Lake Superior
Having visited the headwaters of Old Man River and taken the scenic drive that follows the first leg of his long journey, I had developed a taste for big water. So I headed east from Lake Bemidji to Lake Superior, the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area and the third largest by volume.
I met the lake at Duluth, Minnesota, which bears little resemblance to the city of Gore Vidal's fabulously mind-bending novel Duluth. I stood by the water and gazed sadly towards the horizon that I knew to be Ontario, Canada. That way lies my good friend Tim and the planned weekend visit that Bambi stole from us. I ate some truly excellent choc-mint ice-cream and walked along the lake's edge for a while.
The deep water triggered shallow thoughts. I tried, unsuccessfully, to recall an appropriate and pithy line from the novel Duluth. I resolved to reread Duluth. I reflected on the relative rarity of the choc-mint pairing in the USA versus Australia. It's such a good combination that it's hard to understand why they don't do it more often here. I pretended that I could just swim across the Great Lakes for lunch with Tim, do a bit of choc-mint comparison shopping and maybe pick up a copy of Duluth.
The whimsy disappeared with the last of the ice-cream and, with a jaunty little salute towards Canada, I headed resolutely south.
2 comments:
I read the choc-mint lament and immediately sprang to the defense of our fine ice cream industry, which puts out all manner of Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream.
Heather told me that the American convenience store lacks the chocolate mint bars, chocolate mint blocks, many varieties of chocolate mint ice cream, and assorted chocolate coated mint centers in various sizes and shapes that can be found in Australia. I was forced to surrender to this array of mintiness.
I was reminded of a particularly good choc-mint bar that served as a day's rations in Ireland. It was far superior to the green goo-filled rectangles that we have here. I was glad to have it, as I couldn't look at another sausage by week 2.
I find myself increasingly craving choc mint goodies ... especially Lindt mint truffles, Mint Aero bars, Red Tulip After Dinner Mints and good old Cadbury's Dairy Milk Chocolate with Peppermint filling. I can only think that choc mint withdrawal symptoms have generated a kind of obsession. I really, really want a Peppermint Magnum Envy right now.
Post a Comment