Grand Marais....Hiking, good food and a little shopping

When Rick and I head up to Grand Marais we always have a definite plan

Grand Marais is about 30 minutes form the place we stay so when we go we make it a full day of it.

We get there at lunch time and head into Blue Water Cafe,

 a little cafe with good old home cooking

They serve breakfast all day, I chose and omelet,

 Rick went with the burger. It was so good.

With satisfied appetites we walked the Main Street shops

It was misty off and on but the weather did not hinder our day.

After browsing the town we hopped in the car to drive a bit on the Gun Flint Trail

First stop... the Grand Marais Overlook. 

Hard to see the depth in this photo but we are wayyyyyy up there.

That land formation in the water is Grand Marais, way to the left is Artist Point.

After some time on the road it was back to Grand Marais for some hiking.

Artist Point is a beautiful place to explore, 

for me it requires a walking stick for stability and the hand of my sweet husband 

for added confidence in some tough hiking terrain.

 Here Rick is Going ahead to see if this route will get up through to the next rock formation. 

There are many deep & wide cracks in the rock that are impassable but hard to see in these photos.

 Here, I made my way up, Rick stayed back and shot this photo. 

  After all that hiking we burned some calories and worked up our appetites again for dinner.

 

We visited another favorite  My sisters place

We Love this place! 

I had the Chili-dog with sweet potato fries, Rick went with the Calzone.

We were in Grand Marais from about 12:00 noon until 7:30 pm, we have no problem spending the day in this quaint little town way up on the North Shore of Minnesota.

So much to see and do, if you've never been to Grand Marais I highly suggest a visit there, you won't be disappointed.

So the weather wasn't the best but there was plenty of color....

Rick and I headed up to the North Shore for our annual fall get-away in hopes of 

some beautiful fall weather and peak-time colors!

lets just say the weather held out for us and the rains came during the night time!

We were able to do everything we wanted, some hiking, some driving 

and just plain gazing at the brilliant colors....

The colors of the North Shore were "muted" this year, but I kind of liked it. 

Cloudy skies with no sun to reflect off the leaves, 

but it was still just a pretty to look at, and we didn't have to squint our eyes  :)

So much rain up on the shore.... the creeks were over-flowing and powerful!

One of our favorite drives, over "Heartbreak Hill" 

in the Saw-tooth mountains, Forest road 166

On Tuesday we had some sun but, also intermittent low clouds/fog throughout the day. 

Here you can see the fog in the background. It was either coming or going, I couldn't keep track.

The scenic lookout over Grand Marais. 

It's break taking!

This yearly trip never gets old, if you've never been up the North Shore of Minnesota, 

it's a trip worth taking.

Gitche Gumme at it's best...

Rick and I can be quite spontaneous... so mid week we 

decided that we needed to get up to the North Shore, one of our favorite places to be!

I think we caught the tail end of this beautiful fall weather

 because after Monday the temps begin to drop into the 30's and 40's.

It was in the mid 50's today, unbelievable... it's as if  the shore waited for us.

Not sure if we've ever seen the Lake so active!

( I almost fell in trying to capture all the giant waves, I was literally turning circles)

We decided to spend the afternoon in Grand Marais...

 another favorite

 Still plenty of color at Artist point! 

I could have stayed all day watching this show.

 Hard to capture this mighty show

 You really have to be here to feel the power in those waves!

 Non stop amazing!

The lighthouse in the Grand Marais Harbor 

 This guy... that I get to share life with   

We tried a different place for dinner tonight, we usually do Sven & Ole's for pizza, 

but we thought it would be fun to change-it-up. 

"My Sister's Place" was worth it, we will return another time for sure.

* * * * * *

Before our venture to the North Shore we got to hang our with our 

Twin Cities kids & grand baby

Scarlett's mommy & daddy had a date and we got her all to ourselves....Lucky us

 Grandpa is so fun!

More highlights from our North shore trip....

If you ever get to Grand Marais, you must check out Artist point

 It's an easy hike, with beauty everywhere you look!

The enchanted forest...I expected to see little fairies (no such luck)

My guy

  

 The bay area in Grand Marais

 Looking back on Grand Marais from Artist's Point

The clouds were descending over the town, 

which put a damper on the fall colors in the hills 

~ ~ ~ 

After our morning hike we had some lunch then headed south about 25 miles to 

Temperance River for some more hiking....we love this area. 

 This is only about 5 miles from the place we stay

The park is full of falls and gorges...just beautiful 

We could site here all day 

 Just pretty

hiking along the river was lovely!

~ ~ ~

The Sun did not make much of an appearance this year, 

on our trip to the North Shore but low and behold,

 it came out for us Friday morning... the day we left

I was thankful for the little bit sunshine

Just south of Duluth on our trek back to Rochester we ran into this......

SNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW... 

you know I was beyond glad!!!

Last, but not least....

We always spend some of our time on the North Shore, in our car,

 driving the Fall Color Tour

 in the Sawtooth mountain range near Tofte

 The road take us to the back woods, 

inland 

where the colors are at their best

For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. 

Through everything God made , they can clearly see his 

invisible qualities-his eternal power an divine nature. 

So they have no excuse for not knowing God    Romans 1:20

 I was determined to find this little church again, I'm in love with this little beauty!

It's somewhere down the gunflint trail on "Maple Leaf road"

We found it again  :)

~ ~ ~

Grand Marias is a must-go-to town for us, 

just a small town with a population of 1300

a small town that is booming with character,

 it's unique, diverse and

  there's so much to see and do. 

The World's Best Donut Shop did not disappoint us.

 It was our first visit here, it's been closed all the other times we've come.

 Long Johns with maple frosting

Oh....My...Goodness

Yummy rich frosting, soft middle and  a wee bit of a crunch on the bottom

Seriously, I have never had a donut this good.... in my life!

They were so good we bought two more for a late night treat.

Artist Point- Why had we never explored this area before?

A 1/2 mile hike, over lava rock, through a small forest,

 beauty all around, 

I can see why this area is an inspiration for artists and photographers, 

it's breath taking...

My nomad husband...he forgot to bring a hat out to the point, 

the sun was intense.

 jumping... 

 Looking back at Grand Marais from Artist Point

Home bound...

 The weather changed, on the day we were to come back home 

it was extremely windy, cool and overcast, 

it made it a little easier to leave the North Shore 

 We made a few stop to admire this kind of thing

Surfers on Lake Superior...I love that 

Our favorite time of year together... Our favorite adventure,

 just him and I, relaxing, exploring, laughing.

We are refreshed!