Gitche Gumee Agate and History Museum, Grand Marais

I absolutely LOVE this place! I found out about it last summer and scheduled half my vacation around coming up to Grand Marais just to come here, walk the shore, and see the Agate Lady. Karen is pretty awesome. She really knows her stuff and she's wonderful to chat with. It's so refreshing to find other people as passionate (or maybe obsessed haha) about rocks as I am. Her books are a wonderful read; even my friends who could care less about rocks found her "Rocks Inside Out" book interesting. All her rock specimens in the shop portion of Gitche Gumee are so reasonably priced and you can tell she definitely is passionate about what she's doing. The history part of the museum is great and you can spend forever in there looking at all the historical pieces and rock specimens, so get out there and go see it! I'm so happy for her that she's finally getting her Agate Lady rock shop under construction! I'll definitely be back. She's a cool lady! Lots of respect for her and what she does.

Met the owner who states she's getting ready to retire to another location nearby that only deals with people that are interested in the geodes and agates and other types of rock and gemstones. Her current location has a very unique historical collection of items and photos of the area. She is giving the historical community a chance to take the items. She wants the museums historical information and items to go to someone that's going to put them to good use.

This review is based on my experience at the gift shop as a teenager. I have been a rockhound all my life & my family took me to this little shop so I could purchase some agates, as well as excitedly show the owner my agate finds from the trip we were on in the UP. The owner was rude in general but also told me that those were not agates, then later asked if she could buy my rocks from me (because duh they were agates and she was trying to pull one over on me). I know full well my agates were agates. I told a few people my experience & was told that doesn’t surprise them & that she is very rude. Haven’t been back to this shop since. Writing this review now, as this shop has been a topic of conversation amongst acquaintances and I, so looked up the shop to read recent reviews. Lo and behold, she is still being rude to people after all these years, just as she was to me back in the day. Haven’t shopped there since and don’t ever plan to.

Karen opened for us for a private visit. Many beautiful rocks and minerals to admire from all around the world. She was very knowledgable and showed us several unique rocks. Lovely gift shop, went home with lots of pretty pieces.

Super super super cute place!!! Everything feels under priced so make sure you buy a lot to support these wonderful people!!! They have a little bus outside that serves yummy cold brew and other coffees and drinks!