Lake Superior is the biggest fresh water lake in the world. I’ve seen its shores many times from the Canadian side, and being in Minnesota, this was my chance to see it from the US side…and perhaps compare which side is better?!
So, we set off for a drive along the North Shore of Lake Superior, Minnesota.
Duluth is the first stop – if you’ve watched the Fargo TV-series, this name will be familiar to you. I have to say, Duluth wasn’t that spectacular, but that may have been the result of poor research before heading there, and the cool, drizzly weather. We did stop in at the Glensheen Historic Estate, the home of the wealthy family of Congdon. One of the Congdon’s used to be a famed politician in these parts. The family were taught to use their wealth to help their community, hence their ongoing fame. The house is known, also, for the murders that occurred there as part of some money scheme, I think. You can buy a ticket to tour the house, or for cheaper fun, pay $5.00 to tour the Estate grounds.
Our next stop is Two Harbors, just 20 min or so north of Duluth – the town is quiet, but it is host to Castle Dangers Brewery and a pub that serves good pub fare and many drinks.
As you head North, you enter the Iron Range – the area is rich in iron, and many of the towns were first built to support mining – many are still employed by companies that mine for iron ore. Due to costs of mining, they now mine taconite. They are quiet, small and seemingly sleepy towns – we did not have a chance to really explore them: perhaps we should have wandered into the buildings to see if there was life inside of them.
Instead of taking the highway, we took the shore road, and stumbled upon a flea/antique market which sold all kinds of interesting things, from farm machinery and old snow shoes, to silver spoons, records and Japanese tea sets. They were giving away some pictures, and I grabbed one with a pretty looking frame – I’m hoping to turn it into some kind of arty thing that will be a tactile memory of this trip. For now, a picture of a boy kissing a girl sits in the backseat keeping me company.
The best town stop along the shore is Beaver’s Bay, home to The Green Door/Liquor Store. The town is quiet, but the bar’s car park is full, and when you step through the door it is like stepping through the Wardrobe into a new world. Music, chatter, laughter, the smell of beer, bright lights and colours greet you. People are milling about, beers in hand. The place is alive with locals out for the night . Everyone knows each other. A Castle Danger brewery representative is there, and they have a raffle going and I win a T-shirt! The representative bring J a T-shirt too so that she doesn’t feel left out 🙂 Now we’re Team Danger!
Along the way there are three notable parks – Gooseberry Falls, Split Rock Lighthouse and Tettegouche. We walked around the falls, even got our feet in the water to walk over some of the rocks to get closer to the falls – it’s not dangerous – mum’s even let their young kids do it. The nicer hike was at Tettegouche – you can get close to and walk along the jagged cliff edges of Lake Superior.
We camped at Gooseberry Falls State Park, lucky enough to make dinner and set up when it was still dry, because soon the clouds collected and let the storm rip.
For dinner I made blue cheese risotto. The mix of a cheap white wine and blue cheese, topped with arugula and pine nuts made for a posh campground meal. Add wine to sip as you eat. Lush.
Thunder, lightning and a whole lot of rain came down on us for most of the night. My 13 year old tent did well and we were dry, managing to sleep well enough considering the lighting and thunder were above us, shaking the tent.
We woke up to drizzle, packed the tent into the back seat where it could dry and hit the road, hoping to find a warm place to have breakfast. Sadly, many places up here don’t wake up as early as we do, and we made it to Finland (the village in Minneapolis) before we saw an open cafe.
Step into ‘Our Place’ which looks like the inside of a hunter’s cabin, with plaques, photos and replicas of forest animals. Around the bar, locals were already sipping on their hot brew and chowing down their hearty breakfasts. Some of there were there, I suspect, purely for a talk with the gracious host. We ordered our breakfasts – I was craving eggs, but the addition of a pancake was alluring…the ‘side’ order of pancake arrived on a separate dinner plate, the size of it, too! The host kept on coming round with a pot of coffee and asking, ‘Another top up?’ and too many times we said, “Yes, please.” The hot brew hit the spot on a damp , grey and misty morning.
Then came the lovely, beautifully stereotypical family vacation, perfect, as if from a film. J’s husband’s family have a cabin in the Minnesota North Woods. They were heading to the cabin for the weekend and invited me along. J and I joined J’s husband and the family there.
It was a glorious 3 days. Slow mornings led to family breakfasts. The days consisted of reading on the porch. Relaxing on the dock. Taking the canoe or kayak out on the lake and navigating them through the river. Listening to the loons. Spotting deer on the other side of the lake. Lounging. Eating. Learning to play Cribbage and other games. Drinking delicious beer (the drink of choice was Miller High Life which, I was taught, is ‘the champagne of beer.’ Hmm…I have to disagree) and eating lovely brie with crackers. Going to the sauna, graduating to high school (the family set up this system – if you’re in elementary you sit on the first bench where it is coolest, the second bench is high school, and the last college – only the strong and experienced make it up there – the temperature in the sauna got as high as 180F), running to the lake, jumping off the dock to cool down and repeating the dance 2 more times before dinner. Listening to stories, playing games and singing until bed time. Just being.
There was no WiFi. No reception. No electricity or running water unless the generator is turned on, which it is only for a few hours during dinner and dinner clean-up.
There were mosquitoes, deer flies, horse flies and other things that bite. It was worth it.
This is where I leave J, and begin the rest of my journey solo. I head West.