The Lighthouse, Knife River, MN

The Husband and I didn't have any set plans for Valentines Day, we're pretty low key people and prefer to avoid the obnoxious restaurant mark-ups, lines, and bustle that tend to accompany this day.

Instead, we found ourselves taking a leisurely drive through the country north of Duluth as we wound our way to The Lighthouse Restaurant. The speedy way to get there would be to buzz up Hwy 61, but that isn't as much fun; or to putter up old Hwy 61 along Lake Superior, but we do that a fair amount already.

Now my Folks have already tried The Lighthouse out, and spoke favorably to its ambiance and menu. We arrived at about 1:30p - a bit after any lunch rush, and found the restaurant pleasantly busy but by no means packed. It was a seat yourself time of day and we picked a spot out of the overly bright windows but where we could still see the gas fireplace.

This is a family run business, and there were only two waitstaff on for the afternoon. Nobody seemed to be in a rush, it was so very pleasant. I *thought* I ordered a Veggie Sandwich with no cucumbers with a cup of clam chowder, and The Husband ordered a BLT with a bowl of the same soup. What I actually got was the Veggie Rice Burger with a side of fries. I'm still not sure how she got Veggie burger from Veggie Sandwich no cucumbers. Still, I wasn't disappointed as the Veggie Burger was very good. A combination of wild rice and sweet potato (I think, I couldn't really identify the filling), it was very tasty served on a butter bun with lettuce and tomato. I think the Husband liked his BLT, he ate all of it and some of my fries.

Like I said, it was very pleasant. My only complaint was that they did need one more waitstaff. It was just busy enough with the two that it took a very, very long time to get our bill. It's hard to sit and wait when your drinks are empty.

Would we go again? You bet!