Two years ago when I first discussed with my grown sons the possibility of closing the Gitche Gumee Museum and starting a new rock shop in the outbuilding next to my house, one of them said, “Mom, why don’t you just retire like normal people?” He was partially kidding because he knows that I am not the type of person to sit around in a rocking chair and do nothing.
Well, I decided it was not yet time to hang it up, so I went ahead with the project. The effort began when I applied to Burt Township for a conditional use permit, which allows a small business to be set up on my property, which is zoned residential. Next, I had the windows in the building replaced. Last spring my main contractor started the building renovation. He also built two storage additions on the 20’ x 24’ building. We moved the main entrance door to the north side of the building, removed the original barn door slider and blocked it in, added two windows to the north side, insulated the building, added interior walls, installed a ceiling as well as a new roof, and painted the floor. Another contractor put in a new parking lot, while a third contractor installed all new lighting. Pictures of the remodeling process are on the new website (www.agateladyrockshop.com). My contribution was to paint the exterior and seal the interior wood walls. Then I ordered new shelving units, rock bins, and rugs. In February, I started putting the rock shop together. The process went more smoothly than I expected.
Although it is sad that the Gitche Gumee Museum is now closed, it is exciting to launch into this next chapter. I designed the new rock shop to be more user-friendly in that all the rock bins are uniformly labeled. Each shelf is also labeled as to the types of rocks and/or minerals they contain. In total there are over 250 different bins of geologic treasures. There is a book stand located across from the sales counter with my books. A selection of my hand-crafted agate lamps and stands are displayed on top of the two wooden shelves (recycled from the museum), located along the south wall. My hand-crafted agate hangings are in all the windows as well as on a wire rack. All the shelving units in the middle of the floor are on casters and can be moved to the perimeter allowing 20 chairs to be set up for lectures. Interested people can sign up for the weekly Friday night Understanding and Finding Agates lecture on the new rock shop website. The weekly lecture takes place at 6:00 p.m. on Fridays in June, July, and August. People must reserve and pay for seats in advance (a minimum of four are required for a lecture to take place).
The new rock shop is available according to my “semi-retirement” policies. There are regular hours available with no minimum purchase requirements in June, July, and August; Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays; from 2:00 to 5:00 pm. There are also lots of options for private bookings including regular private appointments, special private appointments wherein participants get to see the “wowser” rocks, a three-hour rockhounding class during which participants learn how to find agates, and a variety of private lecture options. There are options on the website for larger groups, or people can email karen@agatelady.com to request a quote. Although the new rock shop no longer includes a museum, the focus on education is still an important part of the mission.
The Agatelady Rock Shop is located two miles south of Grand Marais. From downtown you can get to the rock shop by either driving H58 west past Sable Falls and turn left onto Newberg Road at the intersection where the paved road turns west toward Sable Lake. There is an Agatelady Rock Shop sign on the left at that intersection. You can also take M77 south of town a mile and turn right onto Newberg Road (note: the same road to the left is Carpenter Road). The driveway to access the rock shop is on the south side of Newberg Road a quarter mile from H58 and three-quarters of a mile from M77. There is a sign for the rock shop at the bottom of my driveway.
Editor’s Note: This story originally ran in the Grand Marais Pilot & Pictured Rocks Review on
