Exploring with Intuition: Grand Marais Minnesota Weekend

8/17/2019

Waking in the fog, the first thing on the agenda was a stroll into town...

...to fact check the Worlds Best Donuts. Following the scent of freshly baked dough, cinnamon, and sugar led me to the shop where a line had already formed at 0700. After trying a donut I reached the conclusion that more sampling would be required to dispute their claim.

With a good sugar rush going, we visited the historical museum in the old lighthouse keepers house. The original 1885 light house was wood like this. Storms took a toll on structures close to the water, so the wooden lighthouse was replaced by the current steel structure in 1922.

The fresnel lens from the original lighthouse was on display.

From the musuem, we wandered the town visiting a few neat art galleries. Pretty prints hung from the ceiling at the Trading Post art gallery.

We bypassed most of the tourist shops and weren't quite sure what this one was selling. They do win our vote for "most unique signage."

The Lake Superior Trading Post had a good selection of outdoor gear. We picked up a collapsable toaster for the gas stove.

Walking back toward the campground, we wandered through the grounds of the North House Folk School.

In contrast to last night, the school was a bee hive of activity.

A few of the classes we peeked in on were practicing timber framing,

shoe making,

and canoe construction. It would be easy to spend a week or a summer here learning hands on methods from days gone by.

Writing this a year later during the Coronavirus Pandemic, we noticed that the school is hosting Crafting in Place web seminars for those of us that aren't traveling right now.

I lured Beth away from the crafts for lunch at the Angry Trout Cafe. She had tender maple glazed chicken and I enjoyed local whitefish with pickled vegetables and a Voyageur Palisade Porter.

Possibly influenced by their neighbors, the restaurant had chairs with fish-shaped backs and their building utilized timber peg construction.

By 1300, we joined "Captain T" for a historical walking tour of the harbor.

Much of the harbor was still engulfed in fog. We could just see a schooner ghosting along the shoreline.

Captain T. said that water level is the highest he has seen in 35 years of sailing Lake Superior. Unfortunately, there is also more algae than ever before.

The tour ended back at the Coast Guard station, still fogged in.

When the fog finally lifted, a little after 1600, I hiked the nearby Sweetheart trail, while my sweetheart rested in the van.

Pine woods and berries lined the trail as it wound upwards from the village.

Reaching the top provided a rewarding harbor view. Note that the fog bank hadn't really lifted, it just retreated a little bit offshore.

Looping back down, the reason for the trail name became apparent as folding chairs were being set-up for a wedding.

There aren't many wedding venues with this kind of a view.

After sandwiches for supper we hiked out to Artist’s Point. The coast here looks much like Maine - minus the salt air.

One of the Great Lakes slogans is “Unsalted, Shark Free.”

Stopped at Dairy Queen on the way back, where they had a nice outdoor fire going so people wouldn’t be to cold to order ice cream. Beth enjoyed her Blizzard while I shot photos of the lighthouse, schooner, and sunset.

Not driving anywhere for the first time in months, we ended up walking eight miles around Grand Marais.

We woke to rain Sunday morning, but that didn't deter us from continued research into which donuts were best. Tip: Lines are shorter in the rain.

Grand Marais takes the safety of their tourists seriously. Orange flags were available to carry when crossing the larger streets.

With rain, we decided it was a good day to do laundry. This Cape Cod house near the laundromat reminded me of the home I was raised in.

Returning to the campground for lunch, not all of our neighbors were giant RV's. We got a kick out of the tag line on the aft end of this teardrop trailer.