Grand Marais and back again

I got up slightly before 7 AM today, which is a feat unto itself. Bathed, ate, went online for a little. We left before 10, gassed up at the prohibitively expensive gas station, and were on our way.

I took the time to work on Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, which is a very good book. Crossing the border wasn't difficult, although there was a long lineup. Then we were in the US of A, travelling along Minnesota highways. A land where metric is only a word and everything else looks the same as Canada. . . .

It was the last day of the Fishermen's Festival, so everyone in Grand Marais was out to see a parade going on later that afternoon. When we arrived, my brother and I skipped rocks for a while before my entire family went window shopping. We navigated our way down to the Angry Trout Cafe, a restaurant where we always have lunch because of their tasty fresh fish.

I had fish and chips (Lake Superior Herring). My brother had the same, only with Alaskan Cod as the fish. My mother had something . . . and my dad had Malaysian peanut soup, although they mixed up his order and brought him chowder at first. The food was, needless to say, impeccable.

After that, we skipped rocks a bit more to finish off lunch, then went shopping for souvenirs. I got a stuffed moose, my brother a remote controlled car and binoculars of some sort. My mom purchased a sweater.

We were on the road again after some ice cream (in a real waffle cone!) and soon enough crossed the border (paying some GST, apparently. . . .). We were home pretty quickly, and then I did stuff before writing this.