The North Shore. For the past 60 years those words have always meant something magical to me — coming over the hill into Duluth and seeing the Lift Bridge, eating at the Pickwick with my grandparents, getting souvenirs from the Ben Franklin in Grand Marais and skipping rocks. Owning a cabin on "The Lake" has always been a dream of mine.
My wife and I started searching about 15 years ago for a cabin that would fit our budget. It took three years, many trips and more than a few disappointing losses on multiple offers before we found our special cabin. Luck was on our side when a small cabin came on the market on a Wednesday. The real estate listing said "a small cabin built in the 1930s in Castle Danger." We raced up Thursday to see the gem. Our first impression from the outside was disappointing. "Too small," we thought as we waited for the Realtor. Our perception changed as soon as we stepped inside. A picturesque view of Lake Superior is all we needed to see.
The original resort, Camp Delight, consisted of four cabins and a shower house built by a local fisherman in the 1930s. The shower house was on our property when the resort was split up in the late '60s. This was converted to a one-room cabin with toilet and washer/dryer by the people from whom we had bought cabin No. 2. They also had winterized and updated the main cabin, maintaining all the original character (knotty pine interior, shake siding and fir floors). That Friday we made an offer (over the asking price), and on Saturday our bid was accepted.
We have shared this special, magical place with family and friends over the years. We have two books full of their impressions that we read in front of the fire, to the sound of the lake. The view took our breath away 12 years ago, and it still does today.
