Day 77, Sunday May 19, 2024: Minneapolis, Minnesota to Bayfield, Wisconsin

Carnegie libraries visited: Two Harbors, Minnesota and Bayfield, Wisconsin

I slept like a baby, if the baby had been given a Red Bull and a Marlboro at bedtime. I’m puzzled by this, as I had slept in Goldfinger for eight straight nights before Minneapolis and I would have thought that two nights in a real bed would be heavenly. (When sleeping in Goldfinger, I usually sleep like a baby who has been given a dram of Drambuie and an Ambien.) Maybe my body is starting to reject beds?

This was going to be a day off from my itinerary. I couldn’t resist the call of the road and so took a 475 mile side trip. Living as I am, a 475 mile day just doesn’t seem like that big of a deal. My original goal for the side trip was to visit a Carnegie in Two Harbors, which is two hundred miles north of Minneapolis, and then head east to the Carnegie in Bayfield. When I mentioned this plan at dinner Friday night, the table whooped with joy (my cousins love Two Harbors) and suggested that if I was going that far north I should keep going up to the village of Grand Marais and dine at the Angry Trout restaurant. So after coffee I headed out.

After facing city traffic in Minneapolis, I felt freedom on the open road. No Handmaid’s Tale for me today – it’s too serious for a Sunday drive – ergo I listened to lighter fare: the Serial Season 4: Guantanamo podcast. Also, music, lots of music. Between Duluth and Grand Marais I cruised along Highway 61 while I listened to Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited (and also one of the greatest albums by “the only band that matters,” The Clash’s London Calling). Whitefish and chips, blueberry pie ala mode, and views of Lake Superior from the Angry Trout? Highly recommended, and truly enjoyed. I had pledged to avoid backtracking unless absolutely necessary, and today it was. If you’re going from Two Harbors to Grand Marais, Highway 61 is your only option so, after lunch, I revisited that highway, like a rolling stone.

Grand Marais Harbor on Lake Superior

Grand Marais Public Library

Anna Hansen, Secretary of the Library Board, wrote to Carnegie, on the fancy letterhead of the Two Harbors Public Library, in June 1907 to request a grant. She noted that the town already had a public library, supported at the taxpayers’ expense, in the City Hall and that its expansion required a dedicated building. She lauded Two Harbors, and its potential, as one might expect. Bertram responded, if not immediately (it was February of 1908), with a “Mr. Carnegie would be glad to give $10,000 to erect a Free Public Library for Two Harbors.” This is the first time that I’ve seen the first request granted.

Two Harbors Carnegie Library

Bayfield claims to have one of the oldest public libraries in Wisconsin, established in 1857 under the auspices of the Bayfield Lyceum (a lyceum is an organization that sponsors public events). In 1875 the local library association opened a library in the courthouse; in 1883, the courthouse burned down and the library was destroyed. In 1887 a Library Board was formed and it reopened a library in a small store; in 1903 the Board’s President and Secretary (I cannot read their signatures, so I wasn’t able to identify their gender)  reached out to Carnegie, and Bertram agreed to finance a new library.   

I had visited Bayfield in 1985. After completing my comprehensive exams for my Ph.D. I wanted/needed to clear out of Madison, Wisconsin for a few days, so I took my camping gear on the bus and hung out on Madeline Island. Bayfield, a short ferry ride from the Apostle Islands (Madeline being just one of many), takes the ain’t out of quaint. The village is located on steep hills that slope down to Lake Superior. With its late 19th century architecture and lake views, it’s both stunning and peaceful. 

I went for a long walk at dusk to meet my step goals. Before I hurt my back and hip playing tennis last fall, meeting my arbitrary 10,000-steps-every-day goal was a cinch. I have not averaged 10,000 steps a day for a full week since the week of October 8-14, 2023 – seven full months ago. Tempus Fugit. With this walk, I finally got back up to that baseline. On the walk I passed a cheery yellow house with a white picket fence. An older man, perhaps my age, was sitting on the front porch reading a book. For a moment I longed to be him, enjoying my twilight years in the twilight of this enchanting village.

Bayfield Restaurant Where I Did Not Eat

My two visits to Bayfield have had one common thread: I longingly eyed the inns and restaurants and yet did visit them. As a graduate student, I was too poor to enjoy them, other than visually. I’m hardly poor today – I could have pulled out my Chase Sapphire card to book a room – yet I’m working hard to keep my travel expenses minimal. I had already splurged on my “one restaurant per week” meal at the Angry Trout and so withstood the temptation to spend yet more. Instead, I skipped dinner and parked Goldfinger overnight in the ferry parking lot.

Port Wing Library