A closer look at flyover land

What I did on my summer vacation, part 1

Believe it or not, it's not been State Fair all day, every day for me. We made our annual summer cabin trip as well, this time trying out a new-to-us resort in the Alexandria Lakes area.

 

This was the view every night from our cabin, just steps away from Lake Amelia, ringed with trees, and the gorgeous weather gave us spectacular sunsets.

 

Shady Rest Resort, a family-owned resort with several cabins and lots of RV sites. The cabins all sit by the lake, and they're probably the nicest cabins we've ever stayed in--our cabin even had a full bath, and we've only had showers before. But they're all recently remodeled and nicely decorated, with better-than-average stoves and comfy living areas.

 

The couple who run the resort (having owned it for 33 years) keep it in great shape. The amenities run heavily to boats, but there's a small but clean beach with a nice deck area.

 

That would be Teen 2, trying frantically to finish his required summer reading for school. Never mind that I suggested he do that at the *beginning* of the summer. Me? I sat and knit and watched the birds.

 

DH took each Teen fishing, separately, while I stayed ashore and read and knit. One morning they left early for fishing, and I just sat outside with my coffee and enjoyed the view of the moon at dawn.

 

Teen 2, once he had his reading squared away, enjoyed the paddle boat.

 

We did several other things too, which I'll post about over the next week or so. But hands down, the best time of the day was when the sun would set...

 

...we'd build one of these...

 

...listen to the sound of the lake lapping at the shore, toast marshmallows, and just hang out as a family.

One of the reasons I chose this resort is because each cabin has its own campfire ring--a bit of a rarity, probably because of safety and liability and all those pesky issues. Lots of resorts have communal campfires, but when it comes to our family vacation, we simply don't like to share. We're not in the mood to socialize with other people, nice though they certainly might be. This is our family time.

 

Shady Rest Resort, near Alexandria. I highly recommend it. Great family spot.

I wish I was there right this minute.

Maple Hill Resort

Every year we take a short summer vacation and rent a cabin somewhere in Minnesota. Over the years we've visited the Brainerd Lakes area and the Willmar Lakes area, both lovely and highly recommended.

This year, with an unusually short time (two nights) and high gas prices, we decided to find something closer to home. An hour north of the Twin Cities area is Maple Hill Resort, just south of St. Cloud, between Clearwater and Annandale.

It's a small resort, only a few cabins and one larger rental house, plus privately owned A-frame condos.

The cabins are cozy and well-maintained.

The kitchen is small but well-equipped, including a window A/C unit, which we didn't need.

The living room (nook?) was also cozy and comfortable.

The proprietors had wisely turned off the gas to the fireplace, because we are exactly the kind of guests who would crank up the A/C to turn on the fireplace in the middle of summer. No, we don't behave like that at home.

But the best part of the resort is the view out the living room window.

Fortunately, the weather was perfect while we were there, so we could simply go outside and enjoy the view, rather than have to frame it in the window.

The cabins are located on a narrow channel between Grass Lake and Clearwater Lake. Maple trees are abundant, making the resort's name accurate. Guests have free access to paddle boats and small kayaks, and can rent fishing boats and motors. Youngest Son and I spent time merrily paddling kayaks back and forth between the two lakes while The Teen and DH went fishing, successfully catching a bucket full of decent-sized panfish for dinner. The evenings we spent at the private firepit--a must for our family. We're quite antisocial on vacation and don't share our firepits with anyone. Marshmallows were toasted, with some deliberately tossed into the fire (exploding marshmallows are always amusing). The firepit was somewhat perilously situated on a slope, which lead to my falling off my chair when leaning over to pick up the box of graham crackers and gashing my hand. I am rather injury-prone.

Across the channel are the previously mentioned A-frame condos.

Did we like Maple Hill Resort? Very much. It was peaceful, beautiful, and well-maintained. A few caveats: we wouldn't have liked it as much when our kids were younger. There's not much of a beach, and the beach itself is across the road from the cabins. Younger kids might find it a little dull, if they're not into fishing and aren't big enough to handle kayaks and paddle boats.

But for a restful break in a lovely setting, it was a great place to visit.

Hmmm...maybe someday I could rent a cabin for a week and write a book...