On Tuesday, we drove north on 61 to Grand Portage National Monument. Thoroughly enjoyed the Visitor Center and the fort. There were docents dressed in period costumes and each had an interesting talk about the life and artifacts in the buildings.
Had lunch in Grand Marais at The Pie Place - we tried two soups, the asparagus and the fish/corn chowder. Good thing there were other people in the restaurant, otherwise, we would have picked up our bowls and licked them clean!
The next morning, we started our day with Betty's Pies! Actually, we split the veggie omelet and shared one blueberry pancake. The home made strawberry rhubarb jam was a gourmand's delight! Yes, just yummy! Of course, we bought a pie for later. After all, it is Betty's Pies!!
Drove to Two Harbors and bought an all day museum pass. A bargain! We saw 4 museums for the price of 2 and the pass is good for 2 days! First museum was The Depot Museum, which featured two actual railroad engines; 3 Spot and Yellowstone class, 229. The Yellowstone class engine is huge! It weighed close to a million pounds when loaded with water and coal. It's top speed was 45 mph but it could haul as much weight as 4 of today's diesel engines. Second stop was the Edna G, a floating tug museum. This tug not only did firefighting duty but de-icing duty on the ore freighters. Such a small craft compared to the ore freighters.
Third museum was the Light station and B&B! Beautiful grounds and lighthouse. The lighthouse is still active! After a tour of the lighthouse, we headed to the 3M Museum. What a humble little building for such a major world corporation of today! Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing (3M) almost didn't make it in the beginning. The investors had built a factory but had no product! They kept pouring money into facilities and hands on research to come up with a new type of sandpaper for the new automobile industry. From sandpaper to developing new products, 3M became a very successful company.
Viewing all these museums is hungry work! Split a sandwich at Louise's Place and walked away very satisfied.
Stopped at Gooseberry Falls, which was just spectacular! All the water rushing and roaring made for great photography! Saw another one of those signs that makes you shake your head!
Another lighthouse - this one is another beauty! Split Rock Lighthouse has its original 3rd order Clamshell Fresnel lens. It still floats on a bed of mercury and makes very little noise while rotating. The keeper's house has been restored to the 1920's and is a wonderful peek at that time.
Back at the rig and preparing to move tomorrow to Sherwood Forest Campground in Gilbert. Who knows what adventure lays ahead?
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