Two Harbors Lighthouse


For our anniversary, we stayed at the lighthouse in Two Harbors, on the North Shore of Lake Superior.




Peg and I extended our Thanksgiving weekend by taking a day of vacation on Monday so that we could celebrate our wedding anniversary with a brief trip to one of our favorite places, the North Shore of Lake Superior. The plan was to go up to Two Harbors (about 25 miles beyond Duluth) on Sunday, stay a night, and return on Monday. Because weather in that area can be severe this time of year, we didn't make room reservations until after checking the forecast on Saturday. Peg remembered that the Two Harbors Lighthouse is now operated as a bed and breakfast. She called to make a reservation, and learned that all four rooms were available, so we picked one based on their web site details.

We packed Sunday morning, and left home around 9:30. The drive takes about three hours, but we had no need to get to the lighthouse before 3:00, so we had a relaxed noon-time lunch, spent a little while in the Canal Park area of Duluth, and took the scenic drive along the lake from Duluth to Two Harbors. We arrived at the lighthouse around 2:30 to meet Heidi, the lighthouse "keeper" and cook. She told us we would probably be the only guests, and explained that even she would go home for the night, so we would have the whole lighthouse building to ourselves. We could pick any of the rooms, but the others would be open as well.

The Two Harbors Lighthouse was completed in 1892, and is still in operation as a lighthouse. In fact, it is the oldest operating lighthouse in Minnesota (not that there are many competitors). Historically, it served as home for the keeper's family, and has three upstairs bedrooms, plus a kitchen, dining room, sitting room and basement. (We have posted pictures of some of the rooms.) The building has two stories, and is about 32 by 32 feet, with the light tower occupying about a 12-by-12-foot corner. The light is operated remotely by the Coast Guard, but the rest of the building and site are operated by the Lake County Historical Society.

We called our friend Becky, who lives in Two Harbors, to let her know we had arrived. She stopped over to see the lighthouse interior, and then we walked back to her place on the second floor of a grand old house in town, where she made a fine chicken dinner for us. After dinner we all hiked back by moonlight to the lighthouse, where its dual light beams could be seen sweeping across the landscape and out across the lake. We listened to a couple of old 78 rpm records on an antique wind-up phonograph in the dining room, and Becky then headed home. We settled in to our unusual accommodations and enjoyed some wine and a lot of privacy.

In the morning, Heidi returned and prepared a wonderful breakfast for us. We visited some of the other buildings on the grounds, including museum exhibits in the Assistant Keeper's house, a nice gift shop in the old fog-signal building, and a fourth guest room in the skiff house. We thanked Heidi for all she had done for us and said goodbye.

We had noticed that a large ore boat, the Roger Blough, had arrived during the night at the iron-ore docks across Agate Bay from the lighthouse. We walked out on the long breakwater to get a better view of it and took some pictures of the boat.

On a trail along the east side of the peninsula, we walked and took pictures of the rocky shore. Then we drove to the other side of Agate Bay to see some other historic sights, including the Edna G., an old coal-fired tugboat and the 3-Spot, a nineteenth-century ore-train engine.

We drove to Duluth for lunch at Lakeview Coffee in the historic Fitger's Inn & Brewery Complex, and headed south on Interstate 35. We stopped in the town of Moose Lake to look for the Blacklock Photography Gallery. After driving around town a bit, we spotted the gallery, stopped in, and met nature photographer Craig Blacklock. We looked at the many fine photos and other art on display, and bought a copy of Craig's beautiful new book, Minnesota's North Shore, which he autographed for us. Then we headed back home to tend to our cats, bringing an end to a great little vacation trip.



Posted: Sun - December 2, 2007 at 08:48 PM       by email

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