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Winter Fun in Minnesota
Family Fun
(ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2005)
It's been years since Cal and Pat Carlson have fit their family into their Brainerd, Minnesota, home for the holidays. They have six children, 15 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren scattered across the Midwest. So each December, they all meet at Breezy Point Resort, an hour north, in a town bearing the same name. In a rambling cottage, they linger over lasagna or soup dinners and hold cribbage tournaments. Outside, they play broom hockey on the ice. At the end of the day, they settle around the huge fireplace for family time.
Four years ago, Pat and her daughter, Mary, searched for the perfect spot. They found it at this comfortable resort, which offers condominiums, vacation homes and hotel rooms along Pelican Lake, just two hours northwest of Minneapolis. Pat and Mary chose the Fawcett House, a 10-bedroom log cottage built in the 1920s by the Fawcett publishing family, known for a host of comic-book characters, including Captain Marvel.
When December arrives, the cottage sports twinkling lights outside and a Christmas tree inside. Once the family settles in, Cal and Pat's oldest son, Bob, or his brother, Tim, dresses as Santa and hands out presents to the children. "Just getting the whole family together for a few days is wonderful," Cal says. "But what I love the most is seeing the little ones running all over the place with each other. It kind of chokes me up."
The Carlson family isn't alone. For years, this longtime resort region ringing several lakes virtually closed down after busy summer seasons. But since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, resort owners in this brawny North Woods region have noticed a boom in family winter getaways. Resorts in Nisswa, Pequot Lakes and Breezy Point, all small towns with appealing places to gather, are catering to this new travel trend, called "togethering."
Kathy Schroeder, tourism director for the Brainerd Lakes Area Chambers of Commerce, says families' vacation priorities changed after 9/11. Research by travel-industry marketers shows eight out of 10 families reported traveling with close friends or extended families in the past five years, Kathy says. "It (9/11) created this clustering response. We may see the same thing in the wake of Hurricane Katrina," Kathy says. "Their vacation time wasn't as frivolous, per se. People found real value in connecting with their roots."
That is especially true among families with two parents working outside the home, Kathy adds. Rather than host big gatherings at home during the holidays-and spend days cooking and cleaning-families prefer to gather in a place where they can relax together.
The Brainerd Lakes area is happy to comply. Snowmobiling on the Paul Bunyan Trail (which stretches north 100 miles from Brainerd) and ice skating entertain guests outside. Swimming pools, indoor water parks and spas relax visitors inside. And the wintry scenery offers a fitting backdrop. "We're seeing that families like to break out from the winter blahs by coming up north to snowmobile and cross-country ski," says Mark Ronnei, who has run Grand View Lodge in Nisswa for 26 years. "Extended families can all gather at one place for the holidays or time together. But they like the indoor amenities, too. Our Glacial Waters Spa doubled the number of visitors in a year."
Tracking the number of regional visitors is easier since a Visitors Center opened seven miles south of Brainerd in May. The new hub-located on State-371-offers wireless Internet access, a wired computer and lodging and dining information. A 10x10-foot floor map illustrates the area's 465 lakes and encourages children to "explore" the region.
Cragun's Resort along East Gull Lake is welcoming a growing number of explorers. The resort offers winter guests cabins, lodge rooms, horse-drawn rides and bonfires. And when visitors are ready to venture out to nearby towns, the region sparkles with just the right touch of holiday spirit. In Pequot Lakes, Silver Creek Traders sells sweet-smelling log furniture, wild-rice soup mix and holiday decorations. In Nisswa, Love from Minnesota has cuddly moose toys, and Jerry Raedeke's Studio houses serene landscape art. Jerry's artwork gives visitors a chance to purchase memories of the North. His images showcase loons skimming across quiet lakes and snow scenes.
Of course, snow is the main attraction on North Woods winter weekends. Guests long for it, and, more often than not, the heavens open. Flakes come thick and fast, piling up almost swifter than a shoveler can clear them.
By the next morning, the winds have usually died down, and a cobalt sky accents a world covered with a new snowfall, soft as a linen coverlet. By midafternoon, the sun is warm enough to make cross-country skiers sweat-and shed their caps and mittens-while passing through Brainerd's Northland Arboretum, where groomed trails run throughout the forest in the middle of town. But by nightfall, the chilly air encourages visitors to sit around a blazing fire, warming their insides with hot soup.
Loaded with paprika, the creamy Hungarian mushroom soup served at Sibley Station in Pequot Lakes has become a regional legend. Chef Joe Hallbeck owns the restaurant with his wife, Deb, and brother, Dave, who estimates they've served 12,000 gallons of the specialty since they opened in 1994. "People buy our cookbook just so they can get the recipe," Dave says.
One of the great dining surprises is tucked next to the Comfort Suites Rapid River Lodge and Water Park in Baxter. Prairie Bay Restaurant opened three years ago. Chef Matt Annand, an honors graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, likes to prepare classics-duck confit, bouillabaisse and Minnesota walleye. But he also adds twists, like lobster pot pie. "We're just starting a catering service that will include making complete dinners for families vacationing up here," Matt says. "We'll bring it to their door."
Customers who venture out to the restaurant are greeted by a huge hearth where a warming fire blazes, adding a glow to Prairie-style decor. That warmth is a comforting balance to the chill outside. And balance is, after all, the reason families come in the first place.
