Lake Superior Things

Went up to Hovland with Brent seperately. Stopped at Fitger's to pickup beer and drop off beer and have lunch. The wild rice burger is amazing. It is my ritual to stop at Fitgers on the way up for lunch and beer to start vacation. Vacation begins in Duluth when I see the delta of the St. Louis river and the Twin Ports, Duluth and Superior. Mentally I am on vacation. It has started for me. Also, When I see the Twin Ports and Superior disappear from my sight travelling 35 south it is the end of vacation. The last beer and lunch at Fitgers and it is adios for awhile.

The cabin number 4 is the cabin we are guests at in Hovland. It is a rustic little thing built for shorter people. The kitchen looks onto the lake and our own private shore/beach. A nice Duluth gabbro, igneous rock slab beach. We have several residents we share the area with i.e. a red squirrel (very crabby), chipmunks, birds (esp. sea gulls), some chickadees, and other creatures.

The weather was perfect. Summer had waited until we arrived. Actually for the week prior, the week of, and two more weeks the North Shore had a wonderful summer. The days were splendid being warm, sunny, and soft breezes. The evenings were t-shirt and shorts weather. I enjoyed the stars late at night nude. I woke up in the middle of the night and went outside to look at the sky and it was pleasantly warm. The stars were amazing with the Milky Way just fantastic.

I played bagpipes for our little community. They enjoyed it very much. I also learned how to operate and use my Victor VI Victrola. So I have been able to play my old records and enjoy them. Lots of fun as I have had my Victrola sitting for at least 10 and probably 15 years. I picked it up on Gold Rush Days with Ann one year. Noy knowing anything about Victrolas, I bought it and it proved to be a very good machine. Jon rearranged the arm so it was correct and replaced the reproducer with the correct one. Like bagpipes they have one volume and you control it by opening the doors or shutting them.

Our routine is to go to the Trail Center for dinner, Nanabijou for Sunday brunch, Grand Marais Farmer's Market, the general store in Hovland for bread and pastries, and lots of hiking the trail. This time we went to the wee little ECLA church in Hovland, Trinity. What a nice service by a pastor that was really a gift. She delivered a lovely sermon and the whole feeling of the community was really nice.

Usually we take in lots of hiking but this time no. I was forced with a sore knee to relax more which was great. I am not much for relaxing but when forced to I enjoy it immensely.

The time up on the North Shore is always magical. I love it winter , spring, summer, or fall.

Things North Shore

Well, Brent and I went up to the North Shore on 9 Sept. and I returned on 16 Sept. with Katherine. Brent and I had beautiful weather and a great time. Coming down the hill into Duluth on 35 is one of the best, most loveliest views in all the world. Seeing Lake Superior, I knew I had started my vacation. We stopped at Fitger's on the way up (we always stop on the way back as well), and had beers with lunch. The place we stay at is in Hovland. We stayed at Nordlof at the Sanger's cabin 4, Brent cabin 1. Our cabin was at the far end of the property on the lake with its own walk way to the lake front. It was an actual log cabin that had been retrofitted with electrical and plumbing. It had the kitchen table turned to the lake. Just a charming little cabin to stay in.

Brent and I walked during the day. He showed me around alot of the places he loves which was really cool as i am now getting to know the North Shore and Cook County even more. At night, we ate and drank. We drank lots of Fitger's beer and Macallan scotch 12 yrs. So there was lots of lively conversations. I grilled chicken and corn one night and made a chicken stir fry another night.

The sweethearts came up on Friday and we went for a walk to Magnetic Rock. Magnetic Rock is a glacial erratic (it was put there by the glacier) made up of magnitite. It stands in the middle of a pretty significant area. The area was part of the big blow down in 4 July 1999 when straight line winds toppled tens of thousands of trees. it is also the sight of two recent fires the Hamm lake fire from 2007 being the most recent. What was most interesting next to this very cool rock was that with the blow down and the fires you could see the landscape all around. Nature was coming back quickly but you could look for quite far. Great vistas! The sun was setting when we finished and we headed to the Trail Center for dinner. The Trail Center is on the Gunflint Trail about 29 miles from Grand Marais. It has great food and was voted by Esquire Magazine as one of the top ten restaurants in the country, spring 2008.

Saturday, we walked up to Lake Agnes. This was a very steep climb but again lovely vistas, and beautiful forest and lakes. We ate Karen's Green Glop/Green Goddess and it was really good. Mung beans, brown rice, vegetables, ginger, turmeric, cardamon, onions, and garlic. For dessert we had blueberry pie from the Satilite Inn. Delicious! Sunday brunch was at the Naniboujou Lodge. We arose early and what a feast. They have without doubt the best salmon. It is grilled on cedar planks and it is so bloody good. I went back and had 3 pieces. After we went to see the high falls on the Pidgeon River. I hadn't been there in 40+ years. K and I had bought a book on lichens of MN. We were looking all around at the various all around us.

Monday, our last day and we went up old Hiway 61 to the old border crossing. K and I used the book to identify more and more lichens. It was amazing to see what we could identify and what was there with lichens on lichens. We hiked part of the Grand Portage from Hiway 61 to the Beaver Dam 2.7 miles in. This was pretty nice being a fairly gentle walk and a very lovely day.

We drove back on Tuesday stopping at KKD pottery to view her very cool outhouse and check out her pottery. I bought a small bowl for flowers. It is a blue glazed raku firing. I think it if very nice.