My Tiny House Trip Up North

This post has been 2 ½ years coming now and I am embarrassed at how long this has taken. When I booked this trip to the Endeavor Tiny Home in North Shore, Minnesota, I had already decided to launch a blog. Goes to show you how quickly time can pass us by if we aren’t careful. Due to the fact that I went on this trip in August of 2018, I had to do some digging for the images which there were a lot of. I had planned to use the beautiful backdrop to take stock images for the posts I was going to put up on my blog at the time. I finally found them scattered over a couple of memory cards and got to work editing. I realized that so many of the shots I had couldn’t be used because they involved items I now longer use, or it doesn’t fit my blog’s esthetic now. What I was left with were some of my favorite exterior shots, scenic shots, and meals I made over the four days I was there. I grew very nostalgic looking over them all today and I’m reminded of how calming and peaceful it was. Make sure you scroll all the way down even if you don’t read all of this so you can see the photos. It really was a magical place.

I would also like to lead this post with the fact that when I went to go look up their website to link here, I found out that Lake County, MN made it illegal to rent tiny houses now. Talk about a bunch of wet blankets. I will still share the link to the website here so you can sign up on their mailing list, as well as the link to their other venture here. I had been thinking about booking a trip back there before I knew they closed it, so this makes me sad, but also really thankful I was one of the few that got to experience it’s greatness. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I am so lucky I got to check it off my bucket list. Make sure you subscribe to the newsletters at the two links I posted above so we can support them anyway we can. I am excited to see what they do for the North Shore Community next.

So why a tiny house? Most people (including myself) love going all out on vacation and stay somewhere that is larger, or more elaborate than their own home. I was always the kid that wanted to land on the mansion when playing the game M.A.S.H. in class. As I have adapted my lifestyle to fit the vegan/minimalist ways, my real estate desires have changed as well. Not only are tiny homes/pods/container homes cheaper and more energy efficient than standard homes, but they have also come up with some beautiful homes to live in while doing it. I had a friend who spent like a year traveling the country with his dog and converted out mini-bus/van, and it made me start to look into that sort of lifestyle. Because of the accounts I was looking at, good ole’ Instagram sent me an ad for this tiny house in the North Shore area of Minnesota. At the time I was living in the Twin Cities area, so it was only like 3 ½-4 hours away, and the visuals they used for their marketing sold me almost immediately. It hadn’t opened yet and the waitlist was a couple months long, but it was worth the wait in the end, ten-fold.

Before I go more into my trip up North, I have to shoutout my favorite tiny house/container home YouTube channel, Life Uncontained. They are living out a dream of mine and it’s incredible to watch. They got land in Texas and have spent the last couple of years building a shipping container home all on their own. They used two containers and built a mini section of home in the center to make the whole structure larger. It’s been wild to watch the progress from the beginning, and all that goes into living off the grid. They “life off the grid” in the terms I would love to do myself one day. They take water and energy from the sun and earth to power and water their house and whatever they need. They still have cell phones and internet access, but they are not taking energy from normal city or state sources like in standard homes. My dream is to take that idea and pair it with Ellen Fisher’s way of living off the land with an abundance of fruits and vegetables she and her husband grow themselves. Not only is this cheaper long term, but it is also an amazing way to reduce your carbon footprint, help the planet, easier to be self-sufficient, and it’s a great feeling to know where your food, water, and energy is coming from. Texas recently went through a horrible snow and ice storm which cut off water and power to millions of people in the state for days. Because Mackenzie and Spenser use their own water and energy system, they seemed to make it through okay. I would love to have that kind of freedom and independence one day. This is one of the many reasons I want to build my own tiny house/container home one day. Not only that, but they can also do amazing things with storage and space in such a little area. The tiny house I stayed in was 200 square feet and fit so much stuff. I would want something a little larger one day, but it was a great example of what can be done with little square footage. More and more I am leaning towards a shipping container home, based off what I have seen on Life Uncontained and seen online. I also love the idea of using something that would normally just be left to rot in a junkyard somewhere. It’s a great way to upcycle something already here instead of creating something new with a tiny house. Still less resources and energy usage than a standard home, but usually being made with new materials.

Now back to my trip. Minnesota is never one of those states you think about moving to one day if you don’t live in a small town in a surrounding state. Even though, I am not sure you would move there even then, but you get what I am saying. I was working in St. Paul for three years running a photo studio for 3M and was doing what I could to survive their aggressive winters. To say I wasn’t prepared for what came my way those three winters, was an understatement to say the least. The polar vortex the last winter I was there in 2019, broke my soul. I will say, I do understand the appeal of the state and all it has to offer visually speaking nature wise. It really is a hidden gem in this country, and everyone should visit the Twin Cities and the North Shore at least once in your life. There is something to be said for the fact that 95% of the state’s population is born and raised there. It takes a special person to handle those rough winters and hot summers.

My check-in at the house was 3pm so I took my time getting there. Most people when they hear of the North Shore, tend to think of Duluth if they aren’t from the area. Duluth is the popular tourist town that has a lot to offer visually and in the sites around town. It was on the way to my final destination in Silver Bay, so I stopped in town to have lunch and get some pictures. Because I was planning on taking several pictures for the blog, I had all my camera and lighting equipment with me in my car, which made me nervous. I decided not to leave my car unintended for longer than necessary just to play it safe. I would love to plan a trip back and stay there in town so I can enjoy all the town had to offer. I’ll have to see if my Minnesota bestie, Erica wants to meet me there next time.

Anyways, so I stopped At Sara’s Table Chester Creek Café because it had good reviews on the Happy Cow app. Side note, if you aren’t using Happy Cow for all your travel needs, you are missing out. It is a lifesaver when traveling or exploring a new city. I ended up ordering their vegan okonomiyaki which was a Japanese pancake that was topped with cabbage, potato, tofu, red bell pepper, shiitake mushroom, kimchi, vegan sambal aioli, green onion, and cilantro. Paired that with a mimosa and I had the start to a wonder vacation ahead of me. I was able to go down to the water and get some pictures of the iconic lift bridge and the town before I kept heading up north.

Made it the rest of the drive, which was about an hour, and got to the house shortly after 3pm. I wanted to get the most of my time there obviously. When I got there, I was overwhelmed with the beauty and serenity if the entire area. It was breathtaking and made me emotional as I stood on the back deck, looking at Lake Superior. It was a beautiful gem of American land that I was lucky enough to experience at least once in my life, and I am grateful for that. I took so many pictures from that first day of the inside and out of the house and the area around it, using my canon camera. I for the life of me have no idea what happened to that memory card so everything I took that day is lost forever unfortunately. Thankfully, I decided to take shots of the house on my last day using my cell phone before I left. I had to go deep in my backup drive to find these, but I am lucky I have them. Some may not be the best quality, but at least they exist! The entire house was 200 square feet, and most of the walls were windows. Sounds odd, but it helped make the space feel so much larger. Not only that, but it also helped you feel like you were outside even though you weren’t. Their use of space and storage was nothing short of genius, and the back deck they built on to it was a great addition to the outdoor living space. I loved every second I was there alone, but I wish I could have utilized some of the games and amenities they had that were meant for multiple people.

To be honest, when I wasn’t taking pictures, hiking, or cooking, I was hanging out in the hammock that hung on the deck. It faced Lake Superior, so I spent my time peacefully watching the water as I swung back and forth. It made me realize how much I want a hammock on my own back porch one day. I am too nervous to attach one to my apartment building now. Time stands still in moments like that, and I love remembering how that moment made me feel.

The next day I decided to head up to the Split Rock Lighthouse that wasn’t far from where I was staying. Built in 1905 after a November gale wrecked nearly 30 ships, the president of a steamship company led a delegation urging the U.S. Lighthouse Service to construct this now famous landmark. I’ve always found lighthouses beautiful, eerie, and fascinating, but I have never been this close to one before. Inside and out, this 54 foot tower stands next to the 130 foot cliff off Lake Superior and is quite the sight to see. I took my time going in and out of the lighthouse, and along the waterline to get the most shots. I can’t tell you how long I had to sit cramped in a corner under the stairs of the lighthouse to get this bird’s eye lens shot. My only complaint is I used an attachment lens for my phone and not a real one so it could be better, but I still loved the finished product. My love of American history runs deep, and I’m so passionate to learn how our early technology and industrial trades came to be. This was the perfect trip to get all of that in one visit and I recommend you go and see it if you are ever in the area.

The following day was spent going to Gooseberry Falls. Another thing I didn’t know about Minnesota, was their incredible waterfalls throughout the state. Everyone recommended Gooseberry because it was close to where I was staying, and I am glad they did. Even with all the people around them, the falls still managed to have a calm about them that made the experience a peaceful one. I did some time lapse shots to get the water falling, but for the most part I just enjoyed the moment and the nature around me.

During my time there, I kept my meals easy because the fridge was small, and I just had burners to cook on. Mornings of nutrient dense oatmeal, snacks of avocado toast, lunches of chickpea “tuna” salad sandwiches, and dinners of grilled veggies and tofu filled me up mentally and physically. It may take more planning to make it work with the limited means, but you can still make healthy and delish meals no matter where you are. Not much of a drinker when I camp, (even though this was definitely glamping) mainly because I like spending my days outdoors being active, but I did have some cider at dinner which was nice.

Overall, my trip showed me how magical the North Shore area of Minnesota is, but it also opened up my eyes to the possibilities of tiny house/container living in the future. I purposely took the junior one bedroom in my current space over the larger one bedroom because it had vaulted ceilings and a larger kitchen. At 650 square feet, I still have plenty of storage and space and the high ceilings make it seem larger. Plus, a smaller space is so much easier to clean. Now I just need to figure out what state I want to finally land on so I can start my tiny home adventure and stop living vicariously through Life Uncontained.   

What do you think of my trip? Have you ever been to Duluth or the North Shore? What about the tiny house? Is that something you would want to stay in? What about building or buying your own tiny house? Is that something you could ever see doing? I also want to covert a school bus or mini-bus one day to have for road trips. Would you ever do something like that? Let me know in the comments below!

Thanks for reading,

Jessica