Snapshots of Our Last Day of Vacation in Silver Bay, Minnesota

This is the final post of a travel series to Wisconsin and Minnesota's North Shore.  To start at the beginning, go HERE.   The rest of the posts in consecutive order are HERE,  HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE!

Silver Bay Marina

On our last day of vacation, after we finished hiking in Tettegouche State Park,  we headed out to explore Silver Bay, Minnesota.  Our first stop was the Silver Bay Marina. 

This is a beautiful little marina with a public beach and boat launch.  Boats up to 100' can be accommodated in one of 110 spacious slips.  

There are views of the taconite plant in the distance.

There's also a short hike to an island that you can take from the marina.  It sounds interesting, but scary.  I wish I would have known about it while I was there.  You can see the hike out to the island in the photo below, and read more about the hike in this post HERE.

Grand Superior Lodge

While we were in Silver Bay we stayed at the AmericInn, but we noticed another nice place in town that was located right on the shores of Lake Superior so we decided to check it out.  It seemed pretty popular.

We did peek inside and saw a lovely lobby with a fireplace, plus a restaurant with a view of the lake.

We walked around the grounds for a bit, and we were awestruck with the serene, natural beauty.

There were wildflowers everywhere!  They looked so stunning with the blue background of Lake Superior.

Northwoods Family Grille

By now, it was supper time and we were quite hungry so we decided to check out the #1 restaurant in the town of Silver Bay:  Northwoods Family Grille.  There are not a lot of restaurants in town.  Most places were closed because it was the end of the tourist season.  We only found one other place to eat while we were there, and that was "Tracks and Racks", which is more bar than restaurant.  The food was good, but boy was it expensive!  Our meal was over $50 for a burger, a wrap, onion rings, and two drinks.  So we were quite happy to find the Northwoods Family Grille where the prices were much lower, and they had more of a family atmosphere.

Being on Lake Superior fish is the primary item on most of the restaurants menus, so that is what we ordered.  This was the second time on our vacation we ordered fish, and this fish was the best we had so far.  It tasted so fresh!

The meal was very reasonably priced and came with a nice salad, dinner roll, and baked potato.  If you're ever in Silver Bay, I highly recommend this restaurant.  Just be sure to get there early, as they close early.  You will have more of "Linner" than a "Dinner".

Silver Bay Scenic Overlook

Silver Bay Industry Overlook

Our final stop of the day was a short hike to the Silver Bay Scenic Overlook.  This is such a nice spot in Silver Bay where you can not only see amazing views but, you learn so much about the history, past and present, of the town.  You drive to the top of the overlook, and then hike to three separate overlooks.  Each overlook has interpretive signage identifying the sights.

The first overlook had views of the taconite plant and lots of information of mining in the area.  I'm not going to rehash all the information about the plant, you can just read the signage in all the photos if you're interested.

Lake Superior View

The second overlook had views of Lake Superior.

The trails to get to these three different overlooks were beautiful in and of themselves.  When we visiting, there were so many wildflowers, and I loved all the birch trees.

City of Silver Bay View

Finally, the third overlook had scenic views of the town of Silver Bay.

The interpretative signage covered not just the history of Silver Bay, but also pointed out current points of interest as well.

There is a short-cut hike you can take that will get you back to the parking lot more quickly.  It is more rugged, but boy was it beautiful with all the wildflowers in bloom.

And that concludes my last post of this travel series.  I will be back next week with a few posts of our fall hiking adventures.

Have A Great Day!  Amy

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