Previously, I regaled you with Too Local: Duluth, Minnesota
Welcome to Minnesota’s North Shore
The northern terminus of Interstate 35 drops you at my old liquor store. That’s probably a metaphor for something but I’m too sloshed to suss it out. If you want to keep driving up the North Shore of Lake Superior, Interstate 35 becomes Minnesota Highway 61. Minnesota’s Scenic Highway 61 weaves along the Lake Superior shoreline, offering beautiful big water views, Minnesota pine trees (I dig that pine tree smell) and plenty of awesome stops. From Duluth to the Canadian border is just over a 3 hour trip.
Get in, bitches! We’re road trippin’!
Starting at the liquor store (of course), you’ll drive past some very lovely London Road homes on the lakeshore, then past the semi-secret 42nd Ave East Beach where my (then) 16 year old daughter t-boned a landscaping truck (Hoo boy, THAT was expensive!), then past rocky Brighton Beach (an excellent place to watch the fireworks on July 4th or the Northern Lights).
The sun rise at Brighton Beach.
You can either take the expressway or the scenic route along the shore to Two Harbors. You should definitely take the scenic route (Old Highway 61 / Congdon Boulevard).
Outdoor seating at The New Scenic Café.
The New Scenic Café might be the closest thing we have to Michelin star level dining.
I’ll take the smoked salmon, please.
A little further up you’ll find Russ Kendall’s Smokehouse. If you like smoked fish, this place is heaven. Just be prepared to pay handsomely.
We ALWAYS had to stop at the Great Lakes Candy Kitchen in Knife River when the kids were in the car. I’m not much for candy, but they do make excellent pecan turtles.
Two Harbors docks.
A few miles north is the town of Two Harbors. The freeway merges with the scenic route – it’s all two-lane from here up to the Canadian border. In Two Harbors you can sometimes catch a big freighter ship loading at the docks. You can tour the birthplace of 3M (the people who bring you Scotch tape and Post it notes). Nearby is Castle Danger Brewing. They make very popular (around here) beer. So popular that they ran into a state mandated limit. In Minnesota, if you sell more than 20,000 barrels of beer in a year, you can no longer sell growlers to go. Growlers were a significant part of their income.
Two Harbors Light house.
The lighthouse on Agate Bay has been turned into a bed and breakfast
Silver Creek Cliff Tunnel. Hold your breath.
Just north of Two Harbors the road goes though a tunnel cut through the bluff. I encouraged my kids to try to hold their breath for the duration of the tunnel (It was mostly my ploy to get them to stop talking for a little while. To this day, they still do it. Silly traditions.).
Skip Betty’s Pies (somehow wildly popular despite consistently poor service and mediocre pies) and drive a little further to The Rustic Inn Café instead. They have better service, better food, and waitrons that aren’t as surly.
Gooseberry Falls.
Gooseberry Falls State Park is definitely worth a stop. I think you are supposed to have a Minnesota State Park sticker on your windshield to enter, but nobody has ever asked for one in the 15 years I have been going there. You can hike trails and bridges both above and below the falls. During certain times of the year and with recent rainfall, you can crawl over the rocks and eventually get to a lovely area behind the waterfall. Be careful in the water above the falls, though. It seems someone get swept over the falls every other year or so.
Iona’s Beach.
A few miles north, you will find Iona’s Beach which is dominated by cliffs of rhyolite on the north end. Lake Superior waves work away at the cliff, breaking off shards of the pink rhyolite and wash them down shore. Once home to Twin Points Resort, the area is named after longtime owner Iona Lind. This was my kid’s favorite beach in both summer and winter. Beautiful pink rocks. A cliff to jump off of into the cold Lake Superior waters. Some of the pink rocks are even good for skipping.
Split Rock Lighthouse
Split Rock Lighthouse is a few miles north. It is the most well-known visual representation of the North Shore. The Lighthouse, part of the MN Historical Society, offers a guided tour of the lighthouse, fog-signal building, oil house and light-keeper’s house. Each November 10th, the beacon is lit at the Edmund Fitzgerald Memorial. I found the tour of the lighthouse interesting. The adjacent state park has trails, camping, and alluring forests running down to the shoreline.
In Beaver Bay, you can enjoy an eclectic mix of shops and restaurants. The nearby cemetery is the eternal resting place of John Beargrease, a legendary dog musher and mail carrier in the late 1800’s. His legend is celebrated every winter with the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon, a 300 mile race from Duluth to Grand Portage. The “Beargrease” is a qualifier for the famed Iditarod race in Alaska.
Black Beach.
In Silver Bay, you’ll find Black Beach Park, a picturesque black rock beach. It gets its name from the taconite tailings [crushed rock] from taconite refining that makes up the beach. The huge Cleveland-Cliffs plant processes iron ore into taconite pellets for shipment to steel making plants elsewhere.
Palisade Head.
Palisade Head is a lakeside cliff with a stellar sweeping outlook over Lake Superior. Drive to the top along a curvy tree-shadowed barely-two-lane road with limited parking. In mid to late summer you can find wild blueberry bushes at the top. The cliff is a destination for rock climbers.
Tettegouche State Park (spread over 9,300 acres) features a mile of Lake Superior coast, including the Baptism River mouth; the river’s cascades and falls; four inland lakes; rugged semi mountainous reliefs; and an undisturbed northern hardwood forest. A Minnesota State Park permit is usually required to visit. I have never been able to camp there. It has always been full whenever I rolled in, bleary eyed from driving. Perhaps I should pre-plan better.
Temperance River State Park offers amazing river gorges that start a few feet inland from the highway, waterfalls, two foot-bridges, hiking, a cobblestone river mouth, camping and hiking. Hike a short way upriver to the amazing gorges, then return south of the highway and walk across the foot-bridge. During spring runoff or after rainy days, the river spray will soak you with mist.
Further north, you’ll come to Lutsen Ski Resort the Midwest’s largest and tallest ski area. It offers alpine skiers and snowboarders 95 sweeping runs over four mountains. Non-skiers can enjoy slope-side views and amenities at two chalets. Spring, summer and autumn visitors can hike, bike, ride the gondola and alpine slide, and dine at the chalets.
Nearby is Superior National Golf.
Cascade River State Park is next up the road. A quick jaunt up well-maintained trails brings you to overlooks and a footbridge spanning the cascades [ideal photo spot]. Picnic spots are a quarter mile farther along Highway 61.
North House’ wooden sailboat, Hjørdis, entering the Grand Marais harbor.
In the town of Grand Marais you’ll find The North House Folk School. A friend of mine co-founded this school that revives folk crafts from felting to cheesemaking to canoe building to timber frame building. I try to go up every year for their wooden boat show.
Nearby are several great restaurants: The Fisherman’s Daughter (I heartily recommend the fish and chips) and The Angry Trout (Fish sandwich).
Further into town you’ll find Hungry Hippie Tacos. I’m told the smoked brisket fry bread taco is the one to get.
You can pick up the Gunflint Trail in Grand Marais. This road will take you to the north and eastern side of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area a 1,090,000-acre wilderness area within the Superior National Forest. It is accessible only by canoe (or snowshoes in the winter). Most lakes have restrictions on the use of motors. Younger pistoffnick led many campers on canoe trips there back in the ‘90s. My friend, Gary, a hardcore canoer, spent 221 days in the Boundary Waters and Quetico (the Canadian version of the Boundary Waters) in 2014.
Isle Royale National Park is actually part of Michigan. One of the five least visited National Parks in the country, this island is only open May to September. Isle Royale is completely roadless and accessible only by boat or seaplane.
The easiest way to get there is by taking the Voyageur II ferry, which usually departs from Grand Marais every two days, and then takes the scenic route for a full view of the island. Once arrived, you step foot onto one of the most remote and undeveloped pieces of land in the country. (Isle Royale might be most famous for their wolf and moose population studies, since the secluded location provides the perfect research environment.)
Naniboujou Dining Room.
Further along the North Shore you come to Naniboujou Lodge and Restaurant. Check out that ceiling!
The Devil’s Kettle, located inside Judge C.R. Magney State Park, is a mysterious waterfall that’s has been puzzling scientists and visitors for decades. The Brule River splits into two waterfalls. The waterfall on the right spills over a rocks, just like you’d expect. The one on the left? It pours into a giant hole and seems to disappear.
For decades, studies trying to solve the mystery have ended in nothing more than lost ping pong balls, GPS trackers, and (allegedly) a whole car. People speculated the hole may lead to a giant underground river or a separate outlet to Lake Superior, but even these explanations didn’t quite add up, for various geological reasons.
Finally, you get to Grand Portage State Park (very beautiful waterfalls), casino, and the Canadian border. I forgot my passport (and I detest the REAL ID MN driver’s license), so we can’t cross into Canada. That’s a trip for another time – maybe a trip around the Great Lakes?
Should you like to do the on-foot version of this tour, I’d direct you to the Superior Hiking Trail ,a 300 mile trek from Jay Cooke State Park south of Duluth to near the Canadian border. Avoid spring (muddy trails) and early June (black flies).
Thank you for riding along.
Reading about the Devil’s Kettle, I was intrigued. A quick online search found a bunch of articles from 2017 and 2018 claiming the mystery had been solved by using stream flow measurements and all that remained was to do some dye injection tests to prove the hypothesis.
Interestingly, there are no more recent articles I can find on the subject–it seems no one has bothered to either test it or report out on their findings. Perhaps, they haven’t solved the mystery at all!
Science for the win!(?)
Well, that looks lovely. I would never have thought to take in the scenery there.
So popular that they ran into a state mandated limit. In Minnesota, if you sell more than 20,000 barrels of beer in a year, you can no longer sell growlers to go.
BOOO!!!
There is currently a bill going through the statehouse to change the limit. From what I’ve read it’s likely to succeed, but who knows.
Yowza.
Hey MikeS,
You should do a write up on the Michigan Shore. I’m semi-seriously planning a motorcycle trip there this summer.
My first-hand knowledge is pretty much limited to the Keweenaw Peninsula, but there is a lot of cool stuff to see there. Hmm. That might be kind of fun. I will take that suggestion under advisement.
+1 Shrine of the Snowshoe Priest!
I haven’t seen that, but we do drive past the “snow stick” a lot when we go up there.
Nerd alert: I spend an inordinate amount of time watching the Duluth Harbor and Two Harbors webcams. James R. Barker FTW
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-01grMv5lw
THOSE.FUCKING.HORNS!
Sometimes at 3 in the morning they signal 3 times to the lift bridge that they are planning to enter. Then the lift bridge blows its horn 3 times in acknowledgement. That sound carries for miles.
Great Series, Nick! Very well done. No alt-text, but hey, nobody’s perfect. ?
We are overdue for a North Shore visit. You gave me a couple things to check out, whenever we get back up there.
This song is such a mindfuck when I hear it I often forget I have heard it before.
Is this the song from the dream you mentioned in the a.m. links?
no, thank heaven
Here’s another in that same vein.
Where was this guide when I was in the area?
You’ll have to come back.
Wow, Nick.
This is the first time I’ve been homesick since I left. I’ve been lucky to travel a lot, but that is still one of the best spots on the planet. I have so many pics of the family in many (most) of those places.
Well done, brother!
I have to remind myself during February snowstorms that I am lucky to live here. It is a beautiful place… In the summer.
To be fair, winter can be beautiful as well:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqTEac8XFQo
Oh, man. We stayed at the Sea Villas at Lutsen over New Year’s once. The waves were crashing all night and the next morning it was ice sculptures all up and down the shore. Absolutely magical.
OT – I am weeping for my wallet. I need new tires and a new roof.
Admittedly the roof hasn’t leaked, but it is missing shingles now. I figure it’s cheaper to replace the old and worn roof before it springs a leak than to clean up after.
Same deal with the tires… except one of them does have a sloooow leak that goes to low pressure in a matter of days.
You’re a handy guy. Get a tire repair kit and fix it yourself.
I also need new treds.
It’ll buy you some time.
I guess tarping the roof would also buy some time.
Replacing the missing shingles would be more analogous.
Check with your insurance company. If the roof isn’t too ancient and the damage is caused by a storm, you might be covered (hah!) for repairs or replacement.
The roof is too ancient, they sent me a letter last year saying it was no longer covered by my policy until I replaced it.
bummer, dude.
If you have a HELOC, use it. If not, consider one. They’re great and at least at the moment, still lower interest.
I’m reluctant to take on more debt, but depending on the estimates, I may need to. Rooves aren’t cheap.
I feel it. When we were doing our big remodel, we discovered a roof leak that had been covered up by the interior partitions in the house that had been removed. It was bad enough we ended up needing a new roof. That’s not an easy expense to take on, unexpectedly.
What worries me about a leak is the unresolved interior damage it can do. How bad was it?
When I cut into the bathroom ceiling to put in an exhaust fan several years ago, water streamed out. Still couldn’t find the leak even with opening up the ceiling to look from underneath the roof. Ended up replacing the whole thing.
Turned out it was the plumbing?
We had something similar happen. Had a leak that wouldn’t go away. Thought it was around the chimney and put all kinds of tar around it. Finally just re-roofed it (and got rid of the unused chimney). Thankfully it was a small roof.
Turned out it was the plumbing?
Plumbing was a separate mess and leaked too. We did a complete gut in that bathroom, down to replacing the sheetrock and subfloor, last fall. Cracked toilet flange was rotting out the subfloor.
Also, the rubber gasket (maybe the wrong term) in the shower handle stem had rotted out over the past 50 years so the shower constantly dripped. It was so old that I couldn’t replace the rubber part or the stems. Ended up ripping out the entire wall, replacing everything with pex, and building out the shower. Went from a 30” x 30” cubby to a walk in shower.
Ours was due to age and damage near the ridge vent and in other places. The shingles themselves didn’t look bad, but there was water seeping in at multiple locations, which would run along the roof supports and then down into the structure and the walls below. We found it when he had a hard rain and water was drizzing onto a brand new subfloor–it was coming from an area that was soon to be drywalled and would have been destroyed in the next rainstorm if we hadn’t seen it while the walls and ceiling were still unsheathed. There were probably other areas we couldn’t see at the time either. Luckily there was only a small amount of damage to the roof sheathing and it only needed spot repairs with plywood, then complete recovering.
*looks at forecast of potential hail event this afternoon*
What is that like?
Well, we don’t get so much heavy hail around here.
As you plan for replacing the roof, keep an eye to the weather events that happen. If you happen to get a windstorm or a severe thunderstorm that tosses branches on the roof or lifts up some shingles, it usually will do disproportionate damage to an older roof.
I had this happen in Virginia. We were facing down losing our home owner’s insurance over the age of the roof. Then a storm blew through. We got an insurance paid roof out of it.
The good news on that front is that my annyoing neighbors actually shield the house from several angles, and there are few trees to threaten me with branches. 😛
We got told that when we bought our house. Fortunately, when your wife runs a family roofing company, the cost isn’t quite as bad.
Only so many family discounts to go around.
You might be able to stretch some more life out of it with a roof coating.
At this point, I’m just going to the replacement option. I don’t think a coating will get the insurance company to cover it again.
I just had mine done in February. it required a rip, new flashing and the like, and new 30+ year shingles.
just a hair under $10K.
The house is on the larger side, but there are only a few peaks and not many complicated transitions.
They knocked it out from start to finish in 6 hours. Automation in the trades is a wonderful thing.
Ouch. Sorry.
New roofs are expensive. I had mine done two years ago.
How much did that run?
It was low five figures. The house is bigger than I need and it is southern NH.
The contractor I went with was the most expensive of the three I got quotes from. He was the only one of the three that actually went up on the roof and went up with me into the attic to inspect the damaged roof plywood. He went up on the roof himself, and took a video of what he found. He panned the camera around so that when I saw the video, it was clear he had taken the video from my roof. My roof was in far worse shape than I thought it was. Finally, when I checked his references, all checked out OK.
Out of the two that didn’t go up on the roof, one of those two I think would have done in a pinch. This guy spent a bit more time looking at my house and talking to me than the other guy that I didn’t go with. Also, this guy also had excellent references, and I drove past some of the houses he had worked on. But, I had the guy the went up on the roof, so I went with him despite how expensive he was.
I would have to rip out my ceilings to see the underside of my roof.
Our place we bought down in Virginia has that odd feature as well. First time I’d ever seen a ceiling without access. Probably address that when we put a new roof on (in the next couple of years).
All my buildings now have steel roofs, did the last one last year, replaced the asphalt shingles around 28-30 years, before there was a problem. Now I have another problem, when the chimney came off it tore up the steel. Having a problem finding anyone that wants to do the chimney repair.
We have a steel roof here – almost everyone does. Still getting used to the difference. I’m seeing some places that need minor repair, so will probably get a roof guy out from Wasilla to look it over.
I want to be able to do most of those minor repairs myself, but want to have a guy who already knows what he’s doing explain things to me this first time, at least.
You’ve written a pretty good country song at this point.
Does it also have western in it?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCireVrz4DY
You have my sympathy. I just fixed a foundation issue a few months ago, I replaced my hot water heater, I had plumbing repairs done, I’m getting a new roof this week and I really need to replace the furnace. Sigh. And that’s ignoring the non-urgent stuff like re-staining the fence, etc.
“You’ll live in a cave and be happy!”
In case Sug needs some last-minute inspiration:
The sexual perversion that goes on in Washington. I mean, being kind of a young guy in Washington, where the average age is probably 60 or 70 — [you] look at all these people, a lot of them that I’ve looked up to through my life, I’ve always paid attention to politics,” said Cawthorn, who was elected in 2020.
“Then all of a sudden you get invited: ‘We’re going to have a sexual get-together at one of our homes, you should come.’ ‘What did you just ask me to come to?’ And then you realize they’re asking you to come to an orgy,” he said.
But do they do it in pizza shops, too?
Suing to deem him ineligible for office because of something he said. There shouldn’t be a judge in the land who wouldn’t immediately dismiss this suit. Alas…
“Voters”, “a handful of Democrat party activists”… same difference.
Dem lawyers with a handful of willing proxy idiots.
So I am to seriously believe that he got invited to roll into an orgy? Or is it that he isn’t getting invited? Which he should then turn into a complaint about marginalizing the ‘other-abled’. Dude just doesn’t understand how to play the game.
So I am to seriously believe that he got invited to roll into an orgy?
When Lindsay Graham and Mitch McConnell and Nancy Pelosi are involved, nothing is outside the realm of possibility.
A wattled Eiffel Tower?
Nancy running around in leather and a black strapon doing her best STEVE SMITH impression.
I should’ve known better than to open up this subject.
See how you have debased our sweet trash monster, SugarFree? This is on you.
(Fred voice)
“That’s my fetish!”
Sodom, Mordor, and Imperial Rome rolled together in a disgusting swamp.
…rolled together in a disgusting swamp
Ok, okay, enough about Pelosi.
I’d be surprised if this WASN’T happening. You have an insulated community of rich and powerful people who are never held accountable for anything. Of course they behave like that.
And it explains the contempt they have for everyone else. You know, more or less normal people.
So was this Highway 61 revisited?
Thanks for that. I never knew Johnny did a cover of that song.
My favorite cover of said song.
That was good! Thanks, Mike.
Thanks for that nice article, pistoffnick. When we lived in Minnesota, wife and I would make that drive once every year. Love that place.
Next, can you do the Boundary Waters Canoe Area for us?
That’s a possibility.
Canoed the Brule with my dad as a kid. Great trip despite a couple of long (for a kid) portages and one rapid we wish we had portaged and capsized instead. Still a great trip with wonderful memories. I actually became a sailor as a result of that trip. I remember we crossed a large lake and we paddling our butts off when a canoe flew by us sailing with a rig made from tent poles and a tarp. I knew I had to learn how to harness the wind to travel right then and there and a year later built my own sailing rig for our canoe. Thanks for bringing all that back for me.
Thanks Nick. We were looking for somewhere to go for our anniversary in July. The wife hates hot weather, so we just added this to the maybe list (it looks like it CAN get hot in July, but seems to usually be mild?).
July is usually very nice. August is when it gets hot, but hardly ever above the 90s.
Of course everything is cooler by the lake.
Trump is still pretty fucking funny.
LOL!
I think we found our biologist!
That trip sounds amazing. Thanks!
And a second on the Boundary Waters.
The gift that keeps on giving.
Because of course it did.
I knew a stripper who went to Sarah Lawrence.
I knew a dude who went to Sarah Lawrence.
Joseph Campbell is a professor at Sarah Lawrence. That may be enough reason to exempt them from the scourging.
“Just follow your bliss.”
Well, fuck me, why didn’t I think of that?
Except he died decades ago.
1987. Damn I feel old…
At the time he went?
Yes.
Heh.
Sarah Lawrence ‘sex cult’ funneled money to Democratic campaign: witness
You could knock me down with a feather.
*selects 8 pound feather from rack*
How much is Minnesota tourism department paying you?
Seriously good write up, I wanna visit.
DO IT!
Maybe next summer. New job so I don’t have the time off I used to have.
Pope Jimbo, CPRM, and PistoffNick went ice fishing together last weekend.
So who played the auger and who played the ice?
One day Mike and Matt went out ice fishing. The started drilling into the ice and from above a voice boomed ” there are no fish under the ice!”
Heeding the advice the duo moved about 20 Feet and started drilling again. Again the the voice boomed “there are no fish under the ice!”
Mike gazed up and asked “are you god?!”
“No” the voice said “I am the hockey rink manager!”
*applause*
Because the only way to remove a sharpie is by completely refinishing a floor a cost of $10k.
A pickleball player, 71, drew marks on a public court. He faces a felony.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/03/28/pickleball-arrest-felony-drawing-marking/
I’m quite sure that grandpa isn’t as clueless or innocent as the WP tries to make him here, but this is ridiculous.
This person is a superior asshole.
That struck me as well. Which makes me wonder if this has been an ongoing issue with grandpa and Martinez wanted to make a point.
Hey, they finally found a way to get rid of the pickle ball mayor who keeps bugging the hell out of them. It’s a government job, they didn’t think they’d have to work.
If your megayacht doesn’t have a support yacht, are you even an oligarch?
Can we all agree that a helipad is table stakes?
About that “Russia is only in peace talks since they are losing” talking point:
Ritter has some different thoughts.
I didn’t realize anyone thought this was something other than the Russians engaging in defeat in detail.
I’d think they try an envelopment, but let’s see…
Peak war propaganda has been reached.
https://twitter.com/sumlenny/status/1508398726099914756?cxt=HHwWiMCyjcmp9O4pAAAA
From the tweet- “Ukrainians have better roads, better lights, more money, better food, better connection with neighbour countries.”
I wonder what their definition of “better” is. They should see the “poor” people that live in Jugsy’s “affordable housing” units with an Escalade, multiple cell phones, and couple of flat screens.
Scott Ritter, who was all “Saddam has WMDs!” and then suddenly changed his tune at the same time rumors about his predilections started circulating.
Even assholes can be correct on technical matters.
Some of the replies…the people characterizing Scott Ritter of using his “superior internet searching skills” to develop his theory…
These people don’t know who Scott Ritter is, do they? Just showing their asses, in a big way.
Not saying Scott Ritter is perfect in any way, but Twitter Tough Guys replying to him like he’s on a par with them is pretty sad.
Because who doesn’t want to be 3/4 of an inch away from shorting a 12V automotive battery with a Leatherman?
https://pcpoodle.com/collections/home/products/volty-bit-for-leatherman-multi-tool
No thankee. I shall use a real voltmeter. That’s an arc waiting to happen.
Great article Nick. This looks like a lovely road trip for my wife, the newborn and I in a year or two. If there are good antique stores along the way, it’ll be a very easy sell for my wife.
Yes both in Duluth and a few along the Shore.