Grand Marais, Minnesota

Grand Marais lies between the Sawtooth Mountains and Lake Superior. It has a population of 1351 according to the last census and is one of the oldest place-names on the Great Lakes.

This quaint little town is located at the foot of the Gunflint Trail, the gateway to the famous Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

Everything to see and do in Grand Marais is in walking distance. I took that walk today spending about four hours in town. I shopped, ate a donut, then shopped some more, then had coffee and an egg salad sandwich all while watching the goings on of the little Harbor town.

The town has a wide range of unique shopping, from Art galleries to the Ben Franklin (which there are only 117 left in operation) Grand Marais has been named America’s Coolest Small Town by several magazines. It is pretty cool!

There are plenty of places to eat a nice dinner or lunch. The Angry Trout, the Blue Water Cafe, the Crooked Spoon, the Gunflint Tavern, My Sisters Place, the Harbor House Grill, Hughies Tacos, Sven & Ole’s, there’s a Subway and and Dairy Queen.

Shopping….

The place to get your fish!

There is a very nice public Library

The Museum

The World’s BEST Donuts

The North House Folk School where you can enroll in different types of classes from baking bread to building a canoe.

I walked out on the Pier and took pictures of the boats in the harbor and the beach.

This guy really knows how live, eh?

This is the picture of the original lighthouse from 1882.

After several stroms and rebuilding they built this one which has a steel frame to withstand the waves of the Superior.

The pier use to be lined with fish houses. The rock here was first formed by a volcano a billion years ago and then scrapped smooth from the glaciers.