Goose Creek Rest Area - Minnesota's Misplaced Marker

We were anxious to "head up to the lake" after our winter in the Florida panhandle and we headed north on March 23rd.  We stopped along the way at the Goose Creek Rest Area along Interstate 35.


It was good to be back home where the pop machines are not behind bars as along Interstate 95 in Florida.


And look at this.  A free telephone for local calls with a phone book.  And the phone book is not only present, it has neither a chain nor a cable to keep it there!


Now, let's take a look at the historical marker out in front of the rest stop.


It's a wonderful description of Minnesota's Arrowhead Region, with mention of the North Shore, the Gunflint trail, and Split Rock Lighthouse.  All are genuine attractions, but there is just one problem.  The Arrowhead region of Minnesota is located a bit more than a hundred miles north of where this marker lies!  It is the triangular shaped piece of territory above and to the right of marker "B" on this map.  You are standing at marker "A".  And getting to Split Rock Lighthouse is another fifty miles beyond marker "B".


This would have been a great place to put a marker describing Jay Cooke's Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad that formed the first practical link between the Twin Cities and Duluth in 1863 and was responsible for the many small towns that now lie near the Interstate.  But, maybe MN-DOT just had one extra historical marker and one unmarked rest stop, so why not ...