Grand Marais, Minnesota......

The population of Grand Marais is around 1500 people. It has a natural bay that is has a few sailboats anchored in its waters. The whole area thrives on the tourist trade in the summer.  I really don’t know how the rest make a living but they probably drive to bigger cities to get work. The ore factories are open and I am sure people drive distances to work and to shop.

The history is of fishermen and trapping for furs.  I don’t think it was a major shipping area but the harbor did help to support the people.  Today the shops lean toward tourist interests.  They have the Worlds Best Doughnuts and Sven and Ole’s Pizza place.  The pizza place is in an original old building in which the floors are uneven and bouncy.  As you eat their delicious pizza the floor moves up and down as people walk by your table. The beauty of the lake against the rocky shoreline is a big draw for the area.

One is not at the top the shore as there is one more town north in an Indian Reservation, Grand Portage. The shoreline looks like this when you can find places to go towards the shore to see them.  Private properties do keep us visitors from seeeing some good shoreline.

The city works hard at Grand Marais to keep the Canada Goose population down. When we last visited 15 years ago, the geese had taken over the area with large flocks in the water and on the point park land.  I think the wildlife gives Minnesota some better natural impressions to the state. Moose are up in the woods and I still have never seen a single moose while there.

The two kinds of seagull are everywhere.  The ones either have pink legs or yellow legs.  We have seagulls back home in farmland country so they are not such a novelty for us to see. I do think you have to have these birds to help with the nautical flavor of Lake Superior. No one is allowed to feed the birds but they do join you when you eat your donuts at the picnic tables.

When the lake freezes over in the winter, this whole area shuts down and the tourists all go away.  It would be fun to see the place in the fall when the summer vacationers are gone.

Thanks for stopping by today.