Vacation Journal from summer vacation 2016 to the North Shore, Minnesota.
Day 1
Drove to Duluth and went to the Railroad Museum.
Then out for dinner at Canal Park and back to the hotel for the night.
The Railroad Museum was great.
Tons of trains--big and small--and plenty of big ones we could go into.
Day 2
Canal park--a walk to the light house, the Maritime Museum, and lift bridge.
Then up the shore to Cascade Lodge to say HI to the O'Phelans and to show the boys where mom worked her first summer up north. Hiked Cascade Falls and then up to the cottage. We spent the evening down at Paradise Beach. The "rock beaches" were one of Lane's favorite parts of vacation.
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Canal Park/Lift Bridge
We were lucky enough to get to see
a ship come through the canal! |
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| Maritime Museum at Canal Park |
Cascade Falls
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The boys were great little hikers. This was a great first hike with a
waterfall around every corner to keep everyone motivated. |
At the cottage
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Supper on the deck
The big boys each prepped a "camping meal" for the trip.
They were quite impressed with themselves
and found each other's meals delicious. :) |
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| Doing dishes was a FAVORITE! |
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Paradise Beach
I described the beaches to the boys before the trip and they
couldn't quite imagine a beach with rocks instead of sand.
They were not disappointed! |
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| Perfect loft for little boys |
Day 3
Hike to Devil's Kettle and quick stop at Naniboujou Lodge to see the beautifully painted dinning area. Then up to Grand Portage National Monument. Supper at the cabin and then into town for Sydney's frozen custard and beach time at Artist's Point.
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| Breakfast at the cottage. |
I forgot to bring my camera on the Devil's Kettle hike. This wasn't a hike I thought we could do, as it's a mile hike to the falls with a huge staircase right before the falls. But Ryan said we could do it and he was right! They boys did awesome and the view is worth the hike. I think this was Jack's favorite part of the trip.
Grand Portage
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| Jack with a Montreal Canoe |
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Jack and I had read a book about a group from the Northwest Trading
Company making the voyage from Montreal to Grand Portage, so it was
really fun to get to "see the book in real life" with him.
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Listening in on trading between a Northwest Trader
and an Ojibwe woman at the visitor center. |
Day 4
Read and played games in the cottage on a rainy morning, then headed into town for a little shopping and pizza at Sven & Ole's. The rain was gone by the time we were finished eating so we got to spend some time out at Artist's Point. Naps in the van on the way up to High Falls at the Canadian boarder. Then back to Paradise Beach for our last evening.
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| UNO on a rainy morning |
Artist's Point
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To the lighthouse!
The lake was fairly rough, which made for some fun waves. |
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| What a joy to see these guys enjoy this place as much as I have! |
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The boys had a BLAST slashing in all the puddles in the rocks.
They were pretty well soaked by the time we got back to the van! |
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| This kid could've spent an entire day throwing rocks into the lake. |
High Falls
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The boys weren't so sure this was actually a "hike"
due to the path being a paved trail. Okay, so it may have
been more of a walk, but the waterfall was still impressive! |
Paradise Beach
No better way to end the trip
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One of two favorite beach activities...getting buried!
(The other..."rock sharks") |
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| More rocking throwing |
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| A fire and s'mores |
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I think I've probably taken this exact picture a dozen times,
hoping it will capture the lake. Never does. But the lake kind
of gets in your blood, so I guess maybe we don't need the picture. |
Good bye North Shore...until next time!
Not sure where I originally found this, but I found it again recently when I was cleaning out some old folders. I feel like it captures the way the North Shore has captured me.
Up North is a certain way the wind feels on your face and
the way an old wool shirt feels on your back.
It’s the peace that comes over you when you sit down to read one of your
old trip journals, or the anticipation that bubbles inside when you start sorting
through your tackle box early in the spring.
Up North is
the smell of the Duluth pack hanging in your basement and the sound of pots
clinking across the lake. It’s a
raindrop clinging to a pine needle and the dancing light of a campfire on the
faces of friends.
Up North is
a lone set of cross-country ski tracks across a wilderness lake and wood smoke
rising from a cabin chimney. It’s bunch
berries in June, blueberries in July and wild rice in September.
Each of us
has an Up North. It’s the time and place
far from the here and now. It’s a map on
the wall, a dream in the making, a tugging at one’s soul. For those who feel the tug, who make the
dream happen, who put the map in the packsack and go, the world is never quite
the same again.
We have been
Up North. And part of us always will be.
