The Light That Never Goes Out
What does a light that never goes out, a family of four, and Lake Superior have in common? Why, the Two Harbors Lighthouse in Two Harbors, Minnesota of course! That is where my Mother’s Day celebration took place this year.
A long-time bucket list dream of mine has been to spend the night in a working lighthouse. As a member of the United States Lighthouse Society, this yearning was brought back to life, after years of lying dormant in my mind, upon seeing a list of lighthouses that offered overnight accommodations on their website. I carefully devised my list of must-haves and set out to research each property to see which one met all or most of my criteria.
What would your list include? Mine included 6 things:
1. The property must contain a real working lighthouse
2. The lighthouse must be accessible by land and car; not be fully surrounded by water
3. The property must offer period décor to enhance immersion in the experience
4. The property must offer educational information to learn about what it was like to be the lightkeeper or family member living in the lighthouse
5. The stay must help support the preservation of the property and/or the history and culture of the area and not just support private enterprise
6. The accommodation must be available on a holiday weekend for a family celebration
After working on this project to narrow down the options (without the assistance of AI because I wanted to read about each one, think about how each one made me feel when I learned about it, and make up my mind from my own conclusions), there became a clear standout property, and the rest as they say, is history.
Once we arrived, nothing of how I imagined that moment would be could compare with what it felt like to insert the key in the lock and open the door to our family retreat (with no wifi!) for this unique Mother’s Day celebration weekend! Every one of us dropped our luggage at the door as we entered the kitchen and hurried to climb the narrow winding steps of the four floors leading to the base of the lighthouse tower. What a spectacular view of Agate Bay and Lake Superior from every window and porthole along the way and in each of the rooms on the two floors of the keeper’s quarters that we would occupy for the weekend!
Sunrise came early the next morning, and all four of us ran outside into the crisp cool air with camera equipment in hand to watch the breathtaking beauty of sunrise on Lake Superior. Breakfast was enjoyed late that morning at the Vanilla Bean Restaurant, since we all climbed back into our beds inside of the warm homey atmosphere of the quarters, where the winds of Lake Superior were kept at bay.
After a day spent exploring the attractions along the route that is known as the North Shore and a beautiful hike through Gooseberry Falls State Park, we chose progressive style dining, where we stopped at the Rustic Inn Café for an early dinner with pie in to-go bags, followed by a stop at the well-known Betty’s Pies, for dessert, eat-in style. Evening brought clear skies and gorgeous photo opps of the lighthouse at night under the stars.
Mother’s Day brought a sad close to our experience as lighthouse “keepers” for a weekend, but new adventures awaited less than an hour away at the bustling scenic lakeside city of Duluth. There we enjoyed learning more about the shipping routes that transport essential cargo in and out of the United States through this northernmost port. We closed our Mother’s Day celebration out by having a smorgasbord of pie slices from our to-go bags to carry our tummies and minds back to the small town in Lake County, Minnesota that has captured my heart forever.
As a travel coach, this trip checked off so many boxes of the various reasons why people choose to travel intentionally, all in one journey. Some examples of this are:
Multi-generational travel – mother/daughter and partners
Sustainable travel – income generated from the lighthouse is reinvested in its preservation
Regenerative travel – I put back more than I took by becoming a member of the Lake County Historical Society, the organization that operates the lighthouse bed and breakfast
Heritage travel – staying in a lighthouse provided us with a simulated experience of what my daughter’s father and my late husband may have experienced as an actual lightkeeper with the U.S. Coast Guard
Celebration travel – celebrating a holiday together as a family
Adventure travel – staying in a non-traditional accommodation like a lighthouse with no elevators, lots of narrow steps, a claw-foot bathtub and perched on a hillside
Wellness travel – being unplugged from electronics, fitness opportunities through walking and climbing, and forest bathing at Gooseberry Falls
Nature travel – exploring the beauty of natural landscapes such as lighthouses, waterfalls, the lake, enjoying roaming wildlife and searching for agate rocks on the shore
Bucket list travel – staying in a lighthouse has been a dream and bucket list travel goal of mine for nearly 25 years. Never give up on your dreams!
Immersive travel – meeting and chatting with the locals, talking with them about the history of the area, learning about their way of life
Transformative travel – this trip has truly changed me personally by giving me the opportunity to see what others had to live like and how important their work was in shaping the safety and the history of the harbor
After this experience, it will be much more difficult for me to travel without intention. Being intentional about the purpose of your travels and the outcomes you hope to achieve through intentional travel creates a more enriching and lasting travel experience and the potential for deep transformation in your life once you return home.
