Have a HART in Duluth

The team at the Duluth Experience has a new idea: The HART of Duluth Walking Tour, bringing together performing, visual and culinary arts within the Historic Arts and Theater, or HART, downtown district. Walkers will explore the Duluth Coffee Co., a coffee roastery, to learn about ethically sourced beans, production techniques and the "fourth wave" of coffee's cultural evolution. Then it's on to Lake Superior Art Glass for a glassblowing demonstration. The tour continues to the Zeitgeist Arts Cafe for a culinary sampling and discussion of the arts community. Then, of course, everything concludes with a brewery tour and sampling at Blacklist Artisan Ales, which describes itself as a "gypsy brewing, nomadic operation" that makes Belgian-inspired beers.

The afternoon walking tour from the Duluth Experience runs Thursdays through Saturdays through September and is available for public and private bookings. Cost is $30. To learn more and register, visit theduluthexperience.com/hart-duluth-walking-tour.

We're healthy snackers

This summer, General Mills and Box Tops for Education surveyed about 1,000 American parents about summer activities and seasonal snacks, finding that most are interested in simple, outdoor activities often centered around food, and unexpected road trips.

Half said that backyard barbecues are the most popular family activity, with one in three noting picnics.

As to road trip destinations, the Midwest claims the top spot with almost one in three of surveyed families saying they're headed to the heartland.

More than six in 10 said their kids' most popular activities are swimming and playing in parks, with just one in five saying their kids will be in camps, sports or arts events.

And now, the snacks: Granola and protein bars are the most popular lunchbox snacks in the Northeast, while consumers in the South like to snack on chips, popcorn, crackers and pretzels. Here in the Midwest and West, the most popular snacks are veggies and fruit.

Really? Maybe it's our carrots and green beans that are attracting all those road trippers.

K-8 schools in the U.S. have earned more than $840 million through the Box Tops for Education program since it started in 1996. With every box top collected and submitted, schools get 10 cents in funding to support basic operating needs and programs such as field trips, textbooks, musical instruments, playground equipment, classroom technology, arts, cultural programming and more. To learn more about the program, visit BoxTops4Education.com.

KIM ODE