Most people say that the best time to visit Lake Superior is in the summer – when you can feel the sun on your skin and there’s no wind burnt cheeks in sight. I’d say that whilst the summers up in Northern Minnesota are beautiful and hard to beat, there’s nothing like spending the colder months of the year on the North Shore.

The chilling air is crisp and fresh. Waves come crashing in. The smell of freshly broken pine branches drifts through the air, making you feel as though you’re using every part of your lungs. It’s almost like you’re learning how to breathe again.

There’s something really special about being near Lake Superior. Once, I was sitting in Betty’s Pies – if you’re a frequent visitor to the North Shore, you’ll know that it’s somewhere you can’t not stop at – and I was chatting with an older man who had come to sit at the counter next to me.

.He told me that, in his mind, Lake Superior was the most healing place in the entire world. He’d lived in a variety of places. This much was true. But he’d been born just off the shore of the lake in Two Harbors. After his wife and his brother died, he found himself searching for serenity – and something in his gut told him to come home. What was intended to be a few weeks to reset turned into a month. Then a couple more. Before he knew it, he asked his son to ship a few of his belongings from California to Minnesota, sell the house and forward his mail. 

“The lake”, he said, “can heal almost anything. And it’s not just because it’s beautiful.There’s something spiritual here. Something that welcomes you home. It never turns you away. It’s as steadfast as the lighthouses welcoming the ships back to harbor. It’ll wait for you as long as you need it to, and will always provide you comfort”. 

Another thing I love about the north shore of Lake Superior, is how captivating it is for people seeing it for the first time. It’s an incredible feeling to see a place you love with fresh eyes. It’s almost a kind of re-discovery in a sense. I was able to bring my boyfriend there in October – and for someone from southern Italy, it’s safe to say that the landscape is just a little different. The first thing he’d said when seeing northern Minnesota for the first time was just how surprising, and amazing, it was to see so much uncultivated land. And also, that he was using parts of his lungs that he never even knew existed. 

#PrimePineTime in action, folks.