Features
Two winters ago, I was lucky enough to visit Hawaii. After dozens of wipeouts, I surfed a wave for the first time in my life. While I rested on my belly on my board, I watched an old man standing up on his board and smoothly paddling out to catch another wave. He was smiling even more than I was. I asked around and learned that what he was doing was called stand-up paddleboarding or SUP.
The 85-year-old Virginia may look like a distinguished lady as she motors along the wind-whipped surface of Rainy Lake near Voyageurs National Park, but her life story teems with drama and secrets. She sank twice – for each of her three owners. It was said that during Prohibition she was sometimes taken to Canada, loaded up with liquor and steered back to a small island, where a speed boat would come and pick it up the illicit goods for distribution in the United States.
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About an hour’s drive northeast from Thunder Bay on Highway 11/17 is the town of Nipigon, which some people call the “Crossroads of Canada’’ because it is here that Canada’s major highways intersect, and where Canada’s two transcontinental railways join to travel a pair of bridges over the Nipigon River.
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On June 26, 2010, my friend Greg Petry and I were sitting in a Duluth hotel room watching the 10 o’clock news. The desk anchors on Fox 21 segued to a feature segment about a couple of kayakers.
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Long before the concoction of aniline (coal-tar-based) dyes that yield Technicolor hues, people dyed with natural materials gathered in their backyards. Everyday organic materials like plants, wood, mushrooms, roots, bark and lichen can be used to dye fibers and fabric, producing rich, earthy colors.
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There’s nothing like the taste of a homegrown tomato or a handful of sugarsnap peas fresh off the vine to tell you that summer is here. Fresh, locally grown vegetables are not just available to gardeners, either. Consumers from Thunder Bay to Duluth to the Iron Range can find locally grown produce in an increasing number of venues all over the region this summer.
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Driving up Hwy. 61 and spotting the iconic white draft horses hooked to a loaded timber sled, you may guess that Tom’s Logging Camp is a place to stop and get a history fix. What you might not guess is that it’s also a place to get a food fix.
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Kids can go farther than you think, but you have to keep them interested or a fun family hike can turn into a miserable slog. Luckily, the North Shore has day trips with attention-getting views and lots of “wow” per mile. So grab your kids and head for the hills.
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If you have never been to a historical reenactment or powwow, here are a few things to know. You are encouraged to watch and participate in both events. Know your terminology. The elaborate, colorful outfits worn at the powwow are not “costumes,” explains Dana Logan, Grand Portage powwow chair. The outfits are called regalia, and each piece and part has a meaning and a story.
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Imagine nearly 200 volunteers teaming up with the USDA Forest Service to construct new trails and improve existing sections of recreational trails on the Superior National Forest!
That’s exactly what’s happening this June 21 to June 25 in northeast Minnesota. The Boy Scouts of America’s honor society – called the Order of the Arrow – will be bringing approximately 200 Scouts and Adult Scouters to Grand Marais.
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I sniffed around my garden today and was pleasantly surprised. The ground has been unfrozen for a few weeks and I used my soil thermometer to check the temps. 55 degrees. Perfect. Spinach, peas, lettuce, onions and potatoes will germinate just fine.
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