Minnesota - North Shore

Greetings!  

We continue to enjoy the Great Lakes region and our first week in Minnesota was filled with fun times, exploring the beauty of Lake Superior (again), and spending time with dear friends.

We left Hayward on Sunday morning and it was still a bit hazy from the fires, but overall not bad.  It was a short and scenic 2-hour journey and we arrived to Two Harbors, Minnesota in the early afternoon.  Two Harbors is right along the shores of Lake Superior north of Duluth.  After getting settled, we headed to the infamous Betty's Pies for a late lunch and . . . you guessed it . . . pie!  It was so delicious!  This area is famous for their pies - more on that below.  After lunch, we went into Two Harbors harbor and walked around the Lighthouse and the Breakwater to work off the pie.  As in Marquette, Two Harbors has two very large Ore Docks that were very visible from the Breakwater and we were fortunate to have a lovely afternoon.

Another state line crossed!

Our campsite at a very small family-owned campground - perfect

YUM - that is Lake Superior in the background.

Walking along the shoreline of Two Harbors with the Breakwater in the background

Beautiful views abound - Lake Superior is really a stunning body of water.

The Breakwater where we were about to walk.

At the end of the Breakwater - the Ore Docks behind me.

These docks are huge - and still actively moving iron ore from train cars to large ships.

A beautiful afternoon in Two Harbors

Walking back to shore, I noticed one pink rock on the beach - the rocks along the lakeshore are so interesting.

Overlooking the shoreline and breakwater is Two Harbors Lighthouse

The next day, we enjoyed a stellar MN North Shore day - the weather was perfect.  We started at Gooseberry Falls State Park and did a beautiful 3-mile hike around all of the falls.  

We found the root systems on the rocks so interesting looking

There were many places along the route where you could walk down on the rocks to get closer to the falls.

I took this of Paul from the bridge

And he took this of me from the falls!

There were so many different ways to see the falls - we hiked, but there are also many places you can drive up and enjoy the falls - this was from a bridge overlook.

We were able to loop around the falls thanks to multiple bridges that crossed them.  It's a very popular spot for people to swim and enjoy the water.

After the falls, we headed to The Rustic Inn, which is another wonderful restaurant known for its pies and after doing some extensive research, Paul and I came to the conclusion that The Rustic Inn pies and restaurant vibe were better, but honestly, we loved both.  

I had North Shore Berry Crumb and Paul and Blueberry Peach Crumb - both with a la mode (of course) - super delish!

After lunch, we headed to another jewel on the Lake Superior shoreline - the Split Rock Lighthouse which is operated by the Minnesota Historical Society.  The Lighthouse was built in response to the great loss of ships during a terrible storm in 1905, during which 29 ships were lost or damaged.  Opened in 1910, the lighthouse stands on a 133-foot sheer cliff and is one of the most photographed in the world.  At the time of its construction, the area had no roads, so all building materials and supplies arrived by water and were lifted to the top of the cliff by crane.  A road was finally built in 1924 as the lighthouse attracted many tourists and sailors.  Truly an amazing story!  For more information, you can click here.

The shoreline near the lighthouse is so beautiful . . . and steep!

Taken from the Keepers' cottage, which was very interesting too!

The building to the left was the house for the Fog Horn - added in 1940.

You can walk to the beach and get this perspective and really appreciate the steepness of the cliff and what it took to construct this without roads.

A historic photo that shows you how they got supplies to the top.

Walking up to the top 

This stairway to the beach ran along the original path where supplies were brought to the top.

Tuesday was our reset day - errands, laundry, and just getting stuff done.  On Wednesday, we left Two Harbors and headed to Brimson, MN, which was a nice short, half-hour drive.  En route, we gave the Airstream its first bath of the trip - she needed it!

We spent 4 nights in Brimson with dear friends who have a cabin on a lake.  I have known Patsy for 40 years - we met in the summer of 1986 when we worked at the Grand Teton Lodge Company together at the Front Desk.  Her boyfriend Mark grew up in Minnesota and when Patsy moved to St. Paul about 5 years ago, they decided to buy a cabin on a lake.  And lucky for us, we were able to enjoy it with them for 4 days.  We stayed in the Airstream - dry camping - at the foot of their driveway and it worked out perfectly.  We were very lucky as the weather was great - it was not hot and we didn't need the ACs.  The day we left it got much warmer, so we timed it well.

Patsy!  At the end of their driveway

We parked the Airstream just to the left of their driveway and it worked out very well.  Their cabin is in a pretty remote area and there wasn't much traffic on the road.

Stone Lake!

Patsy heading down to their deck overlooking the lake

Looking at the loons - Mark is an expert on birds and we learned so much about these beautiful creatures.

Beautiful sunsets over their lake

Their property is comprised of a few buildings - I am on the porch of their main cabin and looking at their guest cabin (storage), sauna, and a lovely spot with a compost toilet!

The main cabin - has a beautiful deck attached lakeside where we enjoyed many meals, as well as one you walk to closer to the lake (pictured above).  There is a kitchen, dining area, living area, bedroom, and storage space - very cozy and charming!

Mark and Patsy walking down their driveway

Great hosts and special friends.

Our first full day, we headed back to the Lake Superior shoreline to 3 beautiful spots - Palisade Head, Tettegouche State Park, and Black Beach, all north of where we were earlier this week.  

Palisade Head is a popular rock climbing spot and also a spot for spectacular views of Lake Superior.

Behind us you can see another land outcropping (above and right of Paul's head) - which is Tettegouche State Park and the hike we would go on next.

Patsy and Mark at Palisade Head

Now we are on the Shovel Point hike at Tettegouche and behind us you can see Palisade Head in the distance.

It was a beautiful hike along the shoreline 

The views at the end were stunning - look at that water!

Among many other things, Lake Superior is known for its colorful rocks along the shoreline.

After Tettegouche, we headed to Black Beach - its distinct onyx-colored sand comes from taconite tailings (crushed rock waste) discarded from local mining operations decades ago.

The black beach and red rocks looked so beautiful in the afternoon sunshine.

The next day we stayed a bit closer to the cabin, relaxed, enjoyed some nice walks and picked some blueberries.  There is a beautiful small farm really close to Mark and Patsy's cabin and they had just opened for U-pick the day before!  

Paul and Mark discovered this amazing bird's nest - they let the owner know and moved onto another bush!

Cinder, the owner's black lab, was very helpful to all of us!

Look at all those yummy blueberries!

Cinder on hand to help Mark and Paul too!

Once in a while you have to stop picking to pet Cinder!

We washed all of them and we've already eaten quite a few, but have two good-sized bags in our freezer - we will enjoy these for weeks to come - lucky us!

Our final day at the cabin, we did more relaxing and walking - and enjoyed an afternoon floating on the lake - utter heaven!  Patsy and I realized - quite hysterically - that we had the same swim top (Land's End - purchased at Costco) - we had a great laugh over that!

We thoroughly enjoyed our time in the North Shore of Minnesota - such a beautiful state and gorgeous area.  And it was so special to spend time with dear friends on top of that - a huge thank you to Patsy and Mark for their hospitality and friendship.  We are now in northern Minnesota enjoying Voyageurs National Park - truly amazing - more on that in our next post.

Thanks as always for following along and for your love and support - XO, Jen & Paul