Since my fourth trip this year to the North Shore I personally had the good fortune to meet with both NancyPalooza and wanderingjew just before they embarked on roadfood tours of the North Shore themselves. So, the area has been well tread this year with their recent trip reports here…

NancyPalooza’s, The Wolf’s Nose: Duluth, Grand Marais, and assorted small towns of Minnesota

and here…

wanderingjew’s, Heartland Through the Breadbasket

What else could I add? We had compared notes and they added new and fresh slants on the area. Still, I had an agenda for my fifth trip of the year to the North Shore, Grand Marais and the Gunflint Trail. My wife and I were hosting the Northern Minnesota BSG Social in Grand Marais. BSG stands for BEE Social Group, or a very loosely organized group of Class B RV camper van owners that agree to get together at a campground on a given date. I was challenged by the group last April in Kerrville, Texas to come up with a place in Minnesota. I stated at the time, since most socials had taken place in the warmer climes (Moab UT, Pagosa Springs CO, Lafayette LA, Niobrara NE) that I doubt anyone would come. As it turned out 18 RVs from 12 states did come. It did turn a little cold and they may all be happy to return again to the warmth of Tombstone, Arizona the next social in April. [:)]

Our trip from the Twin Cities to Grand Marais was a circuitous trip by first heading south to La Crosse, WI to visit the grandsons and make the next leg to the Brat Challenge in Pewaukee where I posted my photos of that event.

We then headed onto the North Shore via Northern Wisconsin camping at a national forest campground near Eagle River, WI, a north woods lake area I vacationed numerous times back in the 50s with my family driving non-stop from Indianapolis overnight to arrive on a Saturday afternoon. That area has fond memories.

We had breakfast at Faye’s Dinky Diner in Eagle River. The diner has three booths and 8 stools. Now that’s dinky, but there was nothing dinky about the food. I had this Philly Skillet of shaved prime rib, onion, green peppers and melted swiss cheese topped with two eggs over easy.

I had reported on Faye’s Dinky Diner from another trip about their pork tenderloin sandwich. Sad to say I did not see it in their new menu. [:(]

We headed on to the Minnesota North Shore in a downpour of rain and arrived two days earlier than we had planned in Grand Marais in hopes of finding better weather. We did managed to drive through and out of the rain.