Day 6: Destination SE - Lunch at the Grove Park Inn

Today Ken and I drove up to the Grove Park Inn for a late lunch/early dinner, a suggestion from my friend and former boss Marilyn Stephen. It's not far by car from where we are staying, and I had been there on my own a couple days ago so I knew the ropes--or at least the places to park, take in the view, and eat.

Here's the great big stone fireplace in the lobby. There are photos along the hallway showing the construction of the inn, and one of them shows the setting of that big top stone.

In this shot you can see people enjoying the line of rockers in front of the fireplace. Looks like an ad from a sales brochure, doesn't it? Handsome young couple smiling on the left...two white-haired retirees in the center....maybe I can sell it to them??

Across from the fireplace, walled off so the unwashed masses couldn't get their grubby mitts on it, was a 1913 Model T and a panel describing the exploits of a group that called themselves "The Vagabonds": Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, John Burroughs, Harvey Firestone. It reminded me of stories Grandpa Woodruff told on his blog about Uncle Henry Pratt's 1919 trip from Watervliet to the Soo and back with Wilmer, Abigail, Genevieve, and Isadora. They drove a 1915 National.


This panel is a bit hard to read, but you can Google "vagabonds henry ford" to read more about them, and there is actually a short (half hour) documentary about them on Youtube. To watch the video, click HERE.

There is history throughout the building, as you might imagine. Taft is said to have written his letter resigning from the Supreme Court here; F. Scott Fitzgerald did some writing here while Zelda convalesced at a nearby sanitarium. There are photos on the way of every president that spent time at the Inn; I found it interesting that then-Senator Obama prepared for his final presidential debate here.

After our late lunch we lounged in big leather Morris chairs and wandered around the facility like we belonged there (though I'm sure we didn't fool anybody). The staff was very obliging; I'm sure they are used to tourists coming in to soak up the history and enjoy the scenery. We stayed long enough to see the sunset from the big veranda you see in the photo at the beginning of this post.