What happens in Grand Marais…
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I never found time to write about my Las Vegas vacation at the end of April. Returning to Cook County—and to work—meant playing catch up. I quickly got right back in the work routine and forgot about the wonderful time I had in Las Vegas. As they say, "What happens in Vegas…stays in Vegas."
But now and then I stop and remember how much fun my husband, Chuck, and I had in the wild and crazy town. We had terrible luck gambling, but we had fun going from casino to casino to try out their "players’ club" incentives. Nearly every casino offers a few dollars of free play or a chance to spin a wheel for a prize. We were constantly delighted by the fabulous customer service we encountered at the players’ club counters. Doormen and bus drivers greeted us warmly. Servers at restaurants and the folks at the concierge went out of their way to help us.
That was probably the best thing about Las Vegas—we were treated like royalty. Maybe it is because the economy is down and they are happy to have customers at all. Or, maybe it is because they never know when someone is going to get lucky. If someone wins a million dollar jackpot, they most surely will remember that pleasant doorman or housekeeper, right?
When we were in Las Vegas, enjoying dinner on the patio at Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville or relaxing by the hotel pool, we thought, "What can be better than this?"
The answer to that question didn’t hit me immediately. I was a bit shocked when we landed in Duluth in frigid spring weather and I didn’t appreciate the beauty of the Big Lake. Things still seemed cold and gray in the beginning of May.
But then I took a walk out to the Grand Marais lighthouse. It was when the US Corps of Engineers barge H.J. Swartz was parked along the breakwall and I needed to talk to someone on board for the story I was working on. I actually was a little irritated when I started the walk out to the ship under drizzling skies. "I don’t have time for this," I muttered to myself as I scrambled up the cement wall that demarcates the Point. Theirritation faded immediately.
Looking at the rocky point, worn smooth by centuries of waves, I was flooded with memories of time spent on the Point—picnicking, sunbathing, splashing in the ponds.
Watching the waves crashing violently on the shoreline, I was reminded that in times of trouble, nothing is more soothing than a walk next to the water. Whether the waves are roaring gray and foamy white or sparkling periwinkle blue, the lake offers solace.
I realized that there is a place with much more to offer than the glamour and glitz of Las Vegas. Like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, I realized there is "no place like home."
It’s good to get away once in awhile to be reminded of that. But it’s even better to take little breaks now and then right in our own backyard—a walk out to the Point, a hike on the Superior Hiking Trail overlooking Grand Marais, a stroll through the Tofte Park, a climb up Oberg Mountain between Lutsen and Tofte or Mount Rose in Grand Portage.
Because unlike Las Vegas, where what happens stays there…what happens in Cook County stays with you.
That’s the best thing about walking, the journey itself. It doesn’t matter much whether you get where you’re going or not. You’ll get there anyway. Every good hike brings you eventually back home.
Edward Abbey
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