Weddingbee Blog

A few days before our 9th dating anniversary, Mr. Sunrise announced that I needed to pack an overnight bag because he was taking me somewhere special that weekend to celebrate. But he wouldn’t tell me where we were going! Okay, technically it wasn’t a kidnapping since I went on my own free will, but still… all I knew was that we were leaving town and would be back some time before work on Monday.

The drive was pretty long and I was getting antsy, so I did what I do best in these situations: I took a nap. Almost 3 hours later, I awoke to a beautiful scenic drive along Lake Superior. Mr. Sunrise had taken us almost 200 miles up north to Duluth, MN.


It was my first time there and I thought it was so beautiful, even in the dead of winter. We arrived at Cotton Mansion, an elegant and romantic Bed & Breakfast.

I had to cross to the other side of the street to take this picture of Mr. S standing in front of the big mansion.

I must apologize in advance for the poor-quality photos that are to follow… In my excitement, I remembered to pack my digital camera, but stupidly left the only battery at home. I asked Mr. Sunrise for his digital camera, but he said that he forgot his at home too. Grr, I was so angry at myself because I like taking pictures. Especially as a blogger, I feel like I need to document everything! I ended up using my phone’s mediocre camera. The pictures taken outside are okay, but the ones shot inside are very grainy and not so great. After a few minutes of slapping myself on the forehead and saying *idiot!*, I decided that it wasn’t the end of the world.

Once inside the mansion, we were greeted with this beautiful grand staircase and rich decor.

We went upstairs and quickly found our room, The Bell Cotton Suite.

A few feet from our bed, there was a step-up jacuzzi hot tub. See me in the mirror? Hehe.

We also had a fireplace in our room. Nice & toasty.

I noticed a little leather-bound journal sitting on the nightstand and I was curious, so I opened it up.

Inside, I found delightful journal entries from all the people that had stayed there in the past. So awesome.

We left the room and went back downstairs to explore…

Around 7PM, the maid started to set the dining room table in preparation for next morning’s breakfast.

Upon closer inspection, I realized that I had no idea what the extra fork was for… but I do like the gold chargers!

Then we retreated back to our room, relaxed in the hot tub for a bit, and then got ready for dinner!

We went to a restaurant up the street called Black Woods Grill & Bar. The first thing I ordered was a mango mojito.

After dinner, we went back “home” to our suite and relaxed some more in the jacuzzi tub.

The next morning, we got up early and went downstairs to hang out. We poured ourselves a cup of yummy hazelnut coffee and hung out in the sunroom while our gourmet breakfast was being prepared.

Mr. S really enjoyed his coffee.

There were fireplaces all over the mansion… even the sunroom had a fireplace!

After breakfast, we headed back to our room and I made sure to leave our mark in the journal.

As we were packing up to leave, Mr. S “conveniently” discovered that he had packed his digital camera all along! It was hidden in his suitcase. His response: “Oops!” Grr, I could have strangled him! Haha.

But instead, we decided to go downstairs and take one last picture of us in the mansion. I set the timer on the camera and placed it on a table in the living room while we posed at the baby-grand piano.

See the difference in quality?! I could have gotten so many great shots during our stay! Oh well. I really enjoyed my stay at Cotton Mansion and would love to go back and visit again (maybe in the summer). We spent the rest of the day exploring Duluth before making the 3-hour drive back home.

My weekend surprise turned out to be perfect. Mr. Sunrise can kidnap me anytime he wants.

Have you ever been “kidnapped”? Where did you go?