It is nice to see community members celebrating the designation bestowed on the city of Grand Marais last March by Budget Travel magazine, America’s Coolest Small Town. There’s a banner hanging over Wisconsin Street, coasters in cafes and bars and stickers in nearly every business window announcing that Grand Marais is “the coolest.”
It is something to celebrate that Grand Marais beat out much bigger towns like Fort Myers Beach, Florida; Old Orchard Beach, Maine; Pismo Beach, California; Snohomish, Washington; or Washington, North Carolina. But our little town on the bay didn’t do it alone. To get more votes than these larger towns, it took a concerted effort by all of Cook County—organized or unorganized!
It also took the participation of friends and families beyond our borders. People who lived in Cook County in the past, people who want to live in Cook County in the future, all went to the Budget Travel magazine website every day for more than a month to vote for Grand Marais.
It would be nice if the award was for America’s coolest county. Because not only did the entire county help Grand Marais win the honor of America’s Coolest Small Town, there are many other cool spots all over the county.
That is why this newspaper is the Cook County News-Herald, not the Grand Marais News- Herald. That just doesn’t sound right. Because for 124 years, the community newspaper has shared the activities of residents and visitors from the Cook/Lake county line to the Canadian border, from the Lake Superior shoreline to the end of the Cramer Road, the Sawbill Trail, the Caribou Trail, the Gunflint and the Arrowhead Trail.
Sometimes the news is about disasters— devastating wildfires, tragic accidents or extreme weather events; sometimes there is conflict amongst the citizenry. But overall there is some pretty cool stuff in the News-Herald every week.
The 4th of July weekend is a perfect example—there were celebrations all over the county. As I strolled around the Hovland Arts Festival, hiked the Tofte Trek and watched the Tofte parade, and joined the Girl Scouts in the Grand Marais parade, I was reminded time and again of how nice it is to call Cook County home. Everywhere I went, there were fun activities, good music, and someone I knew cheerfully calling out, “Happy 4th of July!”
It felt a little surreal. No one in Cook County has a perfect life. Sometimes it’s hard to live here. A lot of us work multiple jobs to be able to pay our rent or mortgage. There are people with medical challenges who face a long and bumpy road to Duluth or beyond for treatment. It’s hard to find fresh fruit and vegetables because we’re at the end of the food delivery route. Winters are long and often bitter cold. Summer brings vicious mosquitos and black flies. And there are no 24-hour stores to visit for last-minute needs.
But on the 4th, it seemed that everyone forgot the struggles and came together to celebrate our nation’s birthday. Independence Day was a big countywide, party and we were all invited to take part. That’s pretty cool.
Maybe we should lobby Budget Travel to sponsor an America’s Coolest County contest. I know there are some special places that could be considered, such as El Paso County, Colorado with Pike’s Peak and the Air Force Academy; Norfolk County, Virginia with the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and stunning Virginia Beach; Marin County, California with the Golden Gate Bridge and giant redwoods, King County, Washington, home to the Space Needle and Pike Place Market; and of course nearby Door County, Wisconsin with its five lighthouses and trolley and ferry rides.
Maybe that’s not realistic. Those counties all have much higher populations and landmarks more renowned than Cook County. So we likely would never win the title of America’s Coolest County. Maybe that is why we all are so happy about the Grand Marais title.
We may not all live within the Grand Marais city limits—or even in the unorganized territory of Grand Marais—but it is our town just the same. And that is pretty cool.
What we seek when we
wander usually leads us
back home.
Gina Greenlee
Leave a Reply