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{Guest post from Carolyn Wilhelm}
Grand Marais, MN…
…one of the many exceptional places to visit in the great state of Minnesota.
In the past two weeks, we have sighted one Great Gray Owl, 4 Eagles, two hairy woodpeckers, two downy woodpeckers, many black-capped chickadees, several Pileated Woodpeckers, and heard Cooper’s hawk calling. Bird-watching is great in the Northwoods. This is a tourist town so many people visit this area. Hiking, biking, climbing, skiing, cross-country skiing, canoeing, kayaking, camping, rock hunting, and owl watching await the visitors to Grand Marais. The North House Folk School in Grand Marais has owl watching classes. I held a long-eared owl at a (cold) night program at Hawk Ridge a few years ago.
Grand Marais is a harbor town on Lake Superior and has beautiful sunsets and sunrises. The lighthouses in the photo are hard to see, but this is a view of the harbor from downtown Grand Marais. In the summer, it is a great place to practice rock skipping. The North Shore Dragon Boat Festival is held here at the end of July each year. Grand Marais has many local artists and so the Arrowhead Regional Arts Center is very important. There are many art fairs, such as the annual Grand Marais Arts Festival, held the second weekend annually in July. The Boundary Waters Canoe Area is not too far away, either.
As I am writing this post in the beautiful Boreal Forest winter, I want to share a few recent photos. Skiing is available at Lutsen Mountain, and lighted local cross-country skiing is fun.
There is dog sledding here in the winter. The mushers wear pink. The Beargrease marathon is named for John Beargrease, as he and his brothers ran mail from Two Harbors to Grand Marais for 20 years from 1879-1899. This was before roads were available.
There are several local children’s authors such as Betsy Bowen and Kelly Dupre. One book Betsy Bowen is known for is Antler, Bear, Canoe. Kelly Dupre is known for is A Raven’s Gift. Betsy Bowen illustrated a book about raptors at Hawk Ridge in Duluth.
Have you ever seen this bumper sticker? It is seen around the United States and is from a pizza restaurant in Grand Marias, MN. Friends of ours have seen it in Washington state, for example. This is one of the kid-friendly attractions in this town. If you don’t have your own bumper sticker, you will be happy to know Swen and Ole’s gives one free in each box of pizza.
Grand Marais has family-friendly eating establishments such as Subway and DQ, many restaurants such as My Sister’s Place, and places to eat all along Highway 61 and the Gunflint Trail. This is a link to an article about Food and Drink: North Shore Eats by Rick Nelson of the StarTribune newspaper from Minneapolis. Or eat at the Angry Trout (summers only) and perhaps see the local otters play for dinner entertainment. Informal dining with an outside deck is available at the Dockside Fish Market.
Get your tackle and bait at this fun looking store!
When you are on the North Shore, books about agates and rock collection are a must for the children. There are ample opportunities for rock collecting on the rocky shore of Lake Superior. The Drury Lane Bookstore has one of each book and reminds me of a library. For children, there is somewhat more of a selection.
Birch Bark Gallery has books, art, women’s clothing, music CDs, toys, and gifts.
After all the hiking and biking and climbing, some coffee or hot chocolate might be in order. The Java Moose goes all out for its customers!
Finally, a souvenir of the visit will be in order, so a visit to the Gunflint Mercantile will help with that. Fudge (all year long), truffles, handmade aprons, jams, jellies, soup mixes and so much more are available at this friendly shop.
There is so much more I could tell you. I would have to write several books to share everything. We hope you will like Grand Marais as much as we do! I’ll leave you with a photo of the rocky North Shore in winter!
Note from Becky
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