Bearskin Lodge

On July 20th we celebrated the one year anniversary of buying Bearskin Lodge. We actually did have a little party in honor of the day. Crystal made delicious soup and a cake for the occasion and the entire staff (except poor Kate, stuck at the front desk) set aside their chores for a short while to briefly celebrate. And then, because it was a hectic Saturday with many cabin “turnovers,” the moment was quickly over and everyone returned to the hustle and bustle that pervades Bearskin Lodge on a summer Saturday.  Typical of our first year at Bearskin, we were far too busy to contemplate the amazing fact that we had somehow survived a year.

I began writing Bearskin Blog around this time last September by attempting to answer the questions that everyone consistently, repeatedly asked us at first.  (“The big questions” http://bearskin.wordpress.com/2007/09/) Now, a year later, the standard questions differ but the consistency with which people ask similar questions remains.  “How is it going?” people ask now.  “Do you like it?  What has been the most difficult?”

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There is remarkable consistency in the questions curious people ask us about buying Bearskin Lodge. The inevitable 2^nd question always seems to be whether we were regular Bearskin guests – did we fall in love with the place and decide to stay?

I always feel a little embarrassed to answer, “No,” because we should have stayed at Bearskin.  Our family was perfectly designed for a Bearskin stay. Our kids loved the northwoods, our family enjoyed being together, and we had grandparents living then who would have valued the time spent with us.  But we were teachers, living for many years on one income while I stayed home with our kids.  Decisions were always made based on economics, on how we could get by on the least amount of money. We did a lifetime of fun family trips, but they were always cheap fun trips.  We didn’t repeat enjoyable experiences often enough for them to develop into traditions and it was a rarity that our extended family was included.

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When we bought Bearskin Lodge in July, we never expected that total strangers would find the purchase of a resort to be so intriguing.  Living on the Gunflint Trail seems to be a secret wish for many folks, so they are often intensely curious about our purchase. Almost without fail, people have the 3 same questions — two that they ask right away, and one that they hint at but are usually too polite to ask outright. 

Question #1 is usually:  Did you always dream of someday buying a resort? The answer to that question is “no.”  And “yes.”  Or maybe “sort of…” 

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