Minnesota’s North Shore stretches along Lake Superior from Duluth all the way to the Canadian border. This region was at the top of all of my Minnesotan friends’ must-see lists and after five days of exploring, I certainly understand why. There are eight beautiful state parks along this stretch, as well as Grand Portage National Monument which is a cooperative effort between the National Park Service and the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. This park tells the story of the early fur traders, voyageurs and Native Americans who came together on the western shore of Lake Superior. Waterfalls abound along the North Shore, including Minnesota’s tallest - High Falls in Grand Portage State Park. I also found lighthouses, cute little lakeside towns and breathtaking views out over Lake Superior. Also in this region is the wonderful Gunflint Trail Scenic Byway which stretches 40 miles, from Grand Marais to Gull Lake, and offers wonderful lodging and recreation activities in the state’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area. While not technically on the North Shore, I’ve included some of my favorite shots from my two days along this beautiful road as well. I so enjoyed watching the sun set and then rise again in the morning over Gunflint Lake, and the stars at night were simply amazing. I will echo my friends’ recommendation - if you’re coming to Minnesota, the North Shore is definitely a place you must see. For such a compact area, it’s one of the most beautiful regions I’ve seen in my travels anywhere in the country. I hope you enjoy these photos from Minnesota’s North Shore and the Gunflint Trail Scenic Byway.
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.
During my month in Hawaii I visited Oahu twice, but only for a total of four days. I enjoyed a lot of the historic buildings in Honolulu, especially Iolani Palace. Pearl Harbor was fascinating and heartbreaking, the North Shore was full of amazing scenery and cool places to stop and poke around, and Waikiki had a beautiful beach and some wonderful recreational opportunities and nightlife. It was always hectic when I was there as I was running around trying to get trips started and dealing with taxis and rental cars, but when I finally had a little bit of time and space to breath, I really enjoyed my brief visit to Oahu. Although I didn’t have time to take a lot of photos there, I quite like some that I did take. I hope you do too.
Hello everyone, and thank you for stopping by. The flowers are coming in nicely here in East Louisana, but the weather has cooled off significantly as well. I’ve been enjoying the little cold snap though, and sleeping really well cozy-ed up in the back of my van. I had an interesting stop in Alexandria this week, a town which has definitely seen better days, but which isn’t dead yet. From there I headed back into Cajun Country for the weekend, enjoying great food, drink, music and company. I stopped off in Lafayette to get some work done and have cruised across the north of the eastern panhandle to the North Shore where I am writing to you from today. It’s been a fun week as I start to make my preparations for my departure from Louisiana. It’s always sad to go, but it’s almost time I moved on. HERE is the link to this week’s map if you like to follow along as I go.
When I left you last week, I made my way south along the Mississippi River levee, and found the river is really high. It was definitely higher than the road in a lot of places, and while the levee was doing what it was built to do, it’s still a little bit nerve racking to be driving below the water line. I stopped in a few places to just look out at the river as it flowed past. I made the turn northwest when I hit Louisiana Route 1 and headed on to Mansura for a stop at Juneau’s Cajun Meat Market. This is a spot recommended by a friend as having the best boudin (Cajun pork and rice sausage) in Louisiana, so I had to stop in and give it a go. This was a real butcher shop with all kinds of beautiful fresh meat on display - if I had a proper refrigerator I would have probably spent a fortune there. Unfortunately, I don’t, so I settled for some boudin, a fried boudin ball, and a boudin and pepperjack cheese wrap. All three were amazing and while they didn’t help my cholesterol, they were well worth the stop.
