Next on Michigan Magazine the Pickle Barrel House of Grand Marais
House made out of a Pickle Barrel...and then a trip to Black Star Farms
Compass Land Consultants - Grand Marais MI Area
What’s Special About Grand Marais?
Wandering around the village, I stop by the impressive West Bay Diner & Delicatessen to get an afternoon coffee and meet the extremely busy, amazingly efficient, cute superwoman who co-owns the restaurant with her husband and writes books on the side. Sensing my afternoon slump, she starts a fresh pot brewing and invites me to look around. There are fun things to purchase – like homemade baked goods (including the largest cinnamon roll I’ve ever seen), jams and jellies, honey (guessing it’s from her personal hives), fresh eggs (again … proprietary and confirmed by one of the author’s books nearby) plus all manner of practical and artistic creations.
I read Ellen Airgood’s (a.k.a. Superwoman’s) book South of Superior a half dozen years ago when it first came out and remember being impressed by the story. Now having seen Ellen in action, I’ve gone back and reviewed her history. My suspicions are correct; she works WAY harder than I do.
After meeting some other town members, I’m certain this personality type is emblematic of the folks who live here- and elsewhere – in the Upper Peninsula. The local Finns call it “Sisu,” which roughly translates to “gritty,” or “hardy.” Its’ a town whose history begins with the Chippewa Indians, moves through commercial fishing, lumber, and into present day tourism. With the paving of H58 in 2010 – the county highway running between Munising and Grand Marais – the town’s future is on firm footing.
Happily strolling in the sunshine, I stop to chat with two local gentlemen outside of the Superior Shores Market and explain that we are making a video of the Grand Marais area to use on our website. I ask them what they would include if they were making the video. One replies, “Don’t take pictures. What Grand Marais offers you can’t capture in photos. Write about the people instead. Write how we are all here for each other and anyone who might need a hand.”
There’s a glorious freedom, beauty, and yes – isolation, to the West Bay and greater Lake Superior shoreline here in Grand Marais. Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore ( and Grand Sable Dunes lie to the immediate west. There are critical dunes and a protected Piping Plover nesting area ( to the east, with the Lake Superior State Forest Campground and Muskallonge Lake State Park close by.
My favorite siting of the afternoon is a modified SUV parked outside the local brew pub, The Dunes Saloon & Lake Superior Brewing Company. Someone carefully built a permanent canoe-hitch and fenders (front and back) out of driftwood for this vehicle. There’s raucous laughter emanating from the windows of the establishment. The sun’s shining, tulips are blooming, my coffee is delicious – it’s the perfect time to take a tour of Grand Marais’s four museums: the Pickle Barrel House, the Lightkeeper’s House, the Old Post Office, and the Gitche Gumee Agate and History Museum (
I’ll save my impressions of the museums so I don’t spoil the fun for future visitors. However, I do want to share what I learned about the Burt Township School system. As you would expect, it’s small but offers some unique opportunities to its students. For example, it manages its own 1,300-acre forest. What a phenomenal opportunity to teach about forest ecosystems, silviculture, and conservation! Add to that an education on alternative energy as the school has its own wind turbine. And although there are only 28 students in this K-12 school, they participate in the Northern Lights League and compete in co-ed soccer, and boy’s and girls’ basketball. (
This is their stated mission:
Burt Township School believes that creating a diverse and dynamic, environmentally focused, technologically superior school serves as a catalyst to prepare our students to compete in the local and global community. Burt Township School strives to facilitate learning through a maximum of course offerings and learning environments to lend way toward productive, engaged citizenship in the technological, global economy.
My report wouldn’t be complete without a shout out to the local snowmobile club, Grand Marais Sno-Trails, home of “Da Crazy 8s.” This club maintains trails number 8, 88, and 888 and operates three groomers to keep the trails in top winter condition. After navigating the forest area between Grand Marais and Newberry this spring, I appreciate the simplicity and fun of getting to a destination speedily by snowmobiling. You can read more about this club on Grand Marais’s Clubs and Organizations page (
HISTORICAL PLACES OF MICHIGAN STATE,U S A IN GOOGLE EARTH
HISTORICAL PLACES OF MICHIGAN STATE,U S A
1. MICHIGAN STATE CAPITOL,LANSING 42°44'1.10N 84°33'19.64W
2. ST.MARY'S CATHEDRAL,SAGINAW 43°25'32.93N 83°56'11.47W
3. TAHQUAMENON WATERFALLS,PARADISE 46°34'30.62N 85°15'9.43W
4. HENRY FORD MUSEUM,DEARBORN 42°18'12.84N 83°14'3.17W
5. FORT HOLMES,MACKINAC ISLAND 45°51'29.86N 84°36'59.87W
6. ST.AUGUSTINE CATHEDRAL,KALAMAZOO 42°17'30.99N 85°35'30.80W
7. DETROIT ZOO,OAK 42°28'38.85N 83° 9'21.13W
8. ST.ANDREW'S CATHEDRAL,GRAND RAPIDS 42°57'29.19N 85°40'2.06W
9. MANABEZHO WATERFALLS,WAKEFIELD 46°42'23.75N 89°58'16.18W
10. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN MUSUEM OF ART,ANN ARBOR 42°16'31.53N 83°44'23.32W
11. FORT MICHILIMACKINAC,MACKINAW CITY 45°47'12.30N 84°44'9.36W
12. NORTHRIDGE CHURCH,PLYMOUTH 42°22'25.25N 83°31'57.04W
13. SLEEPING BEAR DUNES,EMPIRE 44°53'3.63N 86° 3'1.88W
14. SABLE WATERFALLS,SENEY 46°40'6.49N 86° 0'52.26W
15. MUSEUM OF HISTORY,DETROIT 42°21'33.06N 83° 3'38.96W
16. FORT WILKINS,COPPER HARBOR 47°28'0.89N 87°51'54.87W
17. ROMAN CATHOLIC CATHEDRAL,DETROIT 42°23'19.07N 83° 5'5.27W
18. BURTON MEMORIAL TOWER,ANN ARBOR 42°16'45.99N 83°44'19.57W
19. ST.MARY'S CATHEDRAL,LANSING 42°44'8.65N 84°33'21.84W
20. FORT WAYNE,DETROIT 42°17'58.93N 83° 5'46.54W
21. ST.HYACINTH CHURCH,BAYCITY 43°33'57.59N 83°53'7.72W
22. SPARTAN STATUE,OKEMOS 42°43'51.83N 84°29'15.19W
23. PICKLE BARREL HOUSE,GRAND MARAIS 46°40'15.49N 85°59'5.18W
24. APOSTOLIC CHURCH,MOUNT MORRIS 43° 7'6.41N 83°41'32.14W
25. WHITE SHOAL LIGHTHOUSE,MICHIGAN LAKE 45°50'31.78N 85° 8'13.93W
Karen Brzys talks about her experience with ViewletBuilder7
Before opening the Gitche Gumee Museum in 1999, I worked in various career paths -- most of which involved the marketing of medical equipment. One of the things I learned along the way is that for a product to be successful, it has to stand out from the competition. The ViewletBuilder7 software published by Qarbon is successful in this endeavor. The online rockhounding adventures that have been created with this software are also different than anything else available on the internet. Together Qarbon and the Gitche Gumee Museum will hopefully take internet-based learning to a new level!
Here is a short video that describes how and why the ViewletBuilder software is being used to develop this educational outreach program. The project has been designed to help people to better understand the planet Earth and its rock and mineral treasures. The pilot program for the online rockhounding adventures will be launched from the web page agatelady.com before the end of 2012. The Gitche Gumee Museum is located in Grand Marais, Michigan on the south shore of Lake Superior. To find out more about this remote yet beautiful area, which includes the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, please visit agatelady.blogspot.com.
If you need to develop e-learning resources or even in-house training videos, please consider working with one of the innovative and easy-to-use Qarbon products.
Karen Brzys
Gitche Gumee Museum
Grand Marais, Michigan USA
50 ตึกแปลกรอบโลก
50 ตึกแปลกรอบโลก
50. The Bank of Asia a.k.a Robot Building (Bangkok, Thailand)
49. Ripley’s Building (Ontario, Canada)
48. UCSD Geisel Library (San Diego, California, United States)
47. Fuji television building (Tokyo, Japan)
46. “Druzhba Holiday Center Hall (Yalta, Ukraine)
45. Lloyd’s building (London, UK)
44. Nord LB building (Hannover, Germany)
43. Gherkin Building (London, UK)
42. The Egg (Empire State Plaza, Albany, New York, United States)
41. Pickle Barrel House (Grand Marais, Michigan, United States)
40. Mammy’s Cupboard (Natchez, MS, United States)
39. Civic Center (Santa Monica)
38. Zenith Europe (Strasbourg, France)
37. Luxor Hotel & Casino (Las Vegas, United States)
36. Fashion Show Mall (Las Vegas, United States)
35. Beijing National Stadium (Beijing, China)
34. Dome House (Florida, United States)
33. Solar Furnace (Odeillo, France)
32. Air Force Academy Chapel (Colorado, United States)
31. Wooden Gagster House (Archangelsk, Russia)
30. Erwin Wurm: House Attack (Viena, Austria)
29. Container City (London, UK)
28. Bahá’í House of Worship a.k.a Lotus Temple (Delhi, India)
27. Guggenheim Museum (Bilbao, Spain)
26. Wall House (Groningen, Netherlands)
25. Grand Lisboa (Macao)
24. The National Library (Minsk, Belarus)
23. Ryugyong Hotel (Pyongyang, North Korea)
22. The Hole House (Texas, United States)
21. The Ufo House (Sanjhih, Taiwan)
20. Weird House in Alps
19. Shoe House (Pennsylvania, United States)
18. Stone House (Guimarães, Portugal)
17. Mind House (Barcelona, Spain)
16. Nakagin Capsule Tower (Tokyo, Japan)
15. Manchester Civil Justice Centre (Manchester, UK)
14. Kettle House (Texas, United States)
13. Calakmul building a.k.a La Lavadora a.k.a The Washing Mashine (Mexico, Mexico)
12. Dancing Building (Prague, Czech Republic)
11. Chapel in the Rock (Arizona, United States)
10. Hang Nga Guesthouse a.k.a Crazy House (Vietnam)
9. Cubic Houses (Rotterdam, Netherlands)
8. Habitat 67 (Montreal, Canada)
7. Wonderworks (Pigeon Forge, TN, United States)
6.Kansas City Public Library (Missouri, United States)
5. The Basket Building (Ohio, United States)
4. Ferdinand Cheval Palace a.k.a Ideal Palace (France)
3. The Torre Galatea Figueras (Spain)
2. Forest Spiral – Hundertwasser Building (Darmstadt, Germany)
1. The Crooked House (Sopot, Poland)
Tahquamenon Falls Part I - Near Paradise, MI
This was a stop along the way to the Shipwreak Museum in Whitefish Point, MI. There is an upper and lower falls, this is the upper. I did this really fast because a thunderstorm was not far and I rushed to make it back to my truck. I did get a morning shower.
Grand Sable Dunes Log slide
Visiting the log slide on Lake Superior on August 12, 2013 with Brendan and Drew. 320 feet over the lake....
Sad day at the Conch Shell House
Last Day at Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System
Michigan Magazine Show 1945 Soap Makers & Chainsaw Carver
Grandma Billie and Aunt Chris, two West Branch Soap Makers make a business out of their Soap making hobby. Then we visit with former state champion chainsaw wood carver from Oxford.