September 14, 2025
55 degrees at 6:00, high of 64
Exploring Rt. 61, we drove south to Split Rock Lighthouse, an icon of the western shore of Lake Superior.
“Standing as a sentinel on the North Shore, the Split Rock Lighthouse was built in 1910 in direct response to the catastrophic gale of November 1905 that wrecked nearly 30 ships along Lake Superior’s coastline. Over time, the Split Rock Lighthouse became known as the “Guardian of Lake Superior.” This lighthouse played a significant role in preserving lives and preventing further disasters. From https://goodhomegarden.com/facts-about-split-rock/. After it was built, not another ship was lost at that location.
From there we drove south to Gooseberry State Park and drove through their very nice campground with a great-looking shower house. We were going to look at Gooseberry Falls, but couldn’t quite figure out where to park, so we went on south.
There are two tunnels, cut right through granite walls. There is an overlook before the first, so we stopped. Walking up to the side of the cliff, there was a group of climbers making their way up the wall. Views of the lake were great. Our entire time in Minnesota has been wrapped in fog. As we drove through the second tunnel, the sky was clear blue!
Minnesota and Michigan are known for their pies. After one restaurant touting their pies, we pulled into Betty’s Pies. There was a takeout window on the side. Although it was crowded, they were very efficient, and we were seated shortly.
A very nice waitress named Colleen acted like she had all the time in the world answering questions and taking our order. After much discussion we split a club sandwich, which was very good. It still surprises me when I see this on a menu, as I thought the only place to get a club sandwich was at Farmington Country Club, where I had many.
The big decision, requiring a lot of discussion and questions for Colleen, was what kind of pie should we order. I mean there was a tote board on the wall listing all the pies. Bumbleberry is my very favorite, but a note beside it said, “Coming soon.” I asked Colleen what that meant. She said she would check with the baker.
Well it could be Key Lime pie, but we are not in the Keys, and surely they don’t have Key limes. Then there was a raspberry rhubarb, which sounded wonderful. They also had strawberry rhubarb, another favorite, but I have never had a raspberry rhubarb. Of course there was apple, but Martha makes a great apple pie.
The board now noted they were out of Coconut Cream Pie. Colleen said the Bumbleberry would be ready in an hour. We settled on Great Lakes Crunch, with apple, blueberry, rhubarb, strawberry and and raspberry. $5.25 a slice, $22.50 for whole pie, $59 to ship, and they ship all over the country.
We were filled from the club sandwich, so we took our pie to go. We asked Colleen how to get to Scenic 61. She said go to the second K station and turn left at the liquor store, adding “It’s a beautiful drive.” Great place, great service, great food in the Great Lakes.
We drove the cute town of Two Harbors, and turned left at The Bottle Shop, a unique name for a liquor store. We were surprised to see a big, straight road that we could drive while pulling the Airstream. It was 3:30 and we had an hour drive back to Finland, so we cut over to the 4-lane expressway with a 65 mph speed limit that ends in Two Harbors.
Back in Finland, we went into the General Store. There was a group of about 8 people sitting on the porch talking about tires. It turns out they were talking about bike tires, and these were serious bikers, traveling distances. The store had some of everything – food, drinks, motor oil, an electric section, car section, plumbing and more. We bought some authentic Finnish Snacking Toast in cinnamon raisin flavor, of which there were several.
Martha made an excellent salad for dinner. We nuked the pie and shared it. The Great Lakes Crunch was great. We rated it a 10.
