Spring is in the Air!

Good morning, friends!

It is another beautiful, sunny day here in Grand Marais!  The snow is almost all melted in our yard and there are some green plants popping up in the flower garden.  I just can't wait to get out and clean up the rock gardens and flower gardens.  The birds are singing!

We have been working on some projects around the house to get ready for the new season.  We made signs for our rooms and are working on some tables as well. 

Here are some pictures of our rooms:

Our Bay View Room
This room is handicapped accessible and perfect for one or two people.

Our Superior View Suite
This room has a futon for an extra person or two.

Our Black Bear Suite
Also known as our Honeymoon Suite!
This is our most favorite room and our most private room.  It also has a futon (if you're not on your honeymoon, of course!)

Here are a couple of pictures of our entry way:

We just wanted to put some new pictures out there for everyone to see.  We are looking forward to another great season with some awesome guests!

As we add more things to our B&B we will post pictures in future blog updates.

Have an awesome day!

It's been awhile...

Hi, friends! 

I have to apologize for letting this blog become dormant for over two years.  I have been thinking about it and have decided to get it back up to date and plan to post at least once per month. 

This July will be our 5th season of operating our B&B and it's been lots of fun and continues to be a great learning experience.  Something new is always coming up!  Last year we put a new metal room on our home - it looks great.  This year we plan to have the outside wood siding refinished. 

This was our best winter yet as far as business goes.  Snow mobilers and outdoor winter sport enthusiasts are still learning about our B&B.  We think that we have the ideal accommodation for these sports because of our heated garage.  All outdoor clothing, jackets, boots, helmets, etc., can be put in our garage to dry and your room will be less cluttered.  Plus, we have an awesome hot tub to relax after a day out in the snow.  Our guests enjoy an awesome, hearty breakfast and then can gear up and be on their way to another winter adventure! 

Jamey & I traveled to Tahquamenon Falls and Whitefish Point this past March to check out the ice on the falls - it was awesome.  Here are some pictures:

This was our first time visiting the falls in the winter and it was just breathtaking.  It's only about one hour and 20 minutes from our B&B. 
Here is a picture of Whitefish Point lighthouse:

It is a beautiful drive up to Whitefish Point and it's about 30 minutes North of Tahquamenon Falls.  

We are looking forward to getting back outside when the snow melts and working on our gardens.  We love the snow; however, it's time to see green!

Here is a quote from our guestbook from some of our repeat snowmobiler friends:

"Thanks again for a wonderful time, so happy we got to return.  Your hospitality is genuine and lets us know we are among friends.  Glad to see you have an increase in snowmobile customers!  Until next time, God Bless." 

We just love reading the comments from our guests. 

I have also been trying new recipes and have increased my recipes for special diets such as gluten free, vegan and other issues. 

Here is a picture of Jamey & I from yesterday.  It was very windy in the dunes and our friend Karen took this photo of the wind holding us up!

Thanks for reading this blog and you will hear from us again soon! 

Happy November!!!

Hello, again!  We had a very nice fall and the weather is getting colder.  We are hoping for lots of snow this year!  A couple of weeks ago we "adopted" a new dog.  Her name is Nora and she is 5 years old.  She and Bear are getting along very well!  He is finally getting more exercise.  Nora has lots of energy.  About a week after we got her, we took her (and Bear, of course) out to the beach at the school forest.  Well, she took off down the beach and we lost sight of her!  We really weren't sure  what to do.  Jamey went one way and I went the other.  We just started walking East and eventually (after about 15 minutes) we caught sight of her.  She loves to run, but always comes back.  She is still learning what we expect of her during breakfast.  She knows that she's supposed to stay out of the dining room - but, she is still trying to sneak in!  Nora is a positive addition to our family.  Here is a picture of her and Bear on the beach.

It's really fun watching Nora run - she's so fast!  We gave her a middle name:   "Lightning".  

Here's a picture of Nora.

 

Last weekend Jamey's son Ryan came UP as well as his parents.  Jamey, Ryan and Bob (Jamey's dad) did some fishing and caught some steel head.  Here are some pictures of the three of them with their catch!

The guys had lots of fun!  We can't wait to eat the catch!  Jamey & Ryan went fishing before Bob arrived and Ryan caught a humongous fish!

Isn't that a great father and son photo?  It was really nice to have Ryan here as well as Bob and Ruth, Jamey's parents.  They will be celebrating their 35th Wedding Anniversary on November 10th - that's awesome, eh?  

Jamey took some pictures of our houseplants today.  Our "Christmas" cactus is really blooming - maybe it's a "Thanksgiving" cactus.  Anyway, it is from a clipping of my late Aunt Esther's plant.  It's very special to me and I think of her every time I look at it!  

Here's another picture of our plants.  Jamey has a green thumb and really loves to take care of our plants.

The  cactus in the frog planter tripled in size after we moved to Grand Marais - it really is happy here!

 

 

The break wall is almost complete.  The rocks are connected and the anchor rocks are being placed to fill the gap.  Here are a couple of pictures that Jamey took of the tug boat and there is a freighter in the background.

Thanks for checking us out!  We hope you have a wonderful November and come UP and stay with us to experience Grand Marais!

 

First Day of Fall!!!

Hi, Everyone!  Maybe anyone who is following our blog thought we got lost!  Sorry this has not been updated since June - I will try to post more often! 

We had a wonderful summer!  Great guests and wonderful UP weather.  We had some return guests and that was lots of fun!  Lots of anniversaries, a couple of honeymooners, birthday celebrations, etc.  We feel so honored when our guests come here to celebrate their very special event!  We even had a couple who got engaged while they were here!  That was exciting.  

There has been so much happening in Grand Marais.  The Breakwater is almost complete and we have had the pleasure of viewing the progress right from our home.  The Army Corps of Engineers are responsible for the remainder and a company from Duluth is busy working on it.  Hopefully it will be done before the weather gets in the way.

Yesterday there was an awesome rainbow - a full arc - over the Bay, right next to a tug boat.

This past week has been very rainy.   We feel bad for our guests - but they all have such great attitudes and we need the rain very badly.

We spent as much time as we could this summer out on the beach with Bear - he has been kind of depressed since Domino passed.  We all miss Domino.  Here are some pictures of Bear on the beach.  He's very handsome, eh?  He's also a very well behaved dog.

He's covered with sand!  LOL!!!

The lighting was so pretty!

Today Jamey took his friend Dakota out for the first day of Duck hunting.  It was the first time that Dakota was hunting for duck.  They had a blast and bagged 3 ducks!  WhooHoo!!!

It's a great time of year to visit the Upper Peninsula!  The colors are changing and are just starting to look really awesome.  Come UP and stay with us!  Bye for now!

Splash In and Father's Day!

This past weekend was the Splash-in in Grand Marais.  Lots of sea planes were in the bay!  It is very exciting and fun to watch the activities.  Also, we have had some lovely guests staying with us.  A couple of anniversaries - 1 was a 3 month and the other 35 years!  I just love it when people come UP and stay with us to celebrate one of their important events.  For breakfast this morning we had blueberry pancakes, scrambled eggs with ham, peppers, onions and spices, fresh baked cinnamon coffee cake and juicy, sweet watermelon - delicious!

My parents came UP to visit last Wednesday - unfortunately they have to go home tomorrow.  We had a great time with them, showing them some of our natural beauty and just spending some quality time together.  Here is a picture of them at the log slide lookout:

We also had time to go out to the school forest, Sable Falls and Beach and of course we walked around our town.  During the Splash in there were also many Bikers in town from the Blaney Park Rondevous which is always on Father's Day weekend, too!  Last night we went on the Pictured Rocks Sunset cruise.  It was very beautiful - even when it's cloudy the rocks look awesome - a trip well worth taking when you can.  Also, we had a nice bite to eat at the Falling Rock Cafe and Bookstore in Munising before the cruise - great atmosphere and fresh food.  Here are some pictures that I took on the cruise:

You should really take the time to go on one of the cruises - it is much better to see the rocks in person and they give you lots of information about Lake Superior. 
Hope everyone had a wonderful Father's Day - it was very special that my dad was here on this day!
Have a great day!

The Breakwall is being constructed!

Hi, everyone!  The weather UP here has just been gorgeous!  A couple of days ago the construction of our breakwall was started.  Last Thursday there was a parade to celebrate the first deliveries of the huge rocks.  Here is a sign that we made:

Here is a picture of the pile of rocks down at the point:

This is a very exciting time for our wonderful town! 

 A couple of days ago we woke up to this in our bay:

We have been privileged to host some of the most awesome guests - this is a great job!  (It really doesn't feel like work - it's lots of fun!)  We had a lovely young couple stay with us for a couple days and today was their 4th anniversary!  We also have another couple here who used to own property UP here and they are having a fun time reorienting themselves to Grand Marais.  We feel so honored when people choose to stay with us to celebrate their special days; such as honeymoon, birthday, anniversary, etc.  This morning for breakfast we served sausage quiche, oven potatoes, fresh oatmeal bread with jelly and butter, chocolate chip banana bread and fresh apples and kiwi.

We are continuing to work on our landscaping - probably will always be a work in progress!!  Here is a picture of some of the flowers that are blooming right now:

Yesterday we picked up a cedar swing for the front yard - we just love it and hope our guests enjoy it as well!  Our good friend Robert came over to help put it together and we got a picture of him and his dog buddy relaxing on the swing.  

Hope you have a great night and I will update as soon as I can!

Memorial Day Weekend!

Hi, everyone - hope everyone is having a fun, relaxing and safe weekend so far.  Thanks go out to all of the Veterans - we greatly appreciate your sacrifices.  

Yesterday Jamey & I started planting some of our flowers.  We hope to finish tomorrow afternoon.  Also, last night we were over at some friends' house visiting and when we got home this is what we found next to our door!

This moth was very hairy and beautiful - Jamey had fun taking pictures!  Here's one more:

We have some lovely guests this weekend - very thankful for that!  It's so much fun hosting and meeting new people!  This morning for breakfast we had scrambled eggs with cheese, ham, red peppers, onions and spices; blueberry pancakes with maple syrup, banana bread, fresh oranges, grapefruit and kiwi - very delicious.  Here is a picture of the fruit tray:

Tomorrow after serving breakfast we  are going to the Memorial Day Service and then we will attend the Community Potluck lunch.  Thanks for reading our blog and feel free to comment.
Good night!