Minnesota Musings: August 2010

I'm back from 'Fishing' with my family in northern Minnesota. Several of us met in Detroit Lakes for rest, relaxation and visits to the old family sites. My two sisters flew into Fargo from Denver and rented a car to drive to DL (an hour away). My dad's sister and her husband along with their two daughters flew to Fargo from Riverside, CA and drove to DL also. We all stayed in rented accommodations near the lake.

My sisters and I stayed at The Lodge on Lake Detroit. We had a suite with a bedroom and separate living, dining and kitchen area.
The motel opened in May of 2006. We recommend it and would love to stay there again.

Our room is at the end on the second level.
This is the wonderful view from our walk-out patio.

I joined the family on Saturday afternoon. The agenda was already full by then but I kept us organized by marking off done and booked plans to keep us on track.
We had lots of places to see and people to meet.
Our Agenda(more or less):
Saturday:
Window shopping
Historical Museum of Detroit Lakes tour
Dinner at the Hotel Shoreham
Dessert at Essie's lake home with family friends visiting from Minneapolis
Sunday:
Attended the Congregational Church where our parents were members and we attended nursery
Lunch at the Sunlite Bar and Grill on Lake Floyd (great hamburgers)
Drive to Itasca State Park
Tour of the park and crossing the Mississippi at the head waters
Back to DL for wine and cheese at our motel and plans for the rest of the stay
Note: Uncle Marv had booked an afternoon on the lake on a pontoon boat to float around the lake. This never happened. The wind picked up Sunday morning during our stay and there were white caps on the lake every day. It would not have been a rather bouncy ride for us all.
Monday:
Walk on the beach, feet in the lake after breakfast
My sisters and I toured Detroit Lakes taking photos of family homes and lake sites
More shopping
Lunch at Long Bridge Resorts with Aunt Yvonne and Uncle Marv
Off on my own - I visited the Newspaper office in town where my father worked as a young man in the 1950s
Back to the motel to relax and read
Dinner at the Speak Easy with grasshopper pie dessert
After dinner visit at the condo where Aunt Yvonne, Uncle Marv and daughters, Nancy and Debbie stayed
Tuesday:
Visit and photos at the family cemetery plots
Another visit to the Historical Museum
Lunch at our motel (salad and fruit)
I rested while my sisters did more shopping
Dinner at the Fireside Inn
Wednesday:
Pack and load cars by 9:30 AM
One more stop - Back Porch Quilts
Drive home to Minneapolis

Disclaimer: This is the agenda and the stories as I remember it with photos taken to help me recall the facts more accurately (one can hope).

Saturday evening we all met for dinner at Hotel Shoreham. This is the place where Marv and Yvonne met at a dance and started dating.

Many years later, after four children, many grandchildren and even more great-grandchildren they are back where it all started.

After church on Sunday morning, we drove farther north to Itasca State Park.
We all had to walk across the head waters, and yes, one of us fell in. Debbie was a good sport about it and dried off eventually.
Here's the best I could do to record the event. Debbie is coming out of the water behind Carolynn. We were all laughing so hard with her, we forgot to take photos.

This is one of my favorite action poses. We all had our cameras and here Nancy is taking photos of Debbie and Carolynn on the log across the Mississippi. As you can see, she has more than one camera to use. It got pretty crazy taking multiple photos during several family activities, but fun too.

Monday morning we walked down to check out the beach at our motel. It's a lovely, sandy beach. We did go wading but didn't have time for a swim.
Sorry, Tami no goggles and inner tube photos this trip.

And other sights around town:

This is at the park on the lake and recreation center. They built a new playground but kept the old. My sisters, cousins and I played here many summers as children during our family reunions in Detroit Lakes.

YES, the water had white caps and it was breezy most of the week.

Lunch at Long Bridge:

Here is the bridge:

No time to share everything and you wouldn't want me to. Hope you've enjoyed my visit. I sure did!

I am back from my fun retreat up north. I had a lovely time in Detroit Lakes with my sisters, my aunt and uncle and their two daughters.
Poor (I mean lucky) Uncle Marv was surrounded by all six of us women for five days!
The weather was wonderful - in the 70s and there was just enough breeze to keep the mosquitoes away most of the time.
Here are a few photos for your enjoyment until I have time to post more photos and tell the stories too.

The tall pine trees of Itasca Park:

All of us:

Aunt Yvonne and Uncle Marv:

Sunset at the lake:

Aunt Yvonne, me and Uncle Marv

View of the lake from our patio:

My sisters:

Come back for a visit soon. I'll be posting more photos and stories over the weekend.