Minnesota's North Shore!

August 13 - 20, 2020

Minnesota's North Shore!

We spent a week of August escaping summer's heat on the North Shore of Lake Superior.  I'm a bit late in posting this, as we are currently in South Carolina, escaping the cold Minnesota typically has in November!

I consulted with a dear friend (Lynn), who often spends time along the North Shore, as to highlights of the area.  Lynn led us to some beauties!  Thanks, Lynn!

Iona's Beach is an iconic beach filled with salmon-colored rocks and completely unique to any beach I've ever been to.  A woman named Iona had fallen in love with the area.  She purchased the land and built a popular resort that allowed guests to enjoy the beach that she treasured.  When Iona was ready to slow down a bit, she donated the land to the state in order to share the natural beauty with everyone who travels there.  Iona sounds like a wonderful person and I wish I had been able to meet her!



Another popular beach in the area is the Black Sand Beach.   Its origin is not as pretty as Iona's Beach; however, it seems to have ended well.  The iron mining industry was busy in this area and, as a result of the mining, created taconite as a byproduct.  The taconite was dumped into the lake causing problems for many, including the fishing industry.  Eventually, the dumping of taconite was discontinued.  The cool thing that evolved was the Black Sand Beach, drawing many people to cool off on a warm summer day. 

 


We spent a day riding our bikes along the Gitchi Gami bike trail.  We ended our ride at Split Rock Lighthouse State Park, where we hiked down to the shoreline for a view of the lighthouse.  Along the bike trail, we took in a couple of views, including the Silver Creek Cliff trail.  Originally, this trail was the highway along the North Shore.  In 1994, a tunnel was completed that diverted traffic away from the dangerous cliff and offered safer driving conditions.  The original road was converted into a trail that offers spectacular views of Lake Superior.

 




I did fit in a little sewing time, which is always important!  Sewing with the summer breeze of Lake Superior can't be beat!  My baby quilt for the newest member of our family is about done.


We found a nice football/soccer field right across from our campground (Two Harbors City Campground) that provided a nice frisbee field for Frankie.  Frankie has so very much energy and we haven't found anything better to run her energy off than a good fetch session with her frisbee!  Just down the road from the field is the beach for Two Harbors.  Really a beautiful beach with a nice trail that takes you to Agate Bay, where the ships come in.  We had hoped to see some ships coming or going, but we didn't happen to be there at a busy time for ship traffic.



We did spend some time walking the streets of Two Harbors.  It is really a sweet community that includes a terrific brewery -- Castle Danger.  If you are in the area and enjoy a dark beer, you can't go wrong with their George Hunter Stout!


We really enjoyed exploring the area!  There is so much more to see and do around here, but for now we a headed back to Minneapolis for a few weeks.  I had elective surgery that had been delayed due to COVID that I was looking forward to having taken care of.  All went well with the surgery and it allowed me time with my grandchildren Emma and Eli, who live in Minneapolis, during my 6-week recovery.  


Up Next:  Kentucky!






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