My family has spent time on the North Shore for three generations. This past week was the most recent Wilson Invasion. The family had agreed that this year our focus would be Duluth. After three days of spotty, rude and questionable customer service in the “big city,” I decided to hit the road north with my two daughters. How refreshing to be greeted with a sincere smile and greeting in not one, but every store and location we visited.
A stroll around the Coast Guard station is always a must and Wednesday the weather was perfect. We also visited World’s Best Donuts, Ben Franklin, the Trading Post, the Crooked Spoon, Beth’s (for the fudge, of course), and a couple of the shirt shops. I’m probably forgetting someplace.
We also “window shopped” most of town. Not a single sneer did we encounter. In fact, by time we headed reluctantly back southwest to our homes, we realized we were significantly more relaxed than we had been all week. Being Wilsons, we decided this must be analyzed. (Hey, you have to talk about something on the three-hour drive home.)
The conclusion was this: Grand Marais provides a perfect blend of the natural beauty of the North Shore, an embracing of all things art, environmental friendliness, and a humble acknowledgement that much of your summer economy comes from the tourists who grace you with their presence. It would perhaps astound those “city slickers” south of you to realize that sincere gratitude towards their customers would gather more customer loyalty than the air of superiority they choose to cultivate.
Sadly, we waited too long to visit your fair city to salvage much of this year’s vacation. However, being Wilsons, we dwell on the positive. I for one thought it quite telling that of the 120 pictures I took in five days, 100 were taken in Grand Marais.
When we reminisce about Wilson Invasion 2013, your town will be what we are seeing in the slideshow. And we have already determined we will never again make the big D our base of operations. We’ll stay in Grand Marais, where a vacation feels like a vacation should feel.
Gwen Wilson Boser
Avon, MN
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