Leech Lake Minnesota
We just had a whirlwind week at Leech Lake in Minnesota. As a Jersey girl, all I thought I knew of Minnesota was that it was a very cold state to live in and they had a Yankee rival team, the Twins. That was about all I knew. Mark told me about the place he grew up and about his family vacations, but honestly I really thought it would be a “nice” place but not overwhelming.
Boy was I wrong! We had quite the adventure just driving to MN in Flash…Ashley and two dogs in tow. But when we arrived at the lake, my eyes were wide with surprise. The lake is huge! And very beautiful. The place we stayed is called Brindley’s Resort and wow what a lovely place to vacation. The cabin we rented with the rest of Mark’s family was in cabin 2 & 3 right on the lake and I think my jaw dropped when I saw the view from the living room!
I had never really been fishing and Ashley certainly hadn’t so I was curious to see how it would go. I was wondering if it would be boring or that the time out on the lake fishing would drag. Again – I was very pleasantly surprised! I found it very soothing and enjoyable to be out on the lake. I was not the queen of fishing, but other people in our group did very well. I caught two Northern Pike’s, Mark caught a few Bass, Walleyes and Perch, others caught Muskies, and all of the previously mentioned varieties.
The resort is beautiful and they have boats for rent (we all rented boats for the entire week – although note that Brindley’s does not allow their boats to be used for water skiing, or tubing etc.) There are kayaks and paddle boards sitting on the beach for anyone to use at their leisure and there is a really nice slide/water trampoline out by the swimming area. We were hard pressed to get in all the activities we wanted to get in and we definitely missed out on some. Next year we are determined to get in on the turtle races for the kids and the treasure hunt, not to mention the fishing contest for the kids. Poor Ashley didn’t catch anything during the week, but she also didn’t go out as often as the adults did. I’m fairly certain next year will be her year!
During the week we also took a day trip up to Itasca, home of the Mississippi Headwaters! We got to walk across the Mississippi at its source. The state park is very lovely and there are lots of things to do and see there as well.
The town of Walker which is the main town at Leech Lake, was lovely with lots of cute shops and restaurants. We went there on the only rainy day we had and we were able to get some great souvenirs. I highly recommend Leech Lake, and if you have a big group there are some very sizable accommodations at Brindley’s to enjoy your time together.