Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness
Just beyond Cascade River State Park, the Highway 61 dips into the somnolent little port of GRAND MARAIS, where a walk around the photogenic Circular Harbor will soon cure car-stiff legs. The visitor centre here has lists of outfitters for those heading west into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, a paradise for canoeing, backpacking and fishing. It’s one of the most heavily used wilderness areas in the country; overland trails, or “portages”, link more than a thousand lakes and in winter you can ski and dogsled cross-country.
Minneapolis and St Paul
Commonly known as the Twin Cities, MINNEAPOLIS (a hybrid Sioux/Greek word meaning “water city”) and ST PAUL are competitive yet complementary. Fraternally rather than identically twinned, they may be even better places to live than they are to visit, thanks to their cleanliness, cultural activity, social awareness and relatively low crime rates.
Only a twenty-minute expressway ride separates the respective downtowns, but each has its own character, style and strengths. St Paul, the state capital – originally called Pig’s Eye, after a scurrilous French-Canadian fur trader who sold whiskey at a Mississippi River landing in the 1840s – is the staid, slightly older sibling, careful to preserve its buildings and traditions. The https://www.ro...t-lakes/ohio/compact but stately downtown is built, like Rome, on seven hills: the Capitol and the Cathedral occupy one each, both august monuments that keep the city mindful of its responsibilities.
Minneapolis, founded on money generated by the Mississippi’s hundreds of flour-and sawmills, is livelier, artier and more modern, with up-to-date architecture and an upbeat attitude. The residents are spread over wider ground than in St Paul, and dozens of lakes and parks underscore the city’s appeal.