ALSV Day 8 (7/13/10): Last Day

(Posted 12 days delayed by Dakota Noel)

The lake had been quiet for our stay so far, but yesterday afternoon, the wind started coming up from the east, bringing with it some waves and a few whitecaps. This morning we got to wake up to the sound of the waves. Ilene and I enjoyed coffee in bed with the sound of the waves and a view of the lake. Classic Bob’s.

While the classic start made it a glad day, it is also a sad day since now that I’ve finally in the groove of vacationing, I fly out of Duluth this evening to Moline for three days of meetings. I take some solace in the fact we are not driving to Fargo today to fly out from there. That gives me a few more hours to enjoy the sound and sight of the waves with my family.

ALSV Day 7 (7/12/10): Hanging Out

(Posted 12 days delayed by Dakota Noel)

We’ve hit the groove of vacationing at Bob’s: sleeping in, waking up to the sounds of the lake (although we would have preferred loons to crows this morning), and reading. It has been sunny in the 50s to 70s and very nice to be outside.

Just before lunch, the John G. Munson went by, en route from Duluth to Two Harbors to pick up a load of iron ore pellets. We had salad in the cabin and then resumed our reading, writing, drawing, walking, and other lakeside activites.




We read and hung out until suppertime. We decided to try a restaurant new to us, Lighthouse on Homestead, which is just beyond Knife River heading towards Duluth from Two Harbors. We wanted something that was a step up from fast food, close by, and reasonably priced. The Lighthouse met the bill, especially their award winning Beacon Burger which featured cream cheese and berries on the burger. After supper we came back to the cabin and hung out until bedtime.

ALSV Day 6 (7/11/10): Blogging, Eating, and Reading

(Posted 12 days delayed by Dakota Noel)

The day started with more thunder and rain from the cold front which had also brought the previous night’s storm. Once again, the worst went north and south of us. It was a nice morning to get caught up on blogging.

With scattered showers still in the area, we drove down to Duluth for lunch at the Chester Creek Café near the University of Minnesota – Duluth campus. We then swung by Whole Foods with no particular shopping list and left with freshly made peanut butter and almond butter. Our final stop in Duluth was Lief Erickson Park where Ilene had hoped to view some peonies, but they were past and the rains picked up. There were a couple ships anchored outside the Duluth harbor which made for nice picture taking.



The rain let up and the skies were clearing as we got back to the cabin. Having finished my first book, Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper, I started my second book, Introverts in the Church by Adam McHugh. We had supper at the cabin and then drove to Flood Bay State Wayside on just the other side of Two Harbors where Ilene and the girls hunted for sea glass. The pickings are best just after storms. Besides a beautify evening, we were also treated to a nice sunset.

ALSV Day 5 (7/10/10): At Bob’s

(Posted 12 days delayed by Dakota Noel)

The day was sunny and warm. Reading filled the time until we went to Two Harbors where the annual Heritage Days festival was in progress. We specifically went in for a late lunch at Immanuel Lutheran Church where they had a meatball dinner. Very good. We then walked the craft fair where Ilene bought a birch bark lamp shade to go with the lamp whose base will be made from rocks collected at Grand Marais.

Back at the cabin, we read, we had some supper, we read some more, and then had some Riesling white wine with the smoked gouda we had bought at Thunder Oaks farm a few days earlier.

About 10:55 PM, there was a crack and the electricity went out for the second time this day. The first time, late morning, was attributed to a squirrel which had shorted out the lines and whose crispy body was actually found before the power outage was noticed. There was no corpse found for this outage, however, and the power was restored by midnight.

The outage did get us outside to watch the fantastic lightning from thunderstorms about 20-30 miles to the south. The lack of electricity got us to thinking about vacationing here in the 1920s when the cabins were new as was the highway which brought tourists to Jake’s cow pasture. Did they have candles like we were using? Did they cook with wood?

ALSV Day 4 (7/9/10): Grand Marais to Two Harbors

(Posted 12 days delayed by Dakota Noel)

After breakfast at the hotel, we packed up and started our leisurely drive from to Bob’s Cabins. We stopped in Schroeder for restrooms and a walk through of the community museum. We then stopped at Temperance River State Park for a quick hike from the highway to Hidden Falls. A picnic lunch was eaten at Split Rock Lighthouse State Park. Finally we arrived at Bob’s Cabins and started reading.




About supper time we went into Two Harbors to the Super One grocery store get the groceries for our stay. It was then back to Bob’s for more reading and a nice sunset. It should be noted that when I take Lake Superior sunset pictures, I am typically facing directions other than west as the hills block the sunset. What I capture is the setting sun reflecting off the clouds and the lake. I have a photo album on Facebook called “Superior Sunsets” which has my best sunset (and sunrise) pictures from over the years.

ALSV Day 3 (7/8/10): Thunder Bay to Grand Marais

(Posted 12 days delayed by Dakota Noel)

Once we had packed up at Blue Points Mine, we were ready to head to our next destination of Grand Marais, MN via Thunder Bay. Between Thunder Bay and the mines, we traveled on the Trans-Canada Highway which isn’t all that heavily traveled in the Thunder Bay area (eg Canadian truck traffic on I-94 in the US vs Ontario 11/17). I suspect the main reason is that true trans-Canadian travelers cut through the US for higher highway speeds and lower gas prices.

The road varied in number of lanes and repair with several construction zones with delays between the mines and Thunder Bay. Construction was one of the things I remember about my first trip to Thunder Bay in the mid 1960s when the road took people through town rather than around it. Ontario 61 between the border and Thunder Bay was also lightly travelled, especially compared to Minnesota 61 all the way up to Grand Portage.

We intentionally drove through Thunder Bay along the lake front to see it and other parts of town. Thunder Bay is a lot like Duluth without Canal Park: a working port without a lot of aesthetics. There is a recently started waterfront development to change that and it may be worth a trip back in a few years to see it. We had lunch at a McDonalds across the street from the new lakefront park.

We made two stops between Thunder Bay and the border. The first was at Thunder Oak Cheese Farm where we picked up some smoked gouda and some garlic cheese curds to enjoy at the cabin. The second was at Pigeon River Provincial Park where we took a short boardwalk trail to be treated to a nice bay on Lake Superior. After crossing the border, we stopped at Grand Portage State Park and made the short hike to the high falls of the Pigeon River.

High Falls of the Pigeon River: US to left, Canada to right

Pigeon Bay, Canada

We arrived in Grand Marais, MN late afternoon. While the sign entering town claims just over 1500 residents, that number swells in the summer with artists and tourists. It has more hotels, shops, and restaurants than a town that size would otherwise merit.

After unpacking, we browsed some of the shops including the picturesque Drury Lane Bookstore. Nothing like browsing a book with a breeze coming fresh off the lake and through the open window to where the paper is in ones hands. Very sensual.

Drury Lane Books, Grand Marais, MN

While the Angry Trout Cafe had been the intended supper venue, the family made a spontaneous decision to go to the classic Sven and Ole’s Pizza for an Uff-da (supreme) pizza. It was good, don’t ya know.

After supper, Ilene and the girls tended to the task which had brought us back to the town and the hotel: rock hunting on the beach. In our previous visit, they had found a number of smooth black rocks which ended up in a wooden frame purchased at a farmers/crafters market the following day to house a beautiful sunset picture.

2007 Souvenir of Grand Marais

This night’s hunting yielded rocks for two projects: an animal paw and the base for a lamp. Ilene thinks she knows someone in Fargo who can drill the rocks to run the cord from the bottom up to the fixture.

2010 Souvenir of Grand Marais

We were also treated to a nice sunset with photo opportunities which were enjoyed with some frozen custard on the beach. (Note how the gilrs have grown between the picture below and the one from 2007).

Grand Marais, 2010

ALSV Day 2 (7/7/10): Of Sleeping Giants, Heroic Indian Princesses, and Clabbered Milk

(Posted 10 days delayed by Dakota Noel)

Once we were done at Amethyst Mine Panorama on Day 2, we were hungry and in a mood for some sight seeing. We headed to the Bay & Algoma shopping district and the historic and famous Hoito Restaurant located in the Finlandia Club building . The décor has a 1950’s feel to it and the menu is a mix of Finnish and Canadian food items. Thunder Bay has one of the largest Finnish populations outside of Finland and I heard Finnish being spoken at the restaurant.

Daughter L had pancakes, almost large crepes, with egg; Ilene and T split a Finnish sausage with mashed potatoes and corn; and I had veal steakettes with mashed potatoes and corn. Pretty good stuff. We did pass on the clabbered milk dish (viili) which seems to be a soured milk yogurt. Our culinary adventurousness has limits. After lunch we walked down the street to the Finnish Book Store and poked our heads into a few other stores before departing the neighborhood.

Our next stop was Hillcrest Park for a scenic overview of the city and the Sleeping Giant across the bay. The Sleeping Giant lies in a provincial park on the Sibley Penninsula. The head of the giant is on the far left, arms folded on chest are next, and then the legs and feet are on the right. One can hike on the giant, be we opted not to.

Sleeping Giant seen from Hilcrest Park

Grain terminals viewed from Hillcrest Park

Readers who graduated with me from Henry Sibley Senior High School might be wondering if there is a connection to the peninsula and yes there is. Henry Sibley, an early European resident in our school district who gained fame as a fur trader, general in the US/Dakota conflict, and first governor of Minnesota, had a brother Alexander Sibley. Alexander has an entry in Wikipedia as does the peninsula. To summarize, he was president of the Silver Islet Mining Company which operated a silver mine on the south end of the land form which now bears his name.

Following the stop at Hillcrest Park, we headed west of Thunder Bay to Kakabeka Falls Provincial Park to see the falls. At 130+ feet, the falls is second highest in Ontario, a distant second, to Niagara Falls. There is a nice set of boardwalks and observation points near the falls and a visitors center where we got to see a 13 minute presentation on the area, including the story of the Ojibwe Indian princess Greenmantle.

Kakabeka Falls

Observation platform at Kakabeka Falls

According to legend (with several variants), Greenmantle was with attacking Sioux warriors who were unfamiliar with the area. She feigned betrayal of her people in return for her life. In leading the Sioux down the river to her tribes encampment, she led them to the falls. By the time the Sioux warriors figured out what was happening, it was too late and almost all were swept over the falls. The anguish of the perished Sioux can be heard in the roar of the falls and the beauty of the heroic princess seen in the nearby rainbows.

After enjoying the falls, we headed back to Thunder Bay in search of a restaurant which served perogies, an eastern European food commonly eaten in Manitoba and this part of Ontario. On about the third try, we found them as an appetizer at Swiss Chalet Rotissarie & Grill. The dipping sauce was perhaps better than the perogies, but the standard is homemade or church served.

ALSV Days 2 & 3 (7/7-8/10): In Search of Amethyst

(Posted 10 days delayed by Dakota Noel)

Amethyst, a purple quartz, was a major reason we came to Thunder Bay. The back story begins in Grand Marais, MN in 2007 when we bought some Canadian amethyst from a street vendor who told tales of the quarry from which the stone had come. Our purchases ended up as decorative stone in our garden. Last year in Two Harbors, Ilene and the girls were in a store when a mine owner came in with some premium pieces to be sold there. Ilene struck up a conversation with him to find out more about the mine.

Garden statue holding 2007 purchased amethyst

So this year, with passports in hand, we went to Thunder Bay and then drove the 40 miles to each of two mines to find our own stones. We did one mine/quarry each morning for a couple of hours. We are bringing home about 10 gallons of rocks from the quarries. Some rocks are larger ones intended for the garden while my approach was to find a lot of small slivers which can go into a bottle on my desk in the Digital Den.

The first mine we did was Amethyst Mine Panorama which is the more expensive and geared to tourists of the two. They charge CAN$ 6 for each person who comes and then CAN$ 3 per pound of rock taken (isn’t Canada supposed to be metric?). The admission also includes a brief guided tour and some interpretive signs about amethyst, it’s origin, and the mining operation.

The main vein is professionally mined with prime pieces getting cut and polished for sale at the mine or the amethyst store in Thunder Bay. We had stopped at their in-town outlet before heading to the mine and got a tour of their workshop.“Scrap” material from the mind is brought up to an area where tourists equipped with pails and picks and search for treasure.

Commercial quarry at Amethyst Mine Panorama

T. and L. surveying one of the tourist digging areas

The second mine we went to was Blue Points Amethyst Mine which is owned by the man Ilene met in Two Harbors last year. After driving less than 10 mph on a three mile gravel road after about 5 miles of better road off the trans-Canadian highway, we got to the parking area. The owner lives and works out of an old school bus and shack during the summer. We were greeted by an assistant living out of a camper. He gave us some instruction, gave us buckets, and directed us up a road to the quarry.

Some serious rock hounds were pounding away on rock to access the amethyst inside. Hammering was prohibited at Panorama due to the eye hazard. There was also a couple from the Twin Cities looking for a garden stone. We set to work looking through the rock for quantity and quality to put in our garden. Once we had our fill, we carried the buckets back down the hill and paid $20/bucket for our treasure.

Quarry at Blue Points Amethyst Mine

Heading back to the parking area with our treasures

Rock washing, amethyst for purchase, and pails

Finally, I offer links to a couple YouTube videos others have made about the Amethyst Mine Panorama and Blue Points Amethyst Mine.

Some of our amethyst and Grand Marais rocks

ALSV Day 1 (7/6/10): Outward Bound

(Posted 10 days delayed by Dakota Noel)

We left Fargo on Tuesday morning, July 6th about 9:00 AM for Thunder Bay, Ontario. It was kind of an odd departure day and time given that we had been in Two Harbors for 4th of July the last few years and had enjoyed fireworks over the harbor. This year, however, daughter T had a church youth conference and didn’t get back until 10 PM Sunday night. It seemed kind of rugged for her to turn it around in less than 12 hours, so we opted for a Tuesday departure.

T. and Mr Snuggles Ready to Depart

The later departure worked especially well for me as I didn’t finish three work projects until Monday morning. Ilene and daughter L went to Ilene’s sister’s for the 4th and got back Monday morning, so I didn’t feel bad about a series of long days at the office which included the weekend.

Like many people leaving Fargo, we had a stop to get last minute supplies. Rather than beer or ammo or bait, we stopped at the Fargo Public Library to pick up books and audio books for the trip. Outbound we listened to Holes.

We took our standard route to Duluth going through Park Rapids and Walker. The drive up MN-61 felt a bit odd as we sped by places which are usually destinations for us. We did stop for gas and ice cream (Culver’s) at Two Harbors, supper at Naniboujou Lodge beyond Grand Marais (known for its Cree dining room and French onion soup), and gas at Grand Portage. We did all our Canadian touring on that tank which cost US$2.79/gal vs fuel in Thunder Bay which was CAN$1.10/liter. Between exchange rates and sales tax rates, we just used a straight 1-to-1 conversion when evaluating costs in Canadian dollars.

T. in the Dining Room at Naniboujou

The border crossing in both directions wasn’t much of an event for us. We were tourists and we had our passports. There was a single line open for cars each way with about 4 cars ahead of us. About an hour after crossing the border, we arrived at Days Inn & Suites on Sibley Drive which was our base for two days. I had picked this hotel after looking at reviews on the internet. It is a newer property which was conveniently located by major highways, restaurants, ATM, etc. The continental breakfast was low in choices and high in carbs, but in line with other Days Inns I’ve stayed at. It worked well for us.