Pequot Lakes

Pequot Lakes (population 1,956)
Pequot Lakes, home of Paul Bunyan's fish bobber and chair, has a beautiful town square and is located adjacent to the Paul Bunyan Trail, with unique shops and dining nearby. The Paul Bunyan Scenic Byway starts at Trailside Park, where the Chamber of Commerce Welcome Center is located in the center of Pequot Lakes and is host to many of the area festivals and events, such as Bean Hole Day!
This place is very small, but like many of the small towns in the area, is unique. These towns rely on the very short summer to earn a living, although Pequot Lakes is on the end of the Paul Bunyan trail where visitors can snowmobile, dog sled etc. Often businesses are only taken on for a season, sold and then new owners take on the business the next season.
We spent some time at a tobacco shop that had just opened. This sold a range of tobacco products, cigarette making machines, tobacco, cigars, pipes, tea, coffee and all sorts of bits and pieces. We had a coffee and got talking to the owner, his son was going to uni in UK at Warwick, where Richard was! Small world! Talk got onto motor bikes as the owner's friend came over for a coffee on his Harley and then to talk about the differences between UK and US. It was an enjoyable hour or so. The shops are full of local craft, such as quilting, knitting, crocheting, jams and sauces and various wooden crafts. Cafe's are what we would like in UK but because of Health and Safety doesn't happen. These are family businesses with a small kitchen, cooking homely food and cakes, which tastes real good.
Crossing the road we came across the town war memorial and across the other side was Paul Bunyan's chair and Babe as well as the fish float that is the town water tower.