North Shore - Day Three

On Saturday morning, we got an early start and drove north in order to make our way south to where we'd left off the day before about halfway. 

As we often like to do, we made a quick stop in Grand Marais for what is touted as the "World's Best Donuts". And it turns out they were pretty darn close...

Knowing the crowds would only get worse on a sunny Saturday, we wandered out to Artist's Point and the lighthouse...

Despite our previous plans to drive all the way to Grand Portage, we decided it would be wise to stop and hike to Devil's Kettle waterfalls at Judge CR Magney State Park on the way north...

Not only was it a bit crowded but we were glad to be fresh with over 570 stairs to conquer!

Because it seemed like a day to be flexible with plans, we stopped at the Wauswaugoning Bay Overlook because of the ease of getting in and out of the parking lot while driving north...

We finally made our way all the way to the Canadian border and Grand Portage State Park. Home of one of three High Falls on the drive but the only one worthy of the name. This High Falls, at 130 feet, is the tallest falls in Minnesota!

We were a bit surprised at the lack of people at the Grand Portage National Monument Historical Site until the signs around reminded us of the government shut-down. Seems like our government seems to make a habit of that on our anniversary trips. But we still took a few minutes to check out what was still open...

We were making such good time, we had time to stop for lunch at Vouageur Brewing back in Grand Marais...

Cascade River State Park was a great stop! Seven waterfalls in less than a mile. It would have been perfect, except there were still stairs! 

Lutsen Mountain ski resort was hopping! Obviously the place where all the tourists go to be outdoorsy without being too outdoorsy. But Chris splurged and we rode the gondola up to Moose Mountain. It was nice but I can't imagine how pretty it must have been in it's full Fall colored glory!

We got a much earlier start back to Duluth but not early enough to get stuck in a 20+ minute back-up in Two Harbors! But thankfully early enough to still have time to drive into Superior, Wisconsin for dinner. The food, drinks, owner and staff at Mama T's Smokin' Eats were all AMAZING! We even got done early enough for a quick flight of ciders and cribbage and Duluth Cider...