Naniboujou Lodge

Our second day in Grand Marais, we decided to head north along the coast to see the change in the shoreline I mentioned in the last post, and to have lunch at the Naniboujou Lodge and Restaurant. In addition to having a reputation for good food, it has a very interesting history.  The idea of the lodge was conceived in the early 1920's as a very exclusive private club.  Charter members included Babe Ruth, Jack Dempsey and Ring Lardner. The goal was to have a membership of 1000.  Unfortunately, the crash of 1929 caused the lodge to fail by the mid 1930's.

Since then, the lodge has been owned by various companies and individuals. Today, what was once the great hall of the lodge is now the public dining room with a separate entrance from the lodge, which still offers accommodations year around. The great hall is brightly decorated with designs of the Cree Indian tribe.  It is an amazing room that looks like new but has not been repainted since it was build. At one end is Minnesota's tallest native rock fireplace which is 80 feet tall and weighs 200 tons.  Our fresh fish lunch with Babe's bean salad-Wonderful!  We will be trying to duplicate the salad at home.

The grounds were well kept with a great view of the lake and the coastline.  Indeed you could see that the coastline was less rugged with more places that a boat might land without being destroyed on the rocks.   With a little imagination, I could see myself sitting here with the Babe. It is well worth a visit.