More North Shore Photos

See entry below for more information.

Duluth/North Shore

We escaped Saint Paul for a few days to do some sightseeing in Duluth and on the North Shore. It's been nearly 20 years since we spent any amount of time in that part of the world. Pat and I, along with Malwina (Melli) Milas, who Son Steve has loaned to us for a couple of weeks, made the trip.

The culmination of the trip was a visit to Silver Bay MN where we lived and owned a restaurant for about six years during the 1980's. A lot has changed in 20 years. There has always been tourism on the North Shore, but some areas (like Silver Bay) managed to avoid it for many years by being wrapped up in the mining industry to the exclusion of very much development or even interest in tourism. When Reserve Mining Company closed in 1986 the town went from almost 4000 population to about 1700. It has since rebounded to just over 2000, of which many of the newcomers are retirees who were attracted by some good property at reasonable prices in a semi-wilderness area that has no shortage of great scenery.

There was a crying need for the building of tourism infrastructure in the area. Because of depressed conditions in the business community, there were few private sector developers able to perform. Even if there had been private developers available, much of what needed to be done simply had to be done by one government agency or another. All that needed to be done was to convince all the government agencies that they needed to cooperate with each other, spend the tax dollars and build what needed to be built. It happened. Now, 20 years later, the extractive industries of mining and logging are much diminished, but the flow of tourists is greatly expanded as the facilities are now in place to handle the crowds that come, and at the same time preserve and protect the natural settings and landscapes as much as possible.

On this trip we visited the Hinckley Fire Museum, Duluth Harbor, Two Harbors Waterfront, Gooseberry Falls State Park, and Silver Bay Marina. We visited my Aunt Evie in Cloquet and my Sister Shirley and her husband, Vern, in Silver Bay.

Always more to come. Check back often - and do leave a comment. Thanks.

Dave & Pat

Some pictures to share

Here are a few pictures from the last couple of months.

Pat and horse friend on Main Street in Stillwater MN.

Aerial lift bridge, Stillwater.

Dave in M&M race car at mall in St. Louis MO.

Pat with camel friend at Ramsey County Fair, Saint Paul MN.

Malwina, Maciek, Daniel, Steve and Dave at Mall in St. Louis.

Mother Mallard and babies at Tanners Lake, Landfall MN.

Visit our blog often. Thanks.

Dave & Pat

More from Landfall

At Taste of Minnesota. Minnesota Arboretum

Just because we are planted in one place for over two months doesn't mean we aren't doing anything or going anyplace. We've been busy, but pretending that we have a home base here in Landfall just as anyone with a home has a place to call home and travel from and back to as the situation my call for.

That doesn't mean that we go someplace new and different every day, but we're doing our share of getting around. In recent days we have visited A Taste of Minnesota, Ramsey County Fair, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, and Stillwater MN.

Also, daily, we take a walk along the shores of Tanners Lake. Lots of wildlife here, as there is in the many natural and/or manufactured wetland areas that surround the Twin Cities. Maplewood, an adjoining suburb, has had a water garden program on both a public and private level for many years. Official, city-government water gardens are everywhere, and they are not just an optional thing to do - building regs require them. Back home in Pend Oreille County, Washington, water gardens are just getting a start. This is due to a spark plug effort from Washington State Extension and the Pend Oreille Conservation District. Hopefully, their efforts will be successful and water gardens will also become part of building regs there.

Taste of Minnesota has been a Minnesota fixture for many years. Those of our readers who may be familiar with Spokane's Pig-Out in the Park festival will know immediately what the theme is. It's food. Way too many choices, a lot of it of questionable health impact, and way too pricey. Nonetheless, it's always well-attended and entertaining. We had not been to A Taste since we lived here about ten years ago. Our impression was that it might not be as nice as it used to be, but perhaps that is a common perception among older folk who go back to their roots. Reality has a hard time competing with memory.

Ramsey County Fair is an event we used to attend each year when we lived here. You would think that a local, county fair in a major metropolitan area would be huge, and well-attended. Well, RCF has no agriculture, only a small contingency of 4-H, and minimal adult participation. The big feature is an imported carnival of respectable size and lots of country and bluegrass music. After over 100 years of operation RCF has changed with the times, but has not shown any growth. Our readers from Pend Oreille will be able to compare it with the POC fair. Where PO has one building for photography and arts and crafts, another building for 4-H, yet another building for sewing, food processing and baking, Ramsey County fits all of that into a mere two buildings of modest size and offers no gardening produce entries. It's a different kind of fair.

Stillwater is a tourist-attraction type town on the Saint Croix River. It's less than 20 miles from Saint Paul. Stillwater has a bevy of stores on the main street that attract shoppers of all types. It also has the Saint Croix River and a steel, aerial lift bridge. Great scenery. Traffic on the weekend is horrendous and parking places are at a premium. Too many people, too little space - and yet everyong has a great time because of the ambiance of the area.

One of our recent neighbors here at Landfall, a Californian (but originally a Minnesotan) was a pleasant visitor. His name is Craig and we enjoyed visiting with him. He told us of camping somewhere else and meeting a temporary neighbor there who he had known 18 years earlier. It was one of those surprise, chance meetings in life. The day after Craig left Landfall this same person, Debbie (from Massachusetts, but also originally from Minnesota) came and parked in the same spot that Craig had vacated 24 hours earlier. In visiting with Debbie, we learned that she had attended Wellesely College in Boston, a school at which my Uncle Eldon, and his wife Peg, had been on the faculty. So, we discovered a common connection in our first visit. Just how small is this world?

All for now. Be well. Dave & Pat