Gardens at Glensheen

“Maids’ nightmare”, it took a few hours to clean this chandelier

Breakfast Room

Sowing Room

Eldest daughter’s Room

Marble Fireplace

Hallways

Sunset

Sunset pt.2

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After leaving Minneapolis and heading to Wisconsin, we stopped in a antique town: Duluth. The city laid on the northern shores of Lake Superior, the largest lake in the world, and was quite the charm.  The Duluth´s old red brick houses extended on the hillside facing the massive lake and there were many mansions due to the copper run about the mid nineteenth century. It was already evening so we headed to Kitchi Gammi Park to cook dinner. The park was right by the water and it edged the lake´s shore for a few miles. My mom and I went exploring the margins while dad and Maria stayed near home. The beach consisted of large dark rocks, barely any sand and trees grew near the shores. A tiny trail twisted between the trees, which led to small rocky beaches. By the time we got back to the RV the sun was setting and it was stunning. The water was still and right where the sky met the lake a violet color dominated the horizon, eventually turning into a lighter shade then to peach and finally a light blue. The clouds reflected the sunset´s color  and so did the water. To my right clouds glowed bright yellow, like they were made of pure gold, and to my left the sky wasn´t caught up with the sunset yet. After leaving the park we drove around town to find a place we could connect with WiFi to watch Brazil´s volleyball game, and it turns out that McDonald´s was the only place open…(yay….). Well, if you didn´t know, I do NOT eat fast food due to my “healthy beliefs”  or whatsoever. So there I went-laptop, charges, phone and a peach in my hand- trying to hide in a corner to only use their WiFi and to not purchase any Happy Meals or Dollar Menus.Besides Brazil´s loss against China (by that point I was almost crying), everything went great, since my dad purchased half the store when he walked in, so no complaints from McDonald’s.

Next morning we had breakfast and headed to this thirty-nine room mansion. The Glensheen house belonged to the filthy rich Congdon family. The mansion sat by the shores of Superior Lake, and besides the main house there were stables, a gardener house, a tennis courts and huge gardens. Each room had its own unique style according to the family member´s taste. The luxurious house had everything, from designated rooms to dine to a “smoking only room”, and keep in mind that it was built in the beginning of the 20th century. The architecture varied so much: the eldest daughter´s room was composed of very fine wood-dark colored furniture, a bathroom and closet, and having white and baby-blue as theme colors-and it had an incredibly view of the lake; however, the parent´s room was  much more serious and gloomy. Marble sculptures flocked on the shelves and fine tapestries covered the wooded floors. A beautiful breakfast room that faced the lake-large rectangle windows framed by wood, olive green tiles covered the walls, plant vases hung from the ceilings and a water fountain was carved into the wall-was just  one of the many exotic rooms at Glensheen. Personal belongings were located in the rooms and hallways along with ordinary objects from the 20th century. Almost everything was original from back in the days, which stunned me because the furniture was in really good shape. My family and I ended our self-guided tour in the gardens. Since I enjoy history, Glensheen was extremely captivating; the guides were really informative and helpful, and the house was absolutely gorgeous.