A Day at the North Shore.

What a week!!! We have been going non-stop since we go to Minnesota. It has been a bit on the cool and rainy side, but we have still managed to fit in most of the activities that we wanted to.

Last Thursday, we packed everyone up and took a drive up the North Shore of Lake Superior. We didn't really intend to, but we ended up going all the way to Grand Marais, MN. Grand Marais is a small town about 30 miles from the Canadian border. It is a really cute little resort town with a bunch of quaint little shops and great restaurants.

Here are the kids standing on the edge of Lake Superior. I never get tired of looking at this lake. Everywhere you look there is an other picturesque view. As you can see, it was a bit of a cold, windy day. But, lucky for us, it did not rain!

As we were walking around Grand Marais, we came across a donut shop (imagine that, 30 miles from Canada), that calls itself "The World's Best Donuts." Well, of course we had to stop in and try them, just to see if they really were the world's best. To our great surprise, they were! OMG, they were so soft, so full of flavor, and perfectly cooked. If I had not been stuffed to the brim from everything else that we had eaten that day, I would have had several of them myself. We will definitely be returning for more on our next trip to Grand Marais.

Outside the donut shop they had this cute picture spot. Of course we had to pose for a few shots at "The World's Best Donut" shop.

Our next stop, on our way back to Duluth, was a place called Tettegouche State Park. Now, of course I am not partial, being from Minnesota and all, but Minnesota has the best state parks in the whole country and Tettegouche is one of my favorites. It is another place where you can get view, after view, after view of Lake Superior. I could hike there all day. On this trip we only had a couple of hours, so we just hit the highlights.

This is a picture of Caitlyn at a place called "Shovel Point." Shovel Point is probably the most photographed spot in the park. We had to hike and climb about 150 steps to get there, but it was well worth it. I am already looking forward to our next trip back. I hope we can camp and spend a few days in the park in the near future.

Here is one more shot from shovel point. Even on a cold, cloudy day, it is one of my favorite places on earth.

After hiking at Tettegouche, we headed for one more "North Shore" landmark. In a town called Two Harbors there is a restaurant called "Betty's Pies." They have some of the best pie that you will ever taste. The restaurant was featured on one of the Food Network tv shows, and recognized for their pie.

So, as if we hadn't eaten enough bad things that day, we went in to Betty's Pies, had some dinner and topped it off with a piece of pie. I had Banana Cream....ahhhh....it was so good. I was so full by that point, but there was no way I was going to turn down a piece of pie.

After the pie, we all rolled ourselves into the car and made the 40 minute car ride back to Duluth. What a day, but I guess that is what vacations are for!!!