I had my second shoot in two years up at the Lund Boat Factory in New York Mills. This year the family decided to tag along. So, we found a place to stay up in nearby Detroit Lakes.
We stayed at a renovated motel right across from the beach.
We lucked out getting the first room that has window views to the lake.
We mostly chose this place to stay because it was close to the lake and it had a kitchenette. I could make the kids breakfast and lunches while Scott was out working.
After Scott and I were both done with work we went across to check out the lake.
The Lakes Inn. It's a cute place if you're in Detroit Lakes.
These kids are both so happy by the water.
We played at the beach and then went for a walk to find dinner.
We let the kids play at the playground while we decided where to go for dinner.
We settled on the Lakeside Tavern and Brewery. Because you know we like breweries. It was really more of a brewpub.
Theo was so thirsty he had to drink his root beer and water at the same time.
I forgot how big some portions are at restaurants, we had so much food.
Staff was new and got a few things wrong. Brooke, Meadow and my meal were actually pretty good. Theo on the other hand got rotting fried fish. Ew. Thankfully they didn't charge us for that.
The sun was still out so we had time to swim.
Not a bad way to end our night after a long day of work and play.
While Brooke worked remotely, I took the kids to the beach again.
We decided it would be fun to bury me in the sand.
Then it was the kids turn.
We were getting hungry so we looked for someplace to get a late breakfast.
We biked over to the Main Street Restaurant, which apparently had the best breakfast in town.
Unfortunately they weren't serving breakfast, but they did have massive crinkle cut fries.
We even got some pie.
Then we did some perusing of the shops in downtown Detroit Lakes. The Toy Finders was full of cool old toys at affordable prices.
Then we biked back to meet Brooke for dinner.
For dinner we had to go to Zorbaz. At this point I almost feel like we have to go to all 11 locations. We also like to go because we know Daniel hatez it.
You can't complain about the food. It just hits the spot.
It has pizza and Mexican food if you can't decide.
Oh, look Theo is pooping again. He will not let us potty train him.
The kids didn't want to get up the next morning.
But we had to drive across most of Minnesota and Wisconsin to the cottage.
We were getting hungry when I found Mi Ranchito in Hinckley. Very authentic tacos, so good.
We'll definitely have to stop here on our trips to Duluth.
Until next time, Mi Ranchito. I hope the Hinckley locals and Duluth travelers find this place.
Brooke and I take turns driving. We switched at 9 Mile Tavern and we heard a bell ring. Sadly they must have thought they had some new customers. But I do want to stop here in the future.
We decided to meet my parents for Friday Fish. They suggested Pitlik's Beach Resort. I can't believe we had never heard of this place before.
This was a super classic supper club.
I loved the interior.
It was a nice night, so we ate outside.
Honestly we try and eat outside with the kids still, but not always possible.
Everyone agreed the fish was really good, but I'd say maybe not Twelve Pines-good.
This weekend is Father's Day. My dad's birthday always rolls around the same weekend. We picked him up some beer.
It was going to be pretty cool this weekend.
My dad requested a marble cake with chocolate frosting and sprinkles for his birthday.
The kids and I tried some fishing without much luck.
The kiddos love seeing their silly grandparents.
After dinner it was time to eat the cake.
My marble wasn't so marbley but still really good. Scott even said this was the best cake I ever made.The texture was so good.
I got him some hiking sticks for his birthday as he's always using a stick from the woods on our hikes. Plus these can be interchanged for winter when it's icy.
Then we headed over to the Aqua Devils Ski Show.
Fun as always, but Brooke and her rents complained about the lack of theme.
They used to have costumes when I was a kid.
My dad won the baking raffle and had Meadow go with to pick out a treat.
Back at home we caught a bunch of fish off the dock.
Go, Theo!
They just kept on coming.
You can't tell, but Meadow was very excited.
My favorite place to end a night at the cottage.
Meadow had been working on her father's day present all weekend.
She made me the penultimate Ganon at the end of Zelda Breath of the Wild.
The day was cooler, but it didn't stop us from playing in the water.
I took Meadow tubing when she was little but she never went again. I convinced her to try it again.
Then Theo got a turn.
I was more nervous than Theo. He loved it.
Then Brooke, Theo and Meadow all went together.
The kids got in a little more swimming before we had to leave to get to Marquette, Michigan for another shoot I had.
You don't even want to know how many locations I have saved of places I want to go on my Google Maps. Sugar Loaf Mountain was one of them.
After I shot the hotel we were staying at we headed across Marquette to go for a hike there.
This place was magical.
The kids insisted on climbing the rocks instead of using the stairs.
This kids make my heart pound. All. The. Time.
It's only .9 miles from the parking lot. A lot of stairs but easy.
Once we got to the top we noticed some secluded beaches in the distance.
The kids were having a blast.
While at the overlook a couple asked Scott about the other trail. He had no idea what he was talking about. While playing on those rocks we saw them walking down below and shouted to us that he found it. We decided we'd follow.
This trail from Sugarloaf connects you to the North Country Trail or the Wetmore-Landing Trail. We wanted to follow it to the lake.
We found our own way down to a hidden beach. I wish it had been warmer so we could've swam.
We still had fun playing on the rocks.
We hadn't planned on going on this long of a hike so it was time to head back.
The forest that the trail goes through is a beautiful example of an old growth forest.
What we thought was going to be a quick hike turned into a 5 mile hike.
But a top 10 hike. It was great.
No one complained or noticed how long it was.
It was time for dinner. We tried to go to the Vierling but they had a line out the door. We decided to try Donckers.
We had talked about getting Donckers for breakfast, but it seemed like a good backup for dinner.
The restaurant was on the 3rd floor with an old time candy shop on the main/second floor. As we were leaving we passed the candy kitchen. A man stopped us and said, hold on a minute I have something for you. He brought us into the kitchen and then handed each of us a fresh chocolate covered Oreo. While we were eating them outside I saw him drive by smiling.
It was so good.
We then walked over to the Ore Dock Brewing after we got lost trying to find a different brewery. We'd been here nearly 9 years ago on our honeymoon. It was as good as we remembered.
Since the sun doesn't set here until 10pm we took the kids over to a playground before heading back to our hotel.
And checked out the actual Ore Dock.
After checking out at our hotel we stopped at Babycakes for breakfast.
They're known for their monstrous muffins. 10/10 would go back.
We weren't really in a rush to head home and I knew we'd be driving through Mellen. So of course we had to stop to see yet again another waterfall.
Copper Falls State Park was a nice stop to break up the drive.
The map made it seem longer than it was. We thought we would just see the first waterfall and be done.
This place had quite the bench rests.
If you do the full loop you'll get to see the two waterfalls from a few angles.
We finally found a spot where the kids could play in the water.
The North Country Trail cuts through the park. How cool would it be to hike from here to Duluth?! I think this needs to be a family trip in a couple years.
Heading home we stopped in Hayward at the Angry Minnow Brewery for dinner. With limited staff they also had a limited menu, but it was still pretty good.
Can't complain about really good pretzels and soups. And the beer was damn good.
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