Minnesota North Shore Trip

Patricia and I took a summer vacation trip to Minnesota's majestic North Shore. Taking the legendary Highway 61 form Duluth's Bob Dylan Way, we traveled first to Beaver Bay and visited the Split Rock Lighthouse.

Built in 1910, the Split Rock is a marvel in architectural and mechanical engineering when no roads existed along the shoreline leading to Canada. All brick and mortar, materials, and labour had to arrive at the construction site by inland sea and lifted by hoist 168 feet to the top of the Split Rock and then assembled. Construction workers slept in tents in the mosquito infested forest while building the lighthouse and surrounding out buildings. The lamp, lens and rotational mechanics for the lighthouse itself weighed 4 tons. The bearing on which the axis turns is made of liquid mercury. The entire lighthouse community cost $75,000 to build in 1910.

The Split Rock Lighthouse was operational from 1910 to 1969 when it closed because Lake Superior ships contained their own satellite navigational devices and the lighthouse was no longer needed. In 1972 the Minnesota State Historical Society took over the management of Split Rock and reopened it to tourists. They don't build structures like this anymore.

Lunch back in Beaver Bay was at the Lemon Wolf Cafe, a place recommended to us as a favorite of the locals. Lemon Wolf serves fresh walleye and herring caught in Lake Superior by a local Beaver Bay fisherman. We felt the dining-room decor was a bit over the top, oddly chainsaw bears dominating the wolf name, but the food was delicious. Surprisingly, Lemon Wolf's homemade Grammy's Coconut Cream Pie vastly outclassed Betty's World Famous Pies in down the road in Two Harbors.

On the second day we visited the shipping harbor town of Two Harbors, Minnesota where gigantic Ore Docks built in 1883 loaded the iron ore from Minnesota's open pit mines. Two Harbors, still operational but at a reduced capacity, shipped millions of tons of ore to the East for decade after decade beginning in the late 1800s. In 1944 during the height of World War II, Two Harbors shipped 19.3 million tons of ore to fuel the American victory in Europe and the Pacific theater.

One of our most enjoyable adventures was visiting the Edna G. tugboat in the harbor after first doing a self-guided tour of the Two Harbors Lighthouse which is the oldest still operational lighthouse in America. (or at least Minnesota, okay?) and recently became a B&B. The Edna G, was named after the daughter of the president of the Duluth & Iron Range Railroad Company J.L. Greatsinger. The Edna G was built in 1893, spent most of it life on Lake Superior with the exception of being commissioned into the U.S. Navy during WWII and sent to Virginia. where it guided troop ships back into harbor upon their return from war. At the time of her retirement in 1981, the Edna G. was the last coal-fired, steam-powered tugboat operating on Lake Superior.

On the aft deck of the Edna G is a brass water canon the tub boat used to assist in extinguishing fires on ships out at sea and other emergencies. The "Invincible Nozzle" had so much water pressure, it could float thirty yards off shore and roll a Dodge van up a hill for 50 yards.

Our guide let Patricia pull the handle that blew the whistle in the pilot cabin. Check it out:



Back in Beaver Bay we enjoyed long walks in the woods and climbing on the rocky shore line of Lake Superior.

Finally we ended back in Duluth and went to the Tweed Art Museum at the University of Minnesota Duluth campus. In part of the museum we found a library dedicated to Olive Tezla, the mother of our good friend Michael Tezla who beginning in 1957, when her husband joined the English Department as a professor, was a strong supporter who helped built the Tweed. Just down the hall I discovered where my old MacPlus with its 20 MB (that's right megabyte NOT gigabyte) hard drive has been retired for historical reasons right next to the key punch and mechanical adding machines of our youth.

Next we went to the very notable artisan eatery, the New Scenic Cafe and we met the chef Scott Graden. Highly recommend!