This week’s featured dining spot is a cozy neighborhood café. Located only a couple blocks from UMD, the restaurant gets a hearty flow of patrons each night. To long time Duluth residents, it is still known as Taran’s Marketplace. To the younger crowd, it is referred to by its new name, Chester Creek Cafe.

As you enter the front doors, you are greeted by the smell of coffee and baked goods, and the warmth of the fireplace in the waiting area. The dining room winds all around the restaurant, decorated by bookshelves filled with a large variety of new and antique selections, which are for sale. The booths are deep and secluded enough to make you feel like you’re the only customer in the restaurant. The wooden tabletops and the couches around the fireplace produce an ambiance that is more reminiscent of your mother’s living room than that of a diner.

The house has policies for you to seat-yourself and fix-your-own-coffee. As unorthodox as these customs are, they certainly do not detract from the comforts of the experience. In fact, At Sara’s Table earned a nomination in 2004 from Reader Weekly for Best Service in Duluth.

Manager Theresa Bobula says that this is because the service staff has a personal relationship with its customers.

“People feel it is a place of welcome,� she said

With many entrees in the $10 to $12 range, a party of two can experience this cheery cafe for about $25, with all proceeds supporting the Duluth community. At Sarah’s Table only uses locally grown products, so the customer can eat a tasty dinner and rest-easy in doing so.

The next option on the night’s agenda is inexpensive and rather adventurous. Sharpen your skates; it’s time to take to the ice.

Whether you’re a seasoned pro or a reluctant first-timer, there is no better place to practice than Bayfront Festival Park’s public skating rink. From 4-8pm, Monday through Saturday, the rink is open to all comers. Toddlers, seniors, and anyone in between maneuver around the rink.

The spacious warming shack adjacent to the rink provides a place where you can rest. Don’t have skates? No problem. A selection of all sizes of skates can be checked out free of charge, on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Total cost of a skating outing: $0.

The ladies would coast around under the stars all night, but the guys are ready to move on to the evening’s final stop. The building design and location make Sir Benedict’s Tavern On The Lake impossible to ignore.
“During the day, we have families and business people,� said employee Matt Hendrickson. The pace picks up when the music starts around 8 p.m., and “it turns more into a bar than a restaurant.�

The restaurant, known to locals as Sir Ben’s, runs off of a steady flow of patrons who come for its unique old time décor, live music, and one of the area’s largest beer selections. Or maybe it’s just the free popcorn.

For the genuine Sir Ben’s experience, check out the Celtic music on Thursday night, or come Wednesday for bluegrass. Popular folk/roots artist Teague Alexy plays every Monday night. A couple rounds at Sir Ben’s will put the night’s tally right around $20 per person.

The life of the traveling musician can mean making sacrifices. One may give up a nice bed for the backseat of a van, a home-cooked meal for fast food, or a warm shower for a truck stop sink. Hospitality is foreign, except to the musicians who stop in Duluth to play at Beaner’s Central.

Mangione is a traveling musician from the Chicago/Milwaukee area. He is currently on a tour of the U.S. and will be traveling to Sydney, Australia, in July. Mike has a long traveling career and is no stranger to the associated lifestyle. When his band last traveled to Duluth to play at Beaner’s he was surprised at how well they were accommodated.

Mike and his band were taken in by Wussow, fed, given a place to sleep, and even got a shower before they left in the morning.

“I really try to go above and beyond for them,� Wussow said. “I burn myself out sometimes.�

Mangione added that, “(Wussow) gave me a killer Straw Porkpie hat that I wear on a regular basis.�

After spending years as a traveling musician, Jason Wussow decided to try his hand at promoting. He established Beaner’s Central in July of 1999. He says that he still plays around 100 shows a year. Thus, he understands the hardships that musicians can endure. Wussow also said that running everything can still be pretty complicated, but he is starting to figure things out.

“Beaner's is a fantastic little venue,� said Tasha Golden of Ellery, an acoustic duo from Cincinnati, Ohio. “Jason has gone to great lengths to create an artistic setting for his customers, and he's been an amazing and generous support to Ellery and to many of our fellow artists. When we think of Beaner's, we think of cold, snowy nights, great food, Jason's patient support, a vibey stage, and community involvement. All lovely things!"

“We try to go for simple, but really good,� Wussow said. “We might do fewer shows, but we’re going for quality over quantity.�

Besides hiring bands and putting on shows, Beaner’s offers coffee, espresso, beer, wine, and food selections to their patrons. They also hold art shows on a regular basis. The coffee shop is the club’s main daytime draw. At night, however, it’s all about the music.

Beaner’s brings in more established acts on Friday nights, even scoring national and international musicians. Their Wednesday night, open mic nights serve as a great way to bring in new and less-established musicians from the area.

“Beaners is a very supportive place and a meeting ground for many local artists and community members,� said local artist Dave Mehling. “Jason Wussow breathes life into the west Duluth community and arts in the twin ports.�

Wussow said that Beaner’s has a “really diverse March calendar� planned. From hip-hop shows on the 7th, to punk-rock on the 14th, to an indie-rock show on the 28th, he hopes to bring in fans of different musical genres.

It was 2004 in a freshman literature class at the University of Minnesota Duluth. Nate Miller and Ron Parpart were asked to share with the class their biggest life-influence. While everyone else shared things like “friends� and “family�, Ron and Nate caught each other’s attention when each professed “music�.

Miller and Parpart played a few shows together, but soon realized their need for something to really fill out their sound.

Miller knew that his friend, Anders Lundahl, played bass and so he was asked to join.
The threesome then began playing music together, only now under the name “Corporate Thunder�.

“We don’t try to sound like anyone,� said Miller, “we just play and see what happens.�

If you’re curious as to what genre of music you’re in for, it is probably better to listen to their music rather than ask them to classify themselves.

“It’s always hard to narrow down your music to a genre,� said Parpart, hesitantly. “I suppose we are aggressive-indie-rock.�

Lundahl’s girlfriend has a different name for their style.

“‘Crazy-drunken-indie-rock,� said Lundahl. “That’s my favorite euphemism.�

The band, in a venture to preserve originality, has started its own label. They call it Cat People Records, and are able to create their own t-shirts and produce their own records.

“We literally put one hundred percent of who we are into our music,� said Miller. “I can honestly say it’s a completely genuine expression.�

The band now plays 3-5 shows a month, usually in Duluth/Superior area.

“The local Duluth Scene is bittersweet,� said Lundahl. “There are all kinds of awesome bands, but the venues only cater to a certain kind of music. I wish the town would become a little more open-minded.�

Miller, however, likes how Corporate Thunder fits into the scene.

“We fit in here decently. We’re lucky in a sense that we’ve never had to play for a crowd that didn’t want to hear us,� he said.

The band also has music available for listen and download at www.myspace.com/corporatethunder.

“We like to jump around and say stupid things,� said Parpart, “so come boo us if you’d like.�

You can feel free to boo them on March 21st at Bev’s Juke Joint in Superior or March 25th at the Merritt Community Recreation Center in Duluth.

“You definitely won’t be hearing us on MTV any time soon,� said Lundahl, “but I feel that we bring a fair amount of originality to this cold little port city.�

Corporate Thunder Promotional Photo: Used with Permission

Students who participated in UMD's Pub Crawl last Friday had some interesting responses to classmates' polite small talk on Monday morning. Nick Vetsch captured a small audience as he explained to his classmates that the students were stranded when the scheduled bus ride home never showed up.

It was 2 a.m. and Vetsch was sitting outside on a sidewalk in Superior. He thought back to the ten dollars he paid to participate in UMD's Pub Crawl, which included a ride to Frankie's Tavern in Superior (check), a blue t-shirt to commemorate the event (check), and a ride back home (….).

The irony of the situation had slapped him across the face. His rationale for participating in the Pub Crawl was the guaranteed ride home after the night of drinks.

After bar hopping on Tower Avenue in Superior, Nick and his crew ended up back at Frankie's. At 1:30 a.m. Vetsch cleared up his tab at Frankie's and joined his girlfriend outside to wait for the first of two bus successions.

The first bus was to come at 1:30 and pick up at least half of the students. The second rotation was to pick up the remaining students just after 2:00 a.m., when the bars closed.

Vetsch and the group intending to ride the 1:30 bus waited on the sidewalk outside the bar, joking about the bus not showing up. After about 15 minutes Vetsch and his crew gave up and joined the others on the crawl back inside Frankie's.

At that point, Vetsch was still optimistic about the night. He and other pub crawlers decided they would wait until the bar closed and take the 2:00 bus instead. He drank a couple more beers and ignored the fact that his guaranteed (and paid for) ride had not yet come.

“When the bar closed reality set in because they literally kicked us out on the street, and there was no bus to pick us up� Vetsch said.

They waited for a while, maybe because they were hanging on to hope that the bus was still coming, or maybe because their state of intoxication prevented them from taking further action.

As he sat on the sidewalk, Vetsch looked around and remembered they were all wearing the same shirt. Eighty blue shirts unified a group of eighty drunken students waiting for a ride that was never going to come.

“We were all joking about how we were going to get home and then we actually had to make a decision� Vetsch said.

Vetsch ended up calling his older brother, who agreed to drive from Duluth to Superior to pick up Vetsch and a couple of his friends, despite being woken from sleep.

“He felt bad for us,� Vetsch said.

Erbert's and Gerbert's, across the street from Frankie's Tavern, housed most of the pub crawlers as they waited for their rides home. Almost everyone bought a sandwich while they waited.

After 2:30 a.m., cabs began to line up outside the restaurant and the crowd of blue shirts began to get smaller.

As Vetsch compared his two rides of the night he said the way to the bar, on the bus, was careless and fun, the ride home with his brother was explanatory and apologetic.

Although he didn’t make it home until 3:15 and it was not by way of a bus, Vetsch did return safely, accomplishing the purpose of the Pub Crawl.

The Pub Crawl was sponsored by the UMD Student Association. When contacted, a representative gave the following information about the night's mishap.

The Student Association hired one bus company to pick the students up and different one to drop them off. The reason for this is that the company that brought students to the bars did not want to, for insurance reasons, have to drop off students at more than one location when returning to Duluth.

The Student Association confirmed the trip with both companies earlier in the week. However, on the night of the event the company that was supposed to pick up students from Superior had a scheduling error. They took complete responsibility for the mishap, and are in the process of arranging a reimbursement from the company so that they are able to refund part of the student’s ten dollar fee.