw 3 different tree costumes. The live band did covers of classic rock, and we had a great time, sticking largely to the live music car. After the train ride ended, we got off at the canal stop, and got bogo beers at Hoops Brewing, a local brewery connected to a Grateful Dead themed bar called Ripple Bar.
After the beers, we trotted up the hill toward downtown for our ending location, Blush, a local music venue. There were live sets by local artists Sadkin, and Jaw Knee Vee. Upon arrival, we quickly ran into our hostel friend, Joe!
A Hannah Montana, Joe the Scarecrow, ME, and a potted plant (Eric). Joe said, “Let’s take a picture! on YOUR PHONE. I only use a flip phone!” so I asked, “why take a photo if I can’t send it?”, and he said “so that everyone makes a memory!”
The live music was great, and Blush had a really eclectic style with an intimate feel. A funny thing that happens every time we go somewhere we don’t live… is that everyone tries to convince us we have to move to said place. Duluth was no different. The people at Blush were so kind, and they insisted we had great vibes, and Duluth would be happy to have us.
We lost Joe to a different friend he made earlier that night, so we made our way back to the hostel. The common space of Hostel Du Nord was alive with energy, with many people awake late in the night playing board games, and some on their laptops, chatting with other patrons.
A woman playing chess mentioned that she heard the northern lights were supposed to be visible that night. We all left as a group to try and find the aurora borealis in the sky, but it wasn’t visible at that time. Still, memories were being made with a handful of excellent adventure seeking strangers.
From the top of a parking garage, I looked out at a pitch black Lake Superior. The view of the liftbridge made the happiness in my heart pour over. Who needs the northern lights, when you have nights like these?
The view from the parking garage. The duluth night sky from the canal usually looks like a bunch of stars on the hill, but the view from downtown gives in a big city glow.
Tying-up loose ends from our September trip
some bonus side quests from the same weekend, just finishing off some old bucket-list items! Read ahead if you like small day trip stories of our time exploring the north shore. (disclaimer: this part of the trip was far less spooky.)
The Black Beach
With time to kill during the daytime hours in Duluth, we travelled north, back to the Black Beach we missed last time. Going to a beach with black sand seemed fitting for Halloween. The beach had a series of families, friends, and newlyweds doing their spooky fall season photoshoots. We even saw a group doing sheet-ghosts and pumpkinhead photos (this year’s viral spooky trend).
The sand at the beach is a dark smoky grey, and the small rocks on the shoreline really do glimmer black. I crouched near the water staring out at an isle not too far off from the land I stood on. The waves pushed in heavy, but pulled away softly, leaving a twinkling water song on the pebbles rolling over one another. We were graced with an incredibly sunny weekend, and the air was cold to the point of wearing a cardigan and beanie, but the sun was generous with warmth.
This beach also had some rocky areas to climb. Eric made his way up the rocks of a massive wall of stone to a cliff-like ledge, waving down at me. Meanwhile I sat like a sea lion, hot on a rock in the sun, just taking photos of him from far below, unbothered to follow and lose out on the heat.
Our friend, the bookkeeper
Seeing as we were passing by, Eric and I made a last minute stop at the bookstore that blocked the beach from happening last time– Back Forty Books and Gallery. Before walking in, I told Eric to cut me off at one book. Once inside, I mentioned to the bookkeeper Randy that we met once not long ago. He asked which book I bought, and I said “an old blue copy of Catch-22.” and instantly he remembered saying, “Ah yes, you came in on a Saturday and you rushed back on a Sunday.”
He walked around his desk and asked what I’ve been reading lately. I mentioned The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (my favorite author), and he brought me over to some collectible leather bound Steinbeck books he just got in. He asked what got me into Steinbeck, and I mentioned reading him after I finished a creative writing course called Writing About Place, and wishing his books were part of the curriculum.
Excited to hear I was a writer, he walked me toward reference. Looking at me, he handed me a small mint green paperback and said very matter-of-factly, “Every good writer needs a thesaurus!” And then he dug around and found a small red paperback dictionary to give me as well. I asked how much, and he said, “Oh these are just some small paperbacks, you can take them, free of charge!”
I was just happy to see my bookkeeper friend again, and now he was gifting me resources?! I searched the store for a book to buy as thanks for the free thesaurus, and came upon the poetry collection Ariel by Sylvia Plath. I walked happily back to my car with my stack, and Eric shook his head. What should have been a quick visit for a single book turned into a 30 minute chat with 3 books in hand! Thanks again, Randy at Back Forty Books and Gallery! We’ll be back again, I’m sure.
Ringing the bell at Enger Park, finally!
This is a very brief story, but last time we were in Duluth, we explored Enger Park. There was a bell we didn’t get to ring in the Japanese Garden, just due to the many families waiting in line, all of them taking photos of all their children ringing the bell. A wooden rod on rope with a handle is how you hit the bell. There is only one bell, and during the busy hours, there are many people ringing the bell, and last time we ran out of time to ring the great bell.
This time around, we finally went at the right time (almost). Though the parking was still full, the air was chilly. We got into a leaf war on the way to the Japanese garden, finally, at last, ringing the bell. After soaking up the zen vibes, we ran to the observation tower. To our dismay, the observation tower was closed for the season, probably to avoid wind gusting people out of the tower from four stories up in the cold, icy wind-ridden months.
Apparently we can’t go to the park and do both. We can either go up the observation tower and miss the bell, or ring the bell and miss the view from the tower. At least after two visits to Enger Park, we have finally created one full experience!
Our time to shine! Time to finally ring the bell…
Shhh…. he’s ringing the bell.
If you got to the end, thank you for reading! What are your favorite things to do in Duluth? Feel free to comment them below, or email me a suggestion.
If you haven’t seen the North Shore camping trip blog, you can read that by clicking this link:
Camping near the forever awe-inspiring Minnesota North Shore
King regards,
Cody
