Autumn Fun

The Cascade Lodge and Solbakken Resort crew had their end of the summer staff party on Sunday the 14th. It was a way to celebrate another successful summer of 08’ and usher in the fall color season. We also wanted to thank the summer students for all their hard work housekeeping and in the restaurant. The party began at Golf N’ Stuff miniature golf course in Grand Marais. Groups of 4 went out and had a blast. Even little Marshall got in on the action with his mini putter. The leader board went Skip, Michael Sr., Matt, and Michael Jr. After golf, anyone who wanted to try the climbing wall raced up the tree against one another. Young Ben and Sam probably did the best out of the whole group. The party concluded with a staff BBQ and Ice Cream Social that was very well attended. The food was excellent and the desserts were highlighted by Sonja’s homemade blueberry pie! The fall color season is underway back along the ridgeline with the maples just starting to turn their fiery red hue. Soon, leaf peepers by the thousands will descend upon the area to tour the magnificent display! In other outdoor news, the salmon have just started to run up into the Cascade River. Michael Sr. and Jr. tried their luck last night and returned with no supper. Oh well, better luck next time guys and remember persistence counts!

The Sun Sets on Summer

Well the official “Last Busy Weekend” of summer has come and gone and we look forward to a pleasant fall color season fast approaching. It was a very good holiday weekend with the resort at full capacity and many a restaurant a goers leaving with full bellies of delicious food. The weather could not have been better and some of our guests even drove up to Grand Portage to attend the Bayou Boogie and get their cajun freak on! A month or so of very little rain lead the Forest Service to enact a fire ban for the blow down area of the BWCA a few weeks ago. Areas close to Lake Superior will still allow for campfires however. Mother nature attempted to even things up last week with a nice dosing of rain. Two nights in a row it poured down after dark with total accumulation of about 3 inches. This was very much needed! With our international summer students leaving already for school, we had some temporary staffing issues in the restaurant and housekeeping departments to address. Some staff members from different areas stepped up to fill the void. Yes, that is our motto here at Cascade…pitch in and do whatever it takes to get the job done!! We have since hired several new staff members including four women to serve at the restaurant and two housekeepers. So far they have done a wonderful job for us! We will introduce them all in upcoming posts. The fishing has slowed somewhat in recent weeks as the water is “turning over,” but Matt is hopeful him and his friend Sean can reel in some big fish this weekend when he comes to visit. On a final note, all the kids around the resort will be returning to school this week to sharpen their young minds and hopefully restore some peace and quiet around here.