Gourmet Retreat

Grand Marais, Minnesota It's 5:15 a.m., and Dorothy Flicek lounges in a hot tub. Early-season snow piles gently on her head as hot coffee wafts steam into the crisp October air.

"She's the early riser," Carole Vlasak explains, with a knowing raise of her eyebrow. There are few secrets among this tight-knit clan of five 50-something mates from the Twin Cities area. The women are visiting for a package weekend at the Gunflint Lodge, located in northern Minnesota, 150 miles northeast of Duluth.

The weekend holds a wild edibles hike, classes in truffle-making and other pleasures such as massage. To canoe on Gunflint Lake, the lodge supplies everything but the energy to paddle.

It's all part of the Pure Indulgence Gourmet Adventure Women's Lifestyle Retreat -- and a sure bet for these former coworkers who travel together for fun regularly. Only Gunflint holds the honor of being visited twice.

And why is that? "For the food!" they answer in unison, thinking ahead to Saturday's gourmet dinner. They also get their favorite vacation combination -- braving the wild by day, then sipping a sublime glass of wine at night before slipping into contemporary knotty-pine cabins.

Hiking among Superior National Forest's birch, pine and fir trees, staff naturalist John Silliman recalls Justine Kerfoot, who founded the lodge in 1927 and trapped and hunted to survive.

"You had to be tough then," muses Dorothy. Despite the luxuries, some of that spirit remains.

"I've seen birds of prey flying below me here," John says, pointing out a stunning view of the Canadian border. "The brown line down there is the trail we started out on earlier today."

"Way down there?" Marlene Castle asks. "We've walked off breakfast!"

"Hallelujah!" the others chime. They gather sticks to make birdfeeders later. After lunch, the friends browse the gift shop, then nap in the cabins before the truffle class.

Tomorrow's hike, they note with glee, will be followed by a massage.

Saturday night's wild game dinner is a big draw. Six courses such as elk and duck, plus wines and dessert, lure both locals and guests to a main-lodge dining room festooned with furs and snowshoes. The meal, which is upscale on the plates but the usual jeans-casual for guests, rivals the in-cabin saunas and whirlpools for luxury.

But for many seeking respite from the world beyond the tall birch trees, the reason for visiting Gunflint on a retreat is simpler than that.

"For me, it's the hot tub," Dorothy says.

And with that, the group heads back to Dorothy's cabin, the bubbling hot tub, the roaring fire and a warming drink together. By Jennifer Wilson

Related Links: