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First Day |
| Arrive in Grand Rapids…have late lunch / check
into motel |
| 1 p.m. City Tour:
One-hour city tour compliments
of Visit Grand Rapids; Nira Beddoe will meet you
at the front desk, she will guide you through the
community while explaining its diverse history. |
| 2:15 p.m. NCROC:
University of Minnesota North
Central Experiment Station. Established in
1896, the station contributes to
knowledge applicable to agriculture
(including forestry) in the region. The
University has extensive horticulture
and agriculture information that they
share with visitors. Scientists research
topics in agricultural engineering,
environmental issues, forestry,
industrial by-product utilization,
horticulture, tourism & travel, and wild
rice. The center has a demonstration
garden for All American Award-winning
flowers and vegetable varieties.
Contact: Dr. Shengui Yao, 218.327.4361 Approximate
time: 1½ hours; no cost |
| 4 p.m.
Forest History Center:
A new $1.4 million
display was unveiled in 2004 depicting the
importance of the forest to this area’s economy
and way of life, historically and present-day. Try
the hands-on components of the newly installed
exhibits and view the new “Fire in the Forest”
object theater. Visit the 150-acre 1900
living-history white pine logging camp and River Wanigan
(log drive boat) on the Mississippi
River; includes Interpretive Center and
Ranger’s Cabin. Contact: Becky Jennings
or Ed Nelson, 218.327.4482 Approximate
time: 1 ½ hours; cost: $6/person – driver & escort comped |
6 p.m.
Sawmill’s Cedar Dining Room – located in
the Sawmill Inn, south on Hwy 169, 218.326.8501;
offers a lumberjack meal perfect for timber-themed
tours. The meal includes: sow belly (pork), spuds
(whole oven baked potatoes), baggies (rutabaga),
linen lifters (baked beans), loggin’ berries
(stewed prunes), punk (bread), swamp water (tea),
black jack (coffee), and pregnant woman pie (apple
pie). Cost is $19 including tax and gratuity.
Other group dining options for
non-themed meals:
Ruttger's Sugar Lake Lodge,
Timberlake Lodge, Sammy's Pizza,
Brewed Awakenings,
River's Italian. |
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Possible after-dinner activities:
Edge of the Wilderness Scenic Byway – take a drive
up Highway 38, which offers some of the most
beautiful forest and lakeshore vistas in
Minnesota, as well as numerous historic sites.
Interpretive maps are available for each person on
your bus. Check out some possible locations for
picnic lunch (with Pasties from Pasties Plus);
travel north to Marcell, then west on County Rd
286 (left); then back south on Hwy 6 (another
left). This will bring you into Deer River |
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| White Oak Casino (800.252.7529) Located downtown
Deer River, it rounds off the Edge of the
Wilderness Scenic Byway trip. |
| Back to Motel
Click here
for
Hotels/Motels, or
Resorts |
|
| Second Day |
| 9:00 am Tour
Judy Garland Birthplace
(800.664.5839) Sample life in Grand Rapids in the
1920’s and learn about the early years of one of
America’s most beloved entertainment legends.
Contact: John Kelsch: 866.236.5437 Approximate
time: 1 hour; $7/person – driver & escort comped |
| 10:30 am Head to
Hill Annex Mine in Calumet
(218.247.7215) Learn the history of the region’s
other dominant industry based on natural resources
– Iron Mining – and see the work done on mineland
reclamation. Part of the Minnesota State Park
System, this 300-acre pit, the easternmost section
of the 800-acre Gross-Marble-Trumbull-Hill chain
of pits, provides spectacular views of the sheer
walls which rise 500 feet from the bottom of the
pit. A trip through the mine provides a chance to
see fossils from the sea that covered the area 75
to 86 million years ago and rock almost 2 billion
years ago. Tours begin at the mine’s historical
clubhouse where an interpretive center offers
insight into the mine operation and the European
immigrants who settled and mined the Iron Range of
Minnesota. Tour the Interpretive Center and take
one of three (or all three) tours: an open pit
descending into 500 ft. deep mine, fossil hunting,
or boat tour. Contact: Steve Railson, 218.247.7215
Approximate time: 1 ½ hours per tour; $8/person –
driver & escort comped |
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Other Options:
Tour of Central School, (218.326.6431) a unique
marketplace; recapture the spirit of your youth at
a turn-of-the-century schoolhouse. Central School
is located in the middle of town. No cost
MacRostie Art Center, (located just west of
Central School) a non-profit arts organization
dedicated to the exhibition of and education in
the visual arts, featuring spacious gallery with
rotating exhibits. No cost |
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