A Duluth half dozen

6Minneapolitans walk, bike and blade Harriet, Calhoun, Isles and Nokomis; Duluthians have mighty Lake Superior. One of the city's most remarkable advances in the past 20 years has been the development of the Lakewalk, a 4-mile path of reclaimed parkland that dramatically hugs the rocky lakeshore and stretches from the hotel-centric Canal Park district all the way up to 27th Avenue E.

The path links a number of appealing attractions, including eye-catching original art works -- most notably the somber concrete half-dome that is the Vietnam Veterans War Memorial -- and the formal rose gardens at Leif Erikson Park, surely the most fragrant and scenic freeway overpass in existence (the park, at 12th Avenue E. and London Road).

The route also provides convenient staircase and ramp access to the streets above, including a handy exit to the cute PortLand Malt Shoppe (716 E. Superior St., www.portland maltshoppe.com). But the Lakewalk's chief asset is definitely its proximity to the lake's natural air conditioning and its mesmerizing, ever-changing moods.

1The city's unofficial Welcome Wagon? Enger Tower (Skyline Parkway and 16th Avenue W.). The rugged blue stone campanile looks as if it has been ripped from a fortress as it juts off the top of the hill like a hitchhiker's thumb. It's surrounded by a lushly landscaped park that boasts plenty of prime picnicking grounds. To say that the view up top is breathtaking -- at that point, sightseers are more than 500 feet above the water -- is an understatement.

The skies were crystal-clear the afternoon I drove all the way across town to the city's far east side, downshifted to second gear and ascended a steep and narrow road to the Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve (Skyline Parkway, east of Glenwood Street). Its maze of hiking and raptor-watching trails criss-cross a landscape so high it seemed to touch the sky. I stepped out of the car at the main overlook and gasped. The lake's south shore was clear as a bell, and maybe I was kidding myself, but as the water merged with the sky, I swear that I could see the outlines of the Apostle Islands, a good 50 miles to the east.

And to think I was going to settle for a cocktail at the Top of the Harbor, the campy revolving restaurant on the 16th floor of the Radisson Hotel Duluth (505 W. Superior St., 1-218-727-8981, www.radisson.com). The latter's 360-degree view is pretty swell (it's a lot better than the so-so food), but compared to Hawk Ridge, where Mother Nature brazenly pulls out all of her stops, well, there is no comparison.

2Superb to-go sandwiches, made with house-smoked, Minnesota-raised meats, are just one specialty at the culinary treasure that is Northern Waters Smokehaus (394 Lake Av. S., 1-218-724-7307, www.nwsmokehaus.com).

Locally raised, sustainably produced ingredients get the star treatment at breakfast, lunch and dinner at the laid-back At Sara's Table Chester Creek Cafe (1902 E. 8th St., 1-218-723-8569, www.taransmarketplace.com).

The short drive out of town to Scott Graden's swell New Scenic Cafe (5461 North Shore Scenic Dr., 1-218-525-6274, www.newsceniccafe.com) is totally worth the effort.

At funky, fun-loving Burrito Union (1332 E. 4th St., 1-218-728-4414, www.burritounion.com), the thirst-quenching beer is brewed nearby (at Fitger's Brewhouse) and the brick-size burritos are stuffed to capacity. Grab a Whopper or Big Mac some other time and indulge in the double-decker cheeseburgers, crinkle fries and house-made root beer at the city's sole drive-in, A & Dubs (3131 W. 3rd St., 1-218-624-0198).

And keep everyone in the car happy with a stack of jumbo-sized Thunder cookies from Positively 3rd Street (1202 E. 3rd St., 1-218-724-8619, www.positively3rdstreet bakery.com), a landmark locals affectionately call the "hippie bakery."

3Not planning on touring Glensheen (3300 London Rd., 1-218-726-8910, www.glensheen.org), Clara and Chester Congdon's opulent lakeside mansion? (You should, by the way.) If not, spend some serious architectural gawking time by walking, driving or biking (rent a range of Bianchi bikes at Continental Ski & Bike, 1305 E. 1st St., 1-218-728-4466, www.continentalski.com) around the city's magnificent East End.

At the turn of the last century, Duluth was home to more millionaires per capita than any other U.S. city, and the newly rich weren't shy about plowing their plus-sized incomes into their homes. In a district roughly bound by Woodland/19th Avenue E. on the west and Congdon Park on the east, Superior Street on the south and 7th Street on the north, there are enough jaw-dropping residences -- some can only be described as estates -- to rival the displays of wealth that are St. Paul's Cathedral Hill and Minneapolis' Lowry Hill districts. Also check out London Road, which is where you'll find Glensheen and a bevy of other handsome houses.

For a more up-close-and-personal experience, check into one of the neighborhood's palatial bed-and-breakfast inns, including the Cotton Mansion (2309 E. 1st St., 1-218-724-6405, www.cottonmansion.com), a 1908 Italian Renaissance pile of yellow brick, and the Olcott House (2316 E. 1st St., 1-218-728-1339, www.olcotthouse.com), a Georgian Colonial Revival beauty that dates to 1904. Or keep it simple. Log on, print out and then take the self-guided East End mini-tour at www.duluthpreservation.org.

4If I were traveling with young children, I'd treat them to an afternoon at the Lake Superior Zoo (Winter hours begin Sept. 8. 7210 Fremont St., 1-218-730-4900, www.lszoo.org). The bucolic setting is a major draw, its compact, walkable and scrupulously tended grounds tucked into the elbow of a wooded valley bisected by a gurgling creek. Most animals are kept in natural-looking settings, but a cage is a cage, and seeing noble animals such as lions and leopards forced to live in reduced circumstances was somewhat depressing, at least for this grown-up.

The kids around me, however, were eating it up. "Look at the claws, Mommy," exclaimed one toddler, pointing to a kodiak bear snoozing about 20 feet away, and indeed, as pincers go, they were quite ferocious.

Elegant white-tailed deer, a platoon of ducklings waddling behind their parents, wild turkeys strutting their plumage, a dignified snowy owl, eager little prairie dogs, menacing-looking tarantulas, they all captured the rapt attention of the wide-eyed children in the zoo that afternoon. Truth to tell, they got to me, too.

5The University of Minnesota's Rubik's Cube of a campus doesn't make it easy to find the Tweed Museum of Art (1201 Orlean Court, 1-218-726-8222, www.d.umn.edu/tma), and the building doesn't come close to having the architectural panache of its Minneapolis cousin, the Weisman Art Museum (frankly, what does?).

But after greeting Jacques Lipchitz's monumental bronze sculpture, "Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Luth," which stands guard outside the Tweed's front door, step inside the museum's cool midcentury confines and discover how its permanent collection, in true modest Minnesota fashion, quietly reveals considerable riches: one lively George Morrison work after another, a quirky visual feast of advertising-driven images of lantern-jawed Canadian Mounties, an exquisite digest of Native American artifacts and artworks, dramatic photographs by Wing Young Huie, Dorothea Lange, Cindy Sherman and Gary Hallman, an enviable array of ceramics and a number of noteworthy paintings, including Will Barnett's bravura "Big Duluth, Night," Bill Shipley's euphoric "Kite Lines" and beauties by Corot and Rousseau. Don't miss the museum's well-stocked gift shop.