Swamp Sisters Opens for 2010 Season

There are actually only two seasons in the Northland, winter and the other. The other is when the Swamp Sisters Café & Gift Shop is open. That other season officially opens today, April 30.

The restaurant, located on 7249 Industrial Road (known by many in these parts as Highway 7) four miles West of Twig, is again serving breakfast and lunch from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays through October.

A special feature of the menu is Bonnie’s Swamp Skillet with buffalo sausage or ham, onions, peppers, mushrooms, tater tots, eggs and cheese. It's exceptional, and I really like the toast that comes with it. The lunch fare is equally exciting. It’s home cookin’ at its finest, seasoned with warmth and a sense of humor. In fact, even if you don't get the ham, Toot will probably ham it up a little as seen in this photo here. (click to enlarge)

Once things get rolling and the tourist season leaps into full swing, this rustic country kitchen packs out, so you may experience a wait to be seated. As a somewhat novel solution to this problem, they will often fit you in at tables that have vacant seats. So if you and a friend show up, and the large table has two seats at the North end, Toot will ask if you mind, and lead you to your spot. If you weren't neighbors before, you're neighbors now, as the saying goes.

In the event that you do have to wait to be seated, you can enjoy browsing the gift shop. At left you can see Bison Boot Grease, which I do not believe is available anywhere else in the world. Much like the Cracker Barrel chain, they have a range of suitable distractions and items you can bring home with you after you eat. Pay for 'em first please, of course.

Nutritionist Adelle Davis, author of Let's Eat Right to Keep Fit and other bestsellers on eating, purportedly said, "Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper." They don't serve dinner meals at the Swamp Sisters, so you really can accomplish this aim right here, at least two days a week since they're open only on Fridays and Saturdays.

I'm not sure how long the season will run this year, but usually they wind down in late October sometime. So, I recommend you come early and come often. You will not be disappointed.

Swamp Sisters Re-Opens with Special Music by De Elliot Brothers

For the record, Elliot is now back from the Renaissance Festival in Apache Junction just East of Phoenix, his annual winter retreat these past thirteen or so years. Just in time to organize a few more sightings of De Elliot Brothers Jug Band. One such sighting will be at the Swamp Sisters next weekend, May 2 at 10 a.m.

The Swamp Sisters Café & Gift Shop officially opens on Friday May 1st this year. There is no connection between this date and the historic May Day Parades in Moscow from 1917 till the Berlin Wall fell in October 1990. The restaurant, located on 7249 Industrial Road (known by many as Highway 7) 4 miles West of Twig, will again serve breakfast and lunch from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays through October.

A special feature of the menu is Bonnie’s Swamp Skillet with buffalo sausage or ham, onions, peppers, mushrooms, tater tots, eggs and cheese. The lunch fare is equally exciting. It’s home cookin’ at its finest, seasoned with warmth and a sense of humor. In fact, even if you don't get the ham, Toot will probably ham it up a little as seen in this photo here. (click to enlarge)

In addition to making music, Elliot is an artist who specializes in those five minute caricatures you often see at carnivals and such. He's got a keen eye, good instincts, fluid fingers and that artist's sensibility that enables him to capture the moment, and the person. Our connection to Elliot was originally through his music, in particular the Annual Battle of the Jug Bands which he assembles each year at the Amazing Grace Bakery on Memorial Day Weekend. Jug bands from all over show up for this event, as well as a mass of music enthusiasts. It's doggone fun, and this year I might even get to be a part of it with my harmonicas, wash board, big smile and miscellaneous percussion tools.

For sure next weekend I'll be part of it at the Swamp Sisters as we make a little house warming jug band music to inaugurate their new season. The dining area will probably be too jammed for us to jam in there, so we'll be in the gift shop which features bison meat, antiques, crafts and, for one time only, live music. Be sure to buy something and tell 'em Ennyman sent you.

For more info on De Elliot Brothers jug band music or to hire an artist for special occasions, visit soon. This is an unpaid, non-political announcement.

Swamp Sisters, Revisited

Well gosh, was that ever yummy! If you've never been, you owe it to yourself.

Their story begins in the late nineties when the six Armstrong sisters started talking about opening a shop to sell buffalo meat, which sister Suzi raises about two miles to the east. After a lot of debate, they decided the best location would be the old farm where they grew up. They called themselves the Swamp Sisters because their relatives always joked about their family trying to farm in a swamp.

A special feature of the menu is Bonnie’s Swamp Skillet with buffalo sausage or ham, onions, peppers, mushrooms, tater tots, eggs and cheese, which I should have taken a picture of before I ate it. I have liked these skillets so much I've never ordered anything diff, but I've alreasdy decided I'll do that next time I eat here.

They're only open Fridays and Saturdays from eight till two, so you better skidaddle out there while you can and don't be late, or you're missin' something special.

Occasionally they have too many dang customers, and you have to wait outside in the sun or poke around in the gift shop, which can easily occupy a person for hours with all the interesting gifts, antiques, bison meat, crafts and other goodies they have there.

Whether breakfast or lunch, it’s home cookin’ at its finest, seasoned with warmth and a sense of humor. Be sure to take in the signs. These sisters, and the ever faithful brother, have a wry sense of humor that pervades all they do.

Hope you enjoy these photos I took this morning while enjoying a Half Skillet. And the price is just right... Under five bucks with the orange juice! I always leave a big tip 'cause I have a crush one of the waitresses. (She's my wife.)

Check out the pics here (click images to enlarge) and if you get a chance, as you head north on Hwy. 53 from Duluth, make a left at Twig out County Road 7. Only five minutes further... You will not regret it.

Swamp Sisters Re-Opened for 2008 Season

Anyone looking for a way cool, fun place to catch a breakfast or lunch on Fridays or Saturdays should check out the Swamp Sisters Café & Gift Shop. The restaurant and gift shop, located on 7249 Industrial Road, 4 miles West of Twig, is open from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. from April through mid-November.

A special feature of the menu is Bonnie’s Swamp Skillet with buffalo sausage or ham, onions, peppers, mushrooms, tater tots, eggs and cheese, which I should have taken a picture of before I ate it. (my favorite! yummm!) The lunch fare is equally as exciting. It’s home cookin’ at its finest, seasoned with warmth and a sense of humor.
The gift shop, featuring bison meat, antiques and crafts, serves to occupy the faithful when the dining area is overcrowded. Be sure to take in the signs. These sisters, and the ever faithful brother, have a wry sense of humor that pervades all they do. They named themselves the Swamp Sisters because relatives had joked about their family trying to farm in a swamp.

With no business experience, or business plan, they just plumb opened their doors with good food and Northern Minnesota rural hospitality. It soon became apparent there was a need in the community for a place to gather for coffee, etc. Word got around that the eatin' was good, too, and today they can't keep customers away.

If you see something you like, it just might be for sale. If not, well, the food sure is good anyways. For more information, or to find your way if you get lost, call 729-0088