Day Three - 2010 Summer Trip to Stillwater, Duluth, and Grand Marais, MN

Day Three - Duluth to Grand Marais, MN (and all points in between)
After a day of shopping in Stillwater, MN and a day in Duluth exploring the tall ships, and the sights around Duluth, Day 3 was a day of exploring "up the trail", as the Minnesotans say, the Western Coast of Lake Superior and the northern harbor town of Grand Marais, MN. As has been the pattern for the 1st couple days, skies started out overcast, but temps in the upper 60's. 

With our coffee in hand, we head out for the 2-1/2 hour drive. We decided to drive straight thru to Grand Marais and have a late breakfast/lunch. Then, we'd make stops at the many scenic areas we passed on the drive up. However, our 1st journey was the Duluth Skyline Parkway. This road system travels along the bluffs overlooking Duluth, and has some amazing views. It begins at the Thompson Hill Visitors Center on the southern edge of the Duluth area. The panoramic view from the overlook at the Visitors Center is awesome! Unfortunately, with the cloud cover, the photos don't do it justice. 

Further down the Skyline Parkway we came upon another scenic overlook - Rice's Point, which overlooks Duluth-Superior's outer and  inner harbors. This vantage point provides an even better vantage point of the industrial complex around the harbors of Duluth. 

Wandering further along the Parkway, we came to Enger Park and the Enger Park Tower, also overlooking Duluth, and the beautiful Enger Park gardens. The views from here, like the other locations, were amazing. This location gave a closer view of the Canal Park area where we spent most of Sunday. 

From this point, the Parkway wandered thru older, residential areas of Duluth, before heading along Hawk's Ridge and Lester Park. The Parkway followed "Seven Bridges Road" (yes, there ARE 7 bridges along that stretch), which traversed down the hillside, following the creek bed, and some picturesque water falls/rapids. In a small opening along the route we came upon a complex of 3 outdoor hockey rinks, nestled in amongst the wooded hillside. Looked like a great place to strap on the blades and play!

As we continued on, we came upon 3 deer enjoying their morning breakfast and the creek (I couldn't see any coffee pot, but 'm sure it was there somewhere). It was obvious from this "Video clip" (yes, finally, some video! From my hot little Kodak PlaySport Video cam) they were trying to figure out who and the heck is this guy, and what's he doing! A neat park area, and less than a mile to the entrance and the residential areas of Duluth!


By now, we were ready to head "East" to Grand Marais. Yes, its east, or rather NorthEast, following the shoreline of Lake Superior. Many, fabulous places to view the lake and its ever changing shoreline. From tree lined shores, to rocky cliffs, waterfalls, and harbors, there's just about any type of place to enjoy the scenic coastline. The drive, a 2 lane highway, passes thru Two Harbors, Beaver Bay, Illgen City, and the road to Lutsen Ski area.Definitely the road construction season. But we pulled in to Grand Marais around 11am. 

The Main St. runs right along the harbor, with a nice swimming beach, and park area surrounding the water. 

Having NOT had a bloody mary for the whole trip, the Gunflint Tavern was beckoning us. We were
able sit by the window, and enjoy the view overlooking the harbor. As you can see from the next
photo, not only were the bloody marys outstanding, but so was the beer chaser!

I could tell at this point, I was going to like this town! We split a huge serving of nachos, and enjoyed watching the towns folk go about their duties, and a seaplane land and take off across the street in the harbor (more on that later).

OK, now its time to explore. From the Gunflint Tavern, we wandered thru a couple shops on the main street. One store I didn't get to check out was The Beaver House. Don't know why we didn't. Heck with a building like this, who could NOT visit it!

From here it was time to head out to the small
lighthouse on the breakwater which protects the harbor. After a short walk from main street to the

Coast Guard Station, you come upon the entrance to "Artists' Point. Following the sand path you
come upon some amazing rock structures along the shore leading to the cement breakwater.There's
definitely an artistic setting, at any hour of the day! Fog was rolling in while we were exploring, making
the setting even more alluring.

We made our way out to the lighthouse at the end of the breakwater. A great view of Grand Marais
and the harbor activity from there! 

While there, the seaplane (mentioned earlier) headed right at us to take off (Time for video clip No. 2).

The day was getting on, so we wandered back to town, passing by the unusual rock formations on the

Superior side of the breakwater. I suspect many of these to be man made, but nonetheless very

intriquing, especially with the fog.

Our final stop before starting the drive back to Duluth was a visit to the Lake Superior Trading Post.

This place had everything. From camping, hiking, fishing, and boating supplies, to souvenirs, art and clothing. I suspect this IS the place not only in the Summer, but especially in the Winter for all your needs! This photo shows a view from the balcony inside the store.

Time to hit the road and wander back to Duluth. It was about 2pm by now, and some of the

"adventurer" in us was waning, so we only picked a couple places on the way back to stop. 

The 1st stop was Palisade Head, North of ilver Bay. This overlook was right on top of the rock cliffs, and the view was incredible! While I scampered around the top of the cliff to find good "photo ops", I could hear some grunts of someone working hard on something. Sure enough, there were 2 people climbing the rock face! I couldn't even get close enough to the edge to take a look! This photos is as close as I got!

From here, we traveled down the coast to the Split Rock Light House, only to find the parking lot overflowing with tourists.... not what we felt like facing, so we drove further down the road to an overlook, where you can see the light house from a distance. I suspect this photo has been taken thousands of times... here's one more!

Next stop was Two Harbors. This town also has several tourist attractions along their harbor, including another light house, only it has been converted to a B&B. So we walked the shoreline, and came upon a gentleman by himself, who offered to take our photo. After chatting with him for a bit, it was clear (according to Sue) he is probably how I look when I am out wandering by myself! LOL..... he had his camera, was a wealth of knowledge, and loved to explore...

OK, now we are getting hungry again, so its time to head to Duluth, and find a new place to eat. As we entered Downtown Duluth, we came upon Fond-du-Luth Casino. Not one of your "new" casinos. In fact, it looks like its been here a long time! But hey, you never know... this could be the place we "strike it rich". We stopped and gambled about an hour (no, we didn't strike it rich). Losing money always makes us hungry, wandered further down the street to find a spot for dinner. 

Along the way we came upon a most unique spot - "Last Place on Earth". Check out the signs in the windows! Maybe they are looking for franchisees in the Cedar Valley??

Another block, and we came upon Pizza Luce.. Perfect for some beer and pizza. After stuffing ourselves, it was back to the hotel to crash. A great day exploring, and I definitely enjoyed the time visiting Grand Marais. Might just have to plan another trip there, and stay awhile!

Day 4 (last day) of our journey is awaiting... stay tuned!