The North Shore's Secrets

A heart attack killed my grandpa before I was born. When he was among the living Grandpa took my mother, a teenager at the time, on a trip to Tofte to see Lake Superior. Ever since, Mom has considered the North Shore her spiritual birthplace.

So to celebrate my mom's early retirement I took her back to Tofte to be reunited with Gitche Gumee's majestic waters. Our home for the weekend was Bluefin Bay, and throughout our adventure we took to heart Bluefin's motto: "Never miss a wave."

"Guests are surprised how incredibly close our resort is to Lake Superior," said Dennis Rysdahl, owner and general manager of Bluefin Bay. "People are stunned by these amazing views of the world's largest freshwater lake––you can't get closer to Superior than this."

Missing a wave was not an option for us. Our beautiful condo sat mere feet from the lake. As soon as we arrived we dropped our bags in the living room and headed straight to our private deck to sit face-to-face with the inland ocean. The sinful 5-chocoloate pie we picked up at Betty's Pies en route to Tofte tasted that much better with cool lake air rushing against us.

We savored each bite and ate slowly and carefully––it seemed a dropped crumb would fall directly into the lake below us. Had we really been in rush hour traffic in the heart of Minneapolis just four hours ago? If so, we entered a time-warp when we walked through the condo and out to the back deck. The rolling waves of Lake Superior pounding at our doorstep instantly washed away the busyness of the daily grind.

"You feel like you are worlds away," Rysdahl said. "Bluefin Bay is the perfect antidote to life's chaos and craziness."

No wonder guests flock to Bluefin Bay from 47 different states, from Hawaii to Maine, from Florida to California. It is here that you can soak in aura of the world's largest freshwater lake.

In truth, Mom and I would have been happy had we never strayed from our deck the entire weekend. But retirement doesn't mean kicking back and relaxing to Mom. It means new adventures and discoveries, and we were in the perfect place for just that.

For the first-time ever, Mom went fishing on Lake Superior, kayaked on the big lake, hiked along Cascade River's waterfalls, trekked along the Superior Hiking Trail, climbed Oberg Mountain and biked on Gitchi-Gami State Trail. And that was just Saturday alone!

Other days found us summiting Sawtooth Mountain's Carlton Peak and Britton Peak, exploring for miles along the Temperance River, eating breakfast at sunrise on the rocks of Tofte Park, wading in chilly Lake Superior at Split Rock Lighthouse State Park and hiking at Palisade Head.

We had scoured Bluefin Bay's website weeks in advance to create an agenda that maximized our time to enjoy the abundant outdoor activities. The resort, which opened in 1984 and hosts a variety of condos, studios and guest rooms, offers complementary shuttles to area trails, 50 road and mountain bikes, canoes, kayaks, guided hiking and biking trips, tennis courts, badminton, bocce ball and––during the winter––snowshoes, cross-country skis, ice skates and an outdoor rink.

Biking and sea kayaking are the two most popular summer and fall activities at Bluefin. Some 1,200 to 1,500 guests try their hand at sea kayaking every year. For Mom, who adores Lake Superior but has never before sat in a kayak, the challenge of kayaking Gitche Gumee was on her bucket list.

Originally, we had signed up for a 3:30 Saturday afternoon guided kayaking excursion knowing we'd be out and about until then. As it turned out, our early Saturday morning fishing excursion in Grand Marais was so successful we caught our keeper fish fast and actually quit several hours early, and after wading along the Cascade River waterfalls for an hour we returned to Bluefin ahead of schedule at 12:22pm.

There was a 12:30 guided kayaking session we switched to and joined at the last second, and we made it out while the lake was still relatively calm. It was a rush to kayak in the massive lake so famous for taking down enormous iron ore ships.

The 3:30 kayaking session we had originally signed up for ended up getting cancelled (well, moved to a smaller, in-land lake) because the wind had kicked up. By luck, we stumbled across the 12:30 session––when kayaking on the big lake was still an option–– with only minutes to spare. I was so grateful we made it out on this adventure because I knew kayaking on Superior was on Mom's bucket list, and she had graciously gone fishing with me first thing in the morning (when the lake was glass) so I could accomplish a goal of mine: catching a salmon on Lake Superior.

With kayaking done by 3, we then had the rest of the afternoon free to hike Oberg Mountain and revel in her spectacular views. The unfolding of the day's activities epitomizes how serendipitously things worked out throughout our trip––and is also a reminder that on Superior's shores you can make the best-laid plans but ultimately Mother Nature dictates your schedule as she sees fit.

Some More S'mores?

Before heading to Bluefin's nightly bonfire on the beach, Mom and I went on a twilight bike ride along the lake that produced my favorite "what did we stumble across here" moment of the trip. We were the only ones on the shore, biking alongside classic rock formations, and the cooling evening air was alive and electric. My words won't do it justice, but perhaps this photo will paint the picture some.

After dark, we followed our noses to the smell of the bonfire, though we could have just as easily followed our ears––Bluefun Bay hires evening musicians ranging from Bump Blomberg to Barbra Jeans to Bob Bingham (who played for Gordon Lightfoot) to entertain guests. That night a middle-aged musician sat by the fire strumming a guitar and singing soft lullabies to the lake while guests swapped stories of their day's adventures and bonded over complimentary s'mores.

"Got room for some more s'more people?" asked Mike Storms, 53, as he approached the bonfire. Storms and his wife Kathy were there on their honeymoon. They had met online in what both had apparently vowed was their "last attempt" at online dating.

"We had a campfire and s'mores at our wedding reception," Storms told the friendly group of fellow vacationers as he assessed his golden-brown marshmallow. "But this is quite the encore. What a setting!"

Indeed, it is a special setting for a wedding or a honeymoon––Bluefin Bay has been voted Best Honeymoon Resort by Minnesota Bride Magazine a staggering seven years in a row. Earlier in the afternoon, we saw a wedding photo shoot take place on the grounds. Bluefin Bay hosts 50 weddings per year; among its 150 staff members is an in-house wedding and event coordinator.

And those who complain that wedding food tends to run on the bland, predictable side (lukewarm chicken and mashed potatoes, anyone?) have obviously never dined at a Bluefin reception before. The resort offers three distinct dining options: Waves of Superior Café, Coho Café and Bakery and The Bluefine Grille, the latter of which offers an extensive wine list and live music.

"At Coho Café and Bakery we make everything from scratch without any preservatives added," said Diani Dimitrova, Coho Café and Bakery Manager. "We buy local as much as we possibly can for fish, sausage and seasonal produce so everything's as fresh as it can be."

My two-cents? There's a reason Coho Cafe's homemade specialty pizzas win so many awards; order one and you won't regret it.

Like Grandfather, Like Grandson

You feel a certain amount of responsibility when you plan a trip for a loved one. I distinctly remember feeling 2-feet tall when an arduous cliff-side mountain hike I took my wife on in Scotland got frightening for her and panic swept across her face.

On the flip side, I can still hear my dad saying, "This is even more beautiful than I thought it would be," when I took him on the Canadian fly-in fishing adventure he'd always dreamed of going on "someday."

As Mom and I sat on our private deck at Bluefin Bay one last time before check-out, it was obvious that her retirement trip couldn't have gone any better. As we looked out at Lake Superior glistening in the sun, Mom told me something I hadn't heard before: her dad, in the days prior to his sudden and unexpected death at age 46, was planning on taking his family back to Tofte.

Apparently after his death they had found the phone number to some cabin rentals in Tofte along with a few dates scribbled on a sheet of a paper in his briefcase. I never met my grandpa, but here I was taking his daughter on the trip he had planned.

The great lake, for her part, didn't know that Grandpa once walked the shores of Tofte––or even, for that matter, that Mom and I were there that very moment, ourselves irrelevant in the shadow of her 15,000 years.

But that's OK. We knew.

Bluefin Bay's website is www.bluefinbay.com. For more information, call 1-800-Bluefin (258-3346).