According to Visit Cook County’s website, tiny Grand Marais has been named America’s Coolest Small Town, a Top 10 Beach Getaway and National Geographic Adventure’s Next Great Adventure Town. Those are some pretty strong accolades for a town with a population of less than 1500 people. Before European exploration, the local Anishinaabe People called this area Gichi-biitoobiig meaning “Two Bays” while early French-Canadian explorers called it Grand Marais or “Great Marsh”. The area’s natural rock breakwater made it an important harbor for early ships to escape the fury of Lake Superior storms and the entire region was important in the 18th century fur trade. All along the western shore of Lake Superior goods would come in from Europe and points east and be traded for beaver furs with the Ojibwe and Cree People. More recently, Grand Marais became Minnesota’s oldest artists’ colony and is home to the North House Folk School. It’s the largest town on the upper end of Minnesota’s North Shore and the jumping-off point for the Gunflint Trail and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. And not to forget about its position on Lake Superior, Grand Marais also hosts a fleet of charter fishing vessels. You can’t miss Grand Marais on your trip to the North Shore, but it’s definitely worth your time to stop and stay awhile. You’ll be happy you did. I hope you enjoy these photos from beautiful downtown Grand Marais, Minnesota.
Hello Everyone and greetings from Minnesota. I crossed over at Duluth on the first of October which seemed like and appropriate day for a new beginning. It’s always a bit strange crossing into a new state because over the last however many weeks I’ve become accustomed to wherever I was. Within a state there are certainly regional differences, but crossing the state line isn’t a gradual change from north to south or east to west. Grocery stores are one way in Superior, Wisconsin and are something completely different 10 minutes away in Duluth (no booze in MN stores). And while people obviously move freely between the two, you can see differences in the culture immediately too. Packers green and gold gives way to Vikings purple and white and the maps on peoples’ t-shirts change as well. Spend enough time in one state and you’ll forever after recognize that state’s shape because you’ll see it everywhere if you’re really paying attention. It’s fun. Also apparently they call port-a-johns “biffies” in Minnesota. Oh, and the Twin Cities become just “The Cities” when you cross the state line. I have definitely been a little bit surprised by how many clothes people are wearing up here. Temperatures have been in the fifties and sixties and I’m still in shorts and a t-shirt but the locals are wearing jeans and coats and hats. Mark Twain has often been quoted (erroneously, apparently) as saying “the coldest winter I ever spent was summer in Duluth” and I know winter temperatures around here can get down to 50 below, and I just can’t imagine how cold these people must feel in the middle of winter if they’re so wrapped up in the beginning of October. I also got a kick out of a local radio ad which was telling employers to book a fun day out for their employees with a no bag-limit pheasant hunt “reserve your birds today”. Of course if it weren’t for these differences, traveling around the country the way that I am wouldn’t be nearly as fun.
So I have a fly which has been in my van for a few days now. I envision him thinking he is my dog because he seems to want to play all the time. He’s also very Midwestern in his mannerisms. He doesn’t bother me, but he wants me to know I’m not alone either. He keeps me company and comes and lands on me when I hop into bed. He doesn’t bite and he leaves me alone if I swish him away enough, but every time I get him out the door, he flies right back in again. He doesn’t move very fast and I could whack him with a flyswatter pretty easily, but he’s not really causing me any problems so for now, he can stay.
After I finished up this post last week, I headed out to Amicon Falls State Park which is about 15 minutes east of Superior. It’s a beautiful state park with quite a few waterfalls around to see, all within an easy walk of the parking lot. Like so many of the rivers in Wisconsin, there are a lot of tannins in the water from the trees which line their banks, leaving the water a brown, cola-like color. I don’t know where the Amicon River flows from, but it was raging when I was there. There was so much water going over the falls, and there hasn’t been much rain here recently and obviously no snow-melt in quite a while. It was pretty cool to see that much power in the water. That evening I went to celebrate my time in Wisconsin coming to a close with a beautiful cut of prime rib at Hammond’s Bar and Steakhouse which of course had to be accompanied by a brandy old-fashioned. I only made it to a few of Wisconsin’s storied supper clubs, but they made a big impression and were a wonderful part of my experience.
Thursday morning dawned foggy and grey, but I had one last place I wanted to see before I could leave Wisconsin: the state’s highest waterfall: Manitou Falls, at Pattison State Park. It was also only about 15 minutes out of Superior, and definitely worth the drive. I was actually really surprised by how high it was as most of the waterfalls I have seen around the state have been pretty small (it’s a flat state). Manitou Falls was impressive by any standard and I enjoyed eating my breakfast and watching the cascades. After breakfast I went on a little 3 mile round-trip hike to Little Manitou Falls which was also a pretty good sized waterfall. The sun came out and the fog burned off and by the time I returned to my van it had turned into a beautiful day. I decided to hang out there for a while, work on my podcast and enjoy the weather. I ended up staying at the park far into the middle of the afternoon and then headed to the library for a while to try and catch up on some of my photos from last week. By the time I was ready to go, it was late so I decided to hang on in Superior for one more night instead of crossing over late and when I was tired. I went for a burger and the Anchor Bar in Superior which came recommended by a friend. It was a decent burger at a very good price, but the people working there looked and acted the way most servers and bartenders feel but don’t show. I ended the night back at the Thirsty Pagan in the old railroad station with a nice beer and some good live music. That’s definitely a place I will return someday.
According to their Chamber of Commerce, Bayfield is one of USA Today's Best Coastal Small Towns, Wisconsin's Smallest City, the Berry Capital of the State, and the Gateway to the Apostle Islands. That’s a lot for a place with a population of only around 500. the town was named in 1856 for Henry Bayfield, a British admiral and topographic engineer who explored the region in the 1820s.Lumber and fishing were the big industries in the early days and Bayfield also served as a port city. You can tell from some of the beautiful Victorian homes in town that at least a few people made their fortunes here. I found Bayfield to be a charming place with beautiful architecture and wonderful views out over the lake. It was my jumping-off point to both Madeline Island and Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. If you visit, be sure you try the local delicacy of whitefish livers which was one of the tastiest dishes I’ve had in a long time. I hope you enjoy these photos from this wonderful lakefront city.
