The quaint little town of Ely north of Minnesota—past Lake Superior, one tip of the US (a few more miles, and you could trespass into Canada)—comes as a neat surprise, all wrapped in lush green on a rain-soaked evening. Our first road trip in the US with pitstops on Highway 61 and Dylan playing on the stereo, at Finland (it’s just a town, no relation to the country), or even contemplating a $20 bet to swim in icy water, all add to the curiosity that is Ely. The cold rush that greets us at this little spot on the Vermilion Iron Range, also a gateway to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, ends soon with the warmth of the fireplace. Our hosts Retta and Frank have a house in the middle of a pine-and-redwood forest. Beautiful and sort of cavernous. We are treated to a meal of cream chicken, garden-fresh salad and strawberry shortcake.
With some 3,000 residents, Ely is quintessential small-town America: well-to-do farmers, a lot of love for nature, backpacking, canoeing trails, pot-luck dinners and a busy art scene with the Blueberry and Harvest Moon festivals. Ely’s famous Steger Mukluks and Moccasins are almost perfect for the winding trails. “We had a couple of Russian guests who’d take long walks, swim in the lake and then soothe their nerves in the sauna,” they say, in cheerful banter.